Quotes about Grace

It is a mistake to suggest that the difference between the Old and the New Testament is that the Old Testament taught that salvation came by keeping the law whereas in the New Testament it comes by grace. That is precisely the distortion of the Scriptures that Paul was combating.

It is important to understand that Paul is not just using Abraham as an illustration of the gospel or of his teaching about justification by grace through faith. No, Abraham is the beginning of the gospel.

Our psalmists were not Judaizers, nor were they Calvinists, Arminians, Theonomists, Dispensationalists, Legalists or Antinomians. They were worshipping believers, members of a people who knew themselves to be in a unique covenant relationship with the LORD their God, redeemed by God's saving grace, and privileged to have been given a land to live in and a law to live by. Let us, then, do our best to understand and appreciate the law through their eyes.

All of us are either trying to work and be good enough to please God, or we are believing and trusting God to do for us what we can't do for ourselves. At each moment of our lives we find ourselves on one road or the other. If we are still trying to please God through being good enough, defeat and frustration will be our lot. If we have trusted in God's grace to transform us and form Christ within us, we will enjoy life and peace.

Grace and peace are called the Siamese twins of the New Testament because they're always coupled together. This is the proper order of the two words, for you can't have the peace of God until you've first experienced His grace.

Whenever a person says, "It's good to believe in Jesus Christ, but it takes more than that," watch out! The minute you tell me that I have to be righteous and must prove myself before God by my holiness, you are not bringing me to God; you are pushing me away from Him. I am not righteous and I am not holy and there is no way I can be, so what you are telling me is not good news. It is far from good news. It's a proclamation of death.

Grace transforms desolate and bleak plains into rich, green pastures. It changes grit-your-teeth duty into loving, enthusiastic service. It exchanges the tears and guilt of our own failed efforts for the eternal thrill and laughter of freely offered pleasures at the right hand of God. Grace changes everything!

Real love—it's the best, most painful thing God ever did for us.

You need to forgive yourself. You need to believe what you did is not more powerful than what God can do from this point forward.

Church existed because of love and forgiveness, not because of man's accusations and disapproval.

I appreciate the idea of allowing people to have their own private walk with God. To me, God is about love, not condemnation.

Elegance does not consist in putting on a new dress.