J. C. Ryle Quotes

Sanctification is not regeneration.

The Lord's authorized servants repeatedly teach that one of the principal purposes of our mortal existence is to be spiritually changed and transformed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

A sinner can no more repent and believe without the Holy Spirit's aid than he can create a world.

In many churches, the message of justification- how to get right with God- is preached over and over again. But much less is said about sanctification- how to live after you're converted.

The evidence of justification by faith is the ongoing work of sanctification through the Holy Spirit.

I further believe that all must be saved through the merits of Christ.

Because of total depravity, you and I were desperate for God's grace before we were saved. Because of total depravity, you and I remain desperate for God's grace even after we're saved.

The best theology is rather a divine life than a divine knowledge.

The Epistle to the Romans is an extremely important synthesis of the whole theology of St. Paul.

Christians are made, not born.

Honestly, when I read the Scriptures, I really believe the Lord puts a heart in us when we become believers.

Whether this was explicitly taught or implicitly caught, I grew up with the impression that when it comes to the Christian life, justification was step one and sanctification was step two and that once we get to step two there's no reason to revisit step one.

Justification and sanctification are both God's work, and while they can and must be distinguished, the Bible won't let us separate them. Both are gifts of our union with Christ, and within this double-blessing, justification is the root of sanctification and sanctification is the fruit of justification.

The gospel of the Savior is not simply about avoiding bad in our lives; it also is essentially about doing and becoming good. And the Atonement provides help for us to overcome and avoid bad and to do and become good. Help from the Savior is available for the entire journey of mortality - from bad to good to better and to change our very nature.

Sanctification is that inward spiritual work which the Lord Jesus Christ works in a man by the Holy Spirit when He calls him to be a true believer. He not only washes him from his sins in His own blood, but He also separates him from his natural love of sin and the world, puts a new principle in his heart and makes him practically godly in life.

Jesus did not spend a great deal of time discoursing about the trinity or original sin or the incarnation, which have preoccupied later Christians. He went around doing good and being compassionate.

Well, I affirm orthodox Christian faith. I affirm the Nicene Creed. I don't think I'm doing anything terribly new.

The day we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior is one of the greatest days of our lives. Not only are our sins washed away, but God puts His Spirit inside of us and gives us new desires.

That's the big difference between Christianity and other religions. The difference between Works and Grace or Do and Done.

When you're reading the Word of God, you need to let it soak in and let God speak to your heart and let the Holy Spirit work.

I was about 14 when I became a Christian. I had been going to youth group, and I'd heard the Gospel preached, and then suddenly it all started to click. God opened my eyes to see Jesus for who He really was. After I trusted Christ, the Lord changed my entire perspective on everything.

God has no grandchildren. He has only children, so being a born-again Christian is not an automatic thing.

It was always very clear to me that God was sovereign in salvation.

I preach salvation by grace through faith alone. I preach for the repentance of sin.

A wise man had said that your Christian life is like a three-legged stool. The legs are doctrine, experience and practice, which is obedience; and you, will not stay upright unless all three are there. In recent years many Christians have not kept these three together.