“Granted that most of us know some individuals who are remarkable prayer warriors, is it not nevertheless true that by and large we are better at organizing than agonizing? Better at administering than interceding? Better at fellowship than fasting? Better at entertainment than worship? Better at theological articulation than spiritual adoration? Better—God help us!—at preaching than at praying?”—D. A. Carson

“But now, God has spoken ‘in Son’—we might paraphrase, ‘in the Son revelation.’ It is not that Jesus simply mediates the revelation; he is the revelation. It is not that Jesus simply brings the word; he is himself, so to speak, the Word of God, the climactic Word. . . .

[T]the author of Hebrews sees that teh climax of all the Old Testament revelation, mediated through prophets and stored in books, is not, strictly speaking, more books—but Christ Jesus himself. The New Testament books conregate around Jesus and bear witness to him who is hte climax of revelation.”

—D. A. Carson

“Now the Pope, with all his bishops, his schools and whole synagogue, taught that his laws are necessary to salvation: therefore he was a teacher of weak and beggarly elements … he burdened and miserably tormented the Church with his wicked laws, defacing Christ and burying his Gospel. Therefore if thou wilt observe the laws of the Pope without offence of conscience, see to it thou keep them without the opinion of righteousness; for righteousness is given through Christ alone.”

—Martin Luther

“The law had its uses, blessed uses. The law should be used for its own purposes, and then it is admirable, it is divine. Take it out of its own proper use, make it a master instead of being a servant, and it is something like fire, which in your grate will comfort you, but if it masters you, it burns your house and destroys you.”

—Charles Haddon Spurgeon

"As Christians we need to relearn the gospel every day. We are prone to wander, as the old hymn says, and hence we may act as if a spell has been cast over us. The Christian life is a battle to rely on the gospel, and even as Christians we are inclined to look to ourselves and trust in our own achievements rather than relying solely on the cross of Christ. In our counseling and our preaching and teaching we must summon people over and over to the cross of Christ and call them to look away from themselves and focus on Christ. We may slowly drift from the gospel, just as the Galatians did. The problems Paul addressed in Galatia remind us all that the Christian life cannot be lived on autopilot, that there is a daily struggle to grasp the gospel.” —Thomas Schreiner

“Indeed, the gospel shocks us because it undercuts human pride. God sees nothing in us that impresses him. We must forsake all our illusions about our so-called ‘goodness’ and ‘accomplishments.’ We must put our trust in Christ crucified rather than leaning on ourselves. We see our utter poverty and find our riches in Christ. If we could be righteous before God based on our works, then Christ died for nothing.”

—Thomas Schreiner

"Paul saw the issue plainly. It was not just a question of circumcision and uncircumcision, of Gentile and Jewish customs. It was a matter of fundamental importance regarding the truth of the gospel, namely, of Christian freedom versus bondage. The Christian has been set free from the law in the sense that his acceptance before God depends entirely upon God’s grace in the death of Jesus Christ received by faith. To introduce the works of the law and make our acceptance depend on our obedience to rules and regulations was to bring a free man into bondage again. Of this principle Titus was a test case. It is true that he was an uncircumcised Gentile, but he was a converted Christian. Having believed in Jesus, he had been accepted by God in Christ, and that, Paul said, was enough."—John R. W. Stott

"Did God call me on account of my holy life? Or on account of my pharisaical religion? Or on account of my prayers, fasting, and works? Never. Well, then, it is certain God did not call me on account of my blasphemies, persecutions, oppressions. What prompted Him to call me? His grace alone."

“In our church in Washington, I always ask our prospective members to tell me the gospel in one minute or less. . . .

Here’s what I understand the good news to be: the good news is that [God] one and only God , who is holy, made us in his image to know him. But [man] we sinned and cut ourselves off from him. In his great love, [Christ] God became a man in Jesus, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross, thus fulfilling the law himself and taking on himself the punishment for the sins of all those who would ever turn and trust in him. He rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted Christ’s sacrifice and that God’s wrath against us has been exhausted. [Response] He now calls us to repent of our sins and to trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness. If we repent of our sins and trust in Christ, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God.”—Mark Dever

“If Jesus was resurrected, then he is the long-awaited Messiah, Christ, King, Son of God, and Prophet par excellence. And if that’s true, then we’d better pay attention to him, including his endorsement of the entire Old Testament as the Word of God. Not only that, but we have every reason to trust that he did precisely what he promised he would do—send the Holy Spirit to guide his apostles into all the truth he wanted to reveal to them for the good of the church—and then to trust the Spirit’s work of guiding the church in recognizing that truth.”—Greg Gilbert