Top 98 Quotes & Sayings by Sinclair B. Ferguson

God can be trusted even when he cannot be seen or understood.

True discernment means not only distinguishing the right from the wrong; it means distinguishing the primary from the secondary, the essential from the indifferent, and the permanent from the transient. And, yes, it means distinguishing between the good and the better, and even between the better and the best.

Christians have a new identity. We are no longer 'in Adam' but 'in Christ'; no longer in the flesh but in the Spirit.

There is nothing more important to learn about Christian growth than this: Growing in grace means becoming like Christ.

Jesus undid everything that Adam did, and did everything Adam failed to do.

How do we bring glory to God? The Bible’s short answer is: by growing more and more like Jesus Christ.

We discover the will of God by a sensitive application of Scripture to our own lives.

Spiritual growth depends on two things: first a willingness to live according to the Word of God; second, a willingness to take whatever consequences emerge as a result.

We best defend the Lord's glory by speaking first TO Him about unbelieving men rather than speaking first ABOUT Him to unbelieving men.

Where God is at the center of things, worship inevitably follows.

This, then, is the foundation of sanctification in Reformed theology. It is rooted, not in humanity and their achievement of holiness or sanctification, but in what God has done in Christ, and for us in union with him. Rather than view Christians first and foremost in the microcosmic context of their own progress, the Reformed doctrine first of all sets them in the macrocosm of God's activity in redemptive history. It is seeing oneself in this context that enables the individual Christian to grow in true holiness.

Humility is not simply feeling small and useless - like an inferiority complex. It is sensing how great and glorious God is, and seeing myself in that light.

Most Christians have more Bibles than they know what to do with, but have little understanding of what is in them.

Failure to deal with the presence of sin can often be traced back to spiritual amnesia – forgetting our new, true, real identity. As a believer, I am someone who has been delivered from the dominion of sin and who therefore is free and motivated to fight against the remnants of sin in my heart. You must know, rest in, think through, and act upon your new identity – you are in Christ

When you look at the Cross, what do you see? You see God’s awesome faithfulness. Nothing – not even the instinct to spare His own Son – will turn him back from keeping His word.

The problem is not in the clarity of the revelation. The problem is in the darkness of the human mind.

True faith takes its character and quality from its object. Its strength therefore depends on the character of Christ. Even those of us who have weak faith have the same strong Christ as others!

Even those of us who have weak faith have the same strong Christ as others!

You must know, rest in, think through, and act upon your new identity - you are in Christ

The fear of the Lord tends to take away all other fears... This is the secret of Christian courage and boldness.

God has chosen us. Our status is not a matter of our worthiness, but of His love.

We can never reflect too much on God's grace.

Every day we need our gaze redirected from ourselves to God.

Love is not maximum emotion. Love is maximum commitment.

Thinking that I deserve heaven is a sure sign I have no understanding of the gospel.

My security as a Christian does not reside in the strength of my faith but in the indestructibili ty of my Savior.

Remember that you are not saved by increased levels of holiness, however desirable it is that you should reach them. ...It is Christ who saves us-through faith. Your faith is a poor and crumbling thing, as is your spiritual service. Jesus Christ alone is qualified and able to save you because of what He has done.

Knowing God is your single greatest privilege as a Christian

We are far too good at analyzing what is wrong with the culture and far too myopic at analyzing what is wrong in the church.

The holiness of God teaches us that there is only one way to deal with sin- radically, seriously, painfully, constantly. If you do not so live, you do not live in the presence of the Holy One of Israel.

The foundation of worship in the heart is not emotional ("I feel full of worship" or "The atmosphere is so worshipful"). Actually, it is theological. Worship is not something we "work up," it is something that "comes down" to us, from the character of God.

God's promises are not fortune cookies. We do not use them in order to get a spiritual "fix" for the day.

