SALVATION-RESULT OF
Perhaps the
most wonderful thing of all is this: God lifts us not only from what we are by
nature to what Adam was in the Garden of Eden, but to what Adam was to become
in the presence of God, and would have been had he persevered in obedience. The
gospel does not make us like Adam in his innocence – it makes us like Christ,
in all the perfection of His reflection of God.
The Christian Life, p. 16, 1997, by
permission Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA.
The Father
and Son have sought to redeem us that we may become worshipers. Jesus said that the Son of Man came into the
world to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). In John 4 he reveals the purpose for His
seeking: “For such people the Father
seeks to be His worshiper” (vs. 23). The
Father sent Christ to seek and save for the specific purpose of producing
worshiping people.
John MacArthur
The Ultimate Priority, Moody Press 1983, p.
23.
The supreme
motive in our redemption is not for us to receive anything. Rather, we have
been redeemed so that God may receive worship – so that our lives might glorify
Him. Any personal blessing for us is a divine response to the fulfillment of
that supreme purpose… We are to seek to glorify God before we seek to gain
anything from Him. To be concerned primarily with the blessings is to
experience salvation in a shallow, self-centered manner.
John MacArthur
The Ultimate Priority, Moody Press 1983, p.
24.
The gospel according to Jesus is the gospel according to
His apostles. It is a small gate and a narrow road. It is free but it costs
everything. And though it is appropriated by faith, it cannot fail to produce
the fruit of true righteousness in the life and behavior of the believer.
John MacArthur
The Gospel According to Jesus, © John MacArthur, 1988, p. 220.
Saving grace
makes a man as willing to leave his lusts as a slave is willing to leave his
galley, or a prisoner his dungeon, or a thief his bolts, or a beggar his rags.
Thomas Brooks
Leadership, v. 16, n. 1.
God’s goal in
saving you was not just to make your few years on planet Earth easier or more
enjoyable. He had an eternal end in view. His intent was to make you holy, as
He is holy, that you might perfectly glorify Him, that you might bring Him
pleasure, and that you might enjoy intimate fellowship with Him for all
eternity.
Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Holiness, The Heart God Purifies, Moody
Publishers, p. 51.