Reformed Quotes

“We must realize that the Reformation world view leads in the direction of government freedom. But the humanist world view with inevitable certainty leads in the direction of statism. This is so because humanists, having no god, must put something at the center, and it is inevitably society, government, or the state.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer

“The basic problem of the Christians in this country in the last eighty years or so, in regard to society and in regard to government, is that they have seen things in bits and pieces instead of totals.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, A Christian Manifesto

“Till men have faith in Christ, their best services are but glorious sins.”
― Thomas Brooks

“This doctrine of total inability which declares that men are dead in sin does not mean that all men are equally bad, nor that any man is as bad as he could be, nor that anyone is entirely destitute of virtue, nor that human nature is equal in itself, nor that man’s spirit in inactive, and much less does it mean that the body is dead. What is does mean is that since the fall, man rests under the curse of sin, that he is actuated by wrong principles, and that he is wholly unable to love God, or to do anything meriting salvation. His corruption is extensive, but not necessarily intensive. It is in this sense that man, since the fall, is utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, wholly inclined to all evil. He possesses a fixed bias of the will against God, and instinctively and willingly and turns to evil. He is an alien by birth, and a sinner by choice. The inability under which he labors is not an inability to exercise volition, but an inability to be willing to exercise holy volitions. And it is this phase of it which led Luther to declare that ‘free will’ is an empty term, whose reality is lost; and a lost liberty, according to my grammar, is no liberty at all.”
― Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination

“I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and they claim that their writings are divine rather than human in origin.”
― Voddie Baucham

“The gospel brings tidings, glad tidings indeed,
To mourners in Zion, who want to be freed,
From sin and Satan, and Mount Sinai’s flame,
Good news of salvation, through Jesus the Lamb.

What sweet invitations, the gospel contains,
To men heavy laden, with bondage and chains;
It welcomes the weary, to come and be blessed,
With ease from their burdens, in Jesus to rest.

For every poor mourner, who thirsts for the Lord,
A fountain is opened, in Jesus the Word;
Their poor parched conscience, to cool and to wash,
From guilt and pollution, from dead works and dross.

A robe is provided, their shame now to hide,
In which none are clothed, but Jesus' bride;
Though it be costly, yet is the robe free,
And all Zion’s mourners, shall decked with it be.”
― William Gadsby

“Even at that age I already believed in you, and so did my mother and the whole of my household except for my father. But, in my heart, he did not gain the better of my mother's piety and prevent me from believing in Christ just because he still disbelieved himself. For she did all that she could for me to see that you, my God, should be a father to me rather than he. In this you helped her to turn the scales against her husband, whom she always obeyed because by obeying him she obeyed your law, thereby showing greater virtue than he did.”
― St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

“Still, in studying their writings, we have endeavoured to remember (1 Cor. 3:21-23; see also Augustin. Ep. 28), that all things are ours, to serve, not lord it over us, but that we axe Christ’s only, and must obey him in all things without exception. He who does not draw this distinction will not have any fixed principles in religion; for those holy men were ignorant of many things, are often opposed to each other, and are sometimes at variance with themselves.”
― John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian religion Volume v.1

“A mature pastor does not treat his church as a reckless roll of the dice, but he is sincerely open to a searching and substantive reformation of that church.”
― Ray Ortlund, The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ (Building Healthy Churches)

“When you look at your world, it’s easy to find reasons to be anxious.”
― David Powlison, Overcoming Anxiety: Relief for Worried People

“You can learn to remember God instead of forgetting Him.”
― David Powlison, Overcoming Anxiety: Relief for Worried People

“Take a step of faith, and decide today to go to God with your anxiety. He will not disappoint you.”
― David Powlison, Overcoming Anxiety: Relief for Worried People

“When we lose sight of God, we try to control our world on our own, and become filled with worry.”
― David Powlison, Overcoming Anxiety: Relief for Worried People

“When you are anxious, remember that your God is guarding you with His peace.”
― David Powlison, Overcoming Anxiety: Relief for Worried People

“Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His presence continually!”
― Laura Booz, Expect Something Beautiful: Finding God's Good Gifts in Motherhood

“We talked big and dreamed big and had no idea what God had in store for us.”
― Laura Booz, Expect Something Beautiful: Finding God's Good Gifts in Motherhood

“From beginning to end, our expectations about motherhood matter. They shape what we look for, what we fight for, and what we cherish along the way.”
― Laura Booz, Expect Something Beautiful: Finding God's Good Gifts in Motherhood

“Press on when growth seems slow.”
― Laura Booz, Expect Something Beautiful: Finding God's Good Gifts in Motherhood

“When the doctrine is clear and the culture is beautiful, that church will be powerful.”
― Ray Ortlund, The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ (Building Healthy Churches)

“When you and I look in the mirror, I hope we don’t expect to see a seed. I hope we expect to see God at work in the garden of our souls.”
― Laura Booz, Expect Something Beautiful: Finding God's Good Gifts in Motherhood

“The same principle applies to God’s Word. The way we read and respond to God’s Word makes all the difference in producing growth.”
― Laura Booz, Expect Something Beautiful: Finding God's Good Gifts in Motherhood

“Whether motherhood feels exciting or exhausting, God is with you.”
― Laura Booz, Expect Something Beautiful: Finding God's Good Gifts in Motherhood

“Truth without grace is harsh and ugly. Grace without truth is sentimental and cowardly.”
― Ray Ortlund, The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ (Building Healthy Churches)

“When we sin, we feel guilty. It is straightforward.”
― Jim Wilson, How to be Free from Bitterness

“Bitterness is based on sin that somehow relates to you.”
― Jim Wilson, How to be Free from Bitterness

“What the fuck?” Helki pointed at Vidrol while looking to the others with an astounded expression. “The sex addict would rather abstain than allow me to sleep with my own wife.”
― Jane Washington, Watercolour Smile

“The soul that has wandered from God will search heaven and earth in vain for rest.”
― Charles Bridges, A Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Geneva Series of Commentaries

“True wisdom consists in two things: Knowledge of God and of Ourselves.”
― Institutes of the Christian, John Calvin Religion,

“So, at the present day, not only the unlearned vulgar, but those who are most inflated with worldly wisdom, are universally and wonderfully captivated with the pomp of ceremonies. Hypocrites and silly women think it impossible to imagine any thing more beautiful or excellent. But those who examine more minutely, and judge with more accuracy, according to the rule of piety, respecting the real value of those numerous ceremonies, perceive, in the first place, that they are frivolous, because they have no utility; and in the next place, that they are delusive, because they deceive the eyes of the spectators with empty pomp. I speak of those ceremonies under which, the Roman doctors contend, are concealed great mysteries, but which, on examination, we find to be mere mockeries. And it is not to be wondered at, that the authors and advocates of them have fallen into such folly as to delude both themselves and others with contemptible absurdities; because they have taken their model in some things from the reveries of the heathen, and in others, without any judgment, have imitated the ancient rites of the Mosaic law, which were no more applicable to us than the sacrifices of animals and other similar ceremonies. Indeed, if there were no argument besides, yet no man in his senses would expect any thing good from such a heterogeneous compound. And the fact itself plainly demonstrates, that numerous ceremonies have no other use than to stupefy the people, instead of instructing them. So hypocrites attach great importance to those novel canons, which overturn discipline rather than preserve it; for on a more accurate investigation, they will be found a mere shadow of discipline, without any reality.”
― John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion

“He was showing how marriage is not a contract, involving merely an exchange of goods and services. Rather, marriage is a covenant, involving an exchange of persons. Kippley's argument was that every covenant has an act whereby the covenant is enacted and renewed; and the marital act is a covenant act. When the marriage covenant is renewed, God uses it to give new life. To renew the marital Covenant and use birth control to destroy the potential for new life is tantamount to receiving the Eucharist and spitting it on the ground.”
― Scott Hahn, Rome Sweet Home