For worship is, essentially, the reverse of sin. Sin began (and begins) when we succumb to the temptation, "You shall be as gods." We make ourselves the center of the universe and dethrone God. By contrast, worship is giving God his true worth; it is acknowledging Him to be the Lord of all things, and the Lord of everything in our lives. He is, indeed, the Most High God!

Christian contentment, therefore, is the direct fruit of having no higher ambition than to belong to the Lord and to be totally at His disposal in the place He appoints, at the time He chooses, with the provision He is pleased to make.

No one can will the will to will what it will not will!

Don't tell me that you have a Reformed Church in the tradition of Calvin until you have the preaching of the Word every day of the week, devote Wednesday's to prayer and have the church gather together for prayer.

There is a difference between a well-instructed congregation and a well-nourished one.

It's the centrality of the Word and not the person who preaches it that's important.

The Father did not require the death of Christ to persuade Him to love us. Christ died because the Father loves us.

The weakest faith gets the same strong Christ as does the strongest faith.

The Son of God came to dwell in human flesh for us in order that He might come to dwell in us by His Spirit.

We [should not] make the mistake of thinking that marriage will provide the ultimate satisfaction for which we all hunger. To assume so would be to be guilty of blasphemy. Only God satisfies the hungry heart. Marriage is but one of the channels He uses to enable us to taste how deeply satisfying His thirst-quenching grace can be.

There are actually only ever two pastoral problems you will ever encounter. The first is this: persuading those who are under the dominion of sin that they are under the dominion of sin. That's the task of evangelism. And [second], persuading those who are no longer under the dominion of sin that they are no longer under the dominion of sin because they're Christ's.

When I know that Christ is the one real sacrifice for my sins, that His work on my behalf has been accepted by God, that He is my heavenly Intercessor - then His blood is the antidote to the poison in the voices that echo in my conscience, condemning me for my many failures. Indeed, Christ's shed blood chokes them into silence!

Appearances can be deceptive. The fact that we cannot see what God is doing does not mean that He is doing nothing. The Lord has His own timetable. It is we who must learn to adjust to it, not vice versa. When God's time comes nothing will stand in His way. We can therefore wait for Him with this happy confidence: "As for God, His way is perfect" (2 Samuel 22:31).

It is only when we want to take our lives out of the Father’s hands and have them under our own control that we find ourselves gripped with anxiety. The secret of freedom from anxiety is freedom from ourselves and abandonment of our own plans. But that spirit emerges in our lives only when our minds are filled with the knowledge that our Father can be trusted implicitly to supply everything we need.

Be obedient even when you do not know where obedience may lead you

Worship is not something we "work up," it is something that "comes down" to us, from the character of God.

God made everything else but man "after its kind"' - that is, according to the purpose and destiny he envisaged for it. But he made man in His own image. Man is patterned on God! He was made to represent God - in created, human form.

There is a difference between going to a service "for the worship" and going to a service "to worship the Lord." The distinction appears to be a minor one, but it may imply the difference between the worship of God and the worship of music!

The conviction that Christian doctrine matters for Christian living is one of the most important growth points of the Christian life.

Jesus Christ is able to set us free because He has dealt with the sin that enslaves us.

The real test that I believe that God is love is that tragedies don't separate me from the conviction that God is love.

Our first priority in ministry must be love. Love for His Word, love for His people, and love for His appearing.

Those who are most conscious of forgiveness are invariably those who have been most acutely convicted of their sin.

God is God; you are but one of His creatures. Your only joy is to be found in obeying Him, your true fulfillment is to be found in worshiping Him, your only wisdom is to be found in trusting and knowing Him.

The true church is too different for the world to tolerate it.

Our thinking about who we are as Christians should not begin with what we can discover about ourselves by self-analysis. Rather, it begins with what God says about those who trust in Christ.

Repentance is a characteristic of the whole life, not the action of a single moment.

Where God is at the center of things, worship inevitably follows. Where there is no spirit of worship, there God has been dethroned and displaced.