Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace? Quotes

“Few are guided by principle any longer, only by what they prefer. “You have to decide what’s right for you,” we are told. In such a climate, the only remaining virtue is tolerance, and the only philosophies that are wrong are those that believe in truth.”
― James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World

“Justification because of Christ alone (solus Christus) means that Jesus has done the necessary work of salvation utterly and completely, so that no merit on the part of man, no merit of the saints, no works of ours performed either here or later in purgatory, can add to his completed work.”
― James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World

“Think again about 2 Timothy 3. Paul encouraged Timothy to continue on the path of ministry he had been walking because “from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (v.15). Why is the Bible able to do that? It is able to do that because it is “God-breathed” (v. 16). That is, it is the very Word of God and therefore carries within it the authority and very power of God. Yes, and it is useful too. It is useful for “teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (vv. 16-17).”
― James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World

“contrast, as a result of that study, blessed and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we will begin to take on something of the glorious luster of the Lord Jesus Christ and will become increasingly like him. That”
― James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World

“In 2 Corinthians Paul says, “It is happening.” In Romans 12 he says, “Let it happen,” thereby putting the responsibility, though not the power to accomplish the transformation, upon us. How does it happen? It happens by the renewing of our minds, and the way our minds become renewed is by study of the life-giving and renewing Word of God. Without that study we will remain in the world’s mold, unable to think as Christians and therefore also unable to act as Christians. We will be Christians in name and by profession, but we will be worldly, unbelieving people in all other respects.”
― James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World

“The Christian counter to relativism is absolute truth, the kind of truth that Paul commended in Philippians 4:8: “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, what-ever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” In making this list, Paul deliberately chose pagan rather than Christian virtues. This is because the virtues themselves are universal absolutes. Paul is not telling us to reflect on what we think is lovely or what we feel is admirable, as if the measure of value depended on our personal assessment of it. He is appealing to moral and aesthetic absolutes, saying that it is our duty as Christians to seek out such virtues and to be formed by them. 4.”
― James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World

“When we read something that requires us to think, there is distance between ourselves and the printed page. We are not necessarily swept along by the words. We can analyze, ponder, weigh, compare, contrast, and disagree. We can reread a paragraph if we do not understand the argument. We may look up vocabulary we do not know. We may challenge the conclusions. Because there is a distance between ourselves and written words, we do not cheer a well-written sentence or applaud a powerful paragraph, though we may appreciate how well the work is done. Written words promote thinking. Moreover, the better people read and the more they read, the better and longer they can think.”
― James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World

“If we think in terms of our existence here, it means operating within the limits of life on earth. If we are thinking of time, it means disregarding the eternal and thinking only of the “now.”
― James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World

“But secular-ism, more than any other single word, aptly describes the mental framework and value structure of the people of our time.”
― James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World

“if we are to see a new reformation, we will have to break away from these patterns and seek to recover the authentic biblical gospel, learning again to think and act in God’s way.”
― James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World

“But instead of being con-formed to the world, Christians are to be changed from within to be increasingly like Jesus Christ.”
― James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World

“So the verse means, “Do not let the age in which you live force you into its scheme of thinking and behaving.”
― James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World

“It is the power of God operating through the teaching of his Word that alone has power “to demolish strongholds” (2 Cor. 10:4).”
― James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World

“By insisting on “grace alone” the Reformers were denying that human methods, techniques, or strategies in themselves could ever bring anyone to faith. It is grace alone expressed through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to Christ, releasing us from our bondage to sin and raising us from death to spiritual life.”
― James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World

“Christian’s true weapons are not the weapons of this world but the weapons of truth, per-suasion, and character, the authors write, “The strongholds and pretensions [of this world] can only be demolished under two conditions: one, that we don’t fight with the world’s weapons, but with divine ones; and two, that our obedience is complete. We have been trying to use the world’s weapons of political power, and we have not been sufficiently obedient to the call of Jesus to care as he cares and do as he did.”
― James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to The Gospel of Grace?: Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World