“Now when Jesus performed this miracle, he did not first have to secure the cooperation of Lazarus. Rather, the miracle resulted in the cooperation of Lazarus. After he was raised from the dead, Lazarus did all the hopping and all the mumbling through the grave clothes. But prior to the resurrecting word of authority, Lazarus …
Breeze in a Can
“In many ways, the doctrine of regeneration is a signature issue for modern evangelicals, and the third chapter of John is frequently quoted. But the summary statement that Jesus makes here is routinely ignored. We cannot tell where the wind is coming from or where it is going. The Greek words for “wind” and “Spirit” …
Not Consulted at All
“Birth is another irresistible process. As writers in another time would have said, the present writer was born in 1953. I do not recall being consulted about this in 1952, and I have on good authority that this was because I was not there. I was born a Wilson, and not a Smith. I was …
Irresistible Light
“The God who summoned light from darkness at the beginning, without consulting the wishes of darkness, is the same God who summoned the light in our souls into being” (From After Darkness, Light, p. 138).
As Irresistible As It Gets
“When God acted in creation, he did so ex nihilo . . . so we speak of creation. But no one speaks of the doctrine of irresistible creation. However, when we think about it for a moment, we should realize that creatio ex nihilo is about as irresistible as it gets” (Irresistible Grace, in After …
The Political Results
“His authority is extended by spiritual means and not by political means. It has political results, but His kingdom does not advance in the same way that other kingdoms do” (Heaven Misplaced, p. 130).
The Whole Point
“Jesus did not come in order to try to save the world, if the uncooperative world would only let Him. He came to save the world; He will be satisfied with nothing less than a saved world. That was the whole point” (Heaven Misplaced, p. 127).
Glombing Onto or Glooming Under
“We have to be careful not to fall into an either/or hole here. You have a cousin in Oklahoma who, with regard to Cadillacs and Leasr jets, is busy ‘naming and claiming’ every gaudy thing he can think of. And you have another cousin in Grand Rapids, this one a historical pessimist, who is living …
How Faith Functions
“Suppose a precocious young boy, after his father has finished saying grace over the evening meal, asked something like this. ‘Dad, how do we know that God gave us this food for blessing? Couldn’t He just be fattening us up for the day of slaughter?’ The father’s answer is simple: ‘We know because the Bible …
Humanity, Part Two
“It is possible to talk about the final judgment and the lordship of Jesus Christ in such a way that makes it clear that He is only lord over those areas that secularists are happy to let Him have — the afterlife, for example. Who cares if Jesus is Lord in ways that never make …