A sinner does not “decide” for Christ; the sinner “flies” to Christ in utter helplessness and despair saying – Foul, I to the fountain fly, Wash me, Saviour, or I die. No man truly comes to Christ unless he flies to Him as his only refuge and hope, his only way of escape from the accusations of conscience and the condemnation of God’s holy law. Nothing else is satisfactory. If a man says that having thought about the matter and having considered all sides he has on the whole decided for Christ, and if he has done so without any emotion or feeling, I cannot regard him as a man who has been regenerated. The convicted sinner no more “decides” for Christ than the poor drowning man “decides” to take hold of that rope that is thrown to him and suddenly provides him with the only means of escape. The term is entirely inappropriate.
— Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981), Prediger
Topics: Grace & Redemption, Guilt & Forgiveness, Faith & Trust
Occasions: For Reflection
Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981) war ein walisischer Arzt und reformierter Prediger, der von 1939 bis 1968 als Hauptpastor an der Westminster Chapel in London wirkte. Bekannt wurde er für seine fortlaufende, detaillierte Schriftauslegung sowie seinen kirchenpolitisch umstrittenen Aufruf an Evangelikale, sich von theologisch liberalen Großkirchen abzuspalten. Heutigen Bibellesern bieten seine Predigten und Auslegungen ein Modell dogmatisch präziser, versweiser Texterklärung mit seelsorglicher Ausrichtung.
All quotes by Martyn Lloyd-Jones (104)
It wasn't the nails that held Jesus to the cross. It was love.
Max Lucado
Grace, like water, flows to the lowest part.
Philip Yancey
In our own woundedness, we can become sources of life for others.
Henri Nouwen
God does not love us because we are lovable, but because his nature is love.
Oswald Chambers
Oswald Chambers
God counts on your failure far more than you do yourself.
Hans Peter Royer
Ultimately mourning means facing what wounds us in the presence of One who can heal.
Henri Nouwen
The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.
Tim Keller