Nothing In Us

There is nothing in us or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ's sake, or we cannot ever be accepted at all. This is not true of us only when we believe. It is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be true as long as we live. Our need of Christ does not cease with our believing; nor does the nature of our relation to Him or to God through Him ever alter, no matter what our attainments in Christian graces or our achievements in behavior may be. It is always on His "blood and righteousness" alone that we can rest.

-- B. B. Warfield, quoted by Jerry Bridges in The Gospel for Real Life, p. 102

On Preaching Christ

Christ-centered preaching rightly understood does not seek to discover where Christ is mentioned in every text but to disclose where every text stands in relation to Christ.

Bryan Chapell, Christ-Centered Preaching, p.279

Preaching for Change without Christ

Any sermon, then, that aims to apply the biblical text to the congregation and does so without making it crystal clear that it is in Christ alone and through Christ alone that the application is realized, is not a Christian sermon. It is at best an exercise in wishful and pietistic thinking. It is at worst demonic in its Christ-denying legalism.

-- Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture, p.124

How Should We Think of Jesus?

It often happens that we can talk and think (and sing) about Jesus in such general and universal terms that he becomes virtually abstract – a kind of identikit human being

-- Christopher Wright, Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament, pg. 3

Jesus Healed on the Sabbath

And Jesus healed on the sabbath. Deliberately. In fact, if you look at the healings of Jesus, it is interesting that whereas most of them happened at the request of sick persons who approached Jesus, in the case of the healings on sabbaths, it was Jesus who took the initiative, unasked. He was asked for healing at almost any time except the sabbath (as the synagogue superintendent said was proper, Luke 13:14). He chose to heal on the sabbath, precisely when people would have been reluctant to ask.

-- Christopher Wright, Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament, p.238

Luther on Gospel Preaching

The chief and fundamental thing in the Gospel is this, that before you take Christ as your example, you recognize and accept Him as God's gift to you; so that when you see or hear Him in any of His work or suffering, you do not doubt but believe that He, Christ Himself, with such work or suffering of His, is most truly your own. ...See, this is to understand aright the Gospel, that is, the infinite grace of God. ...This is the mighty fire of God's love toward us whereby He makes the conscience confident, joyful, and content. This is to preach the Christian faith.

-- Martin Luther, quoted by Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament, p.119

Don't Draw Lines!

A preacher's task is not just to draw lines to Christ but to preach Christ in such a way that people will be attracted to him and put their faith, trust, and hope in him.

-- Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament, p.98

Faithful Preaching of the OT

If the Old Testament indeed witnesses to Christ, then we are faithful preachers only when we do justice to this dimension in our interpretation and preaching of the Old Testament

-- Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament, p.62