Latest from R.C. Sproul
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Receive a Special-Edition Copy of Chosen by God for Your Gift of Any Amount
from R.C. Sproul Sep 19, 2011 Category: Ministry News
All Christians at times struggle to embrace certain teachings of the Bible. I’ll never forget my seminary days when I challenged Dr. John Gerstner regarding divine election. I made a pest of myself, but Dr. Gerstner patiently endured me. Slowly, I came to learn that I must teach what the Bible says is true, not what I want the Bible to say is true. Keep Reading -
Satan the Proud and Powerful (Part 2)
from R.C. Sproul Aug 15, 2011 Category: Articles
In our day there has been a renewal of interest in the work of Satan. Hollywood has given us The Exorcist and The Omen and a host of other films to whet our appetite for the occult. Within Christian circles there has arisen a new concern for ministries of deliverance. Some of these deliverance ministries have developed a bizarre and radically unbiblical view of demon possession and deliverance.
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Satan the Proud and Powerful (Part 1)
from R.C. Sproul Aug 12, 2011 Category: Articles
Where did the idea of a red-flanneled, pitchfork-bearing Devil come from? The roots of this grotesque caricature of Satan are found in the Middle Ages. It was popular sport in medieval days to mock the Devil by describing him in ludicrous terms. There was a method in this madness. The medieval church believed in the reality of Satan. It was aware that Satan was a fallen angel who suffered from an overdose of pride. Pride was Satan's supreme weakness. To resist Satan, that proud but fallen creature, required fierce combat. The combat focused on Satan's most vulnerable point, his pride. The theory was this: Attack Satan at his point of weakness and he will flee from us.
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Man’s Ability to Choose God
from R.C. Sproul Jul 25, 2011 Category: Articles
It is ironic that in the same chapter, indeed in the same context, in which our Lord teaches the utter necessity of rebirth to even see the kingdom, let alone choose it, non-Reformed views find one of their main proof texts to argue that fallen man retains a small island of ability to choose Christ. It is John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Keep Reading -
Asking the Right Questions
from R.C. Sproul Jul 08, 2011 Category: Articles
Sometimes it is less important to have the right answers than to have the right questions. A man named Saul thought he did not need to ask any questions. He had all the answers. The most important question, according to Saul, was “How can I be good enough for God?” He thought he had that answer down cold.
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The Theatre of God’s Redemption
from R.C. Sproul Jul 06, 2011 Category: Articles
In every generation, every culture there is a dominant prevailing spirit. The Germans coined a word for it, Zeitgeist, a term that joins two common ideas together. Zeit is the German word for "time," Geist is the German word for "spirit." So Zeitgeist means "spirit of the time" or "spirit of the age."
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Ethics and the Conscience
from R.C. Sproul Jun 22, 2011 Category: Articles
The function of the conscience in ethical decision making tends to complicate matters for us. The commandments of God are eternal, but in order to obey them we must first appropriate them internally. The “organ” of such internalization has been classically called the conscience. Some describe this nebulous inner voice as the voice of God within. The conscience is a mysterious part of man’s inner being. Within the conscience, in a secret hidden recess, lies the personality, so hidden that at times it functions without our being immediately aware of it.
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The Efficacy of Prayer
from R.C. Sproul Jun 17, 2011 Category: Articles
We have to guard against taking a fatalistic view of prayer. We cannot allow ourselves to dismiss prayer from our lives simply because it might not seem to have pragmatic value. Whether or not prayer works, we must engage in it, simply because God Himself commands us to do it. Even a cursory reading of the Bible, particularly the New Testament, reveals a deep emphasis on prayer, supplication, and intercession. It is inescapable that prayer is an expected activity for the people of God. Furthermore, our Lord Himself is the supreme model for us in all things, and He clearly made prayer a huge priority in His life. We can do no less.
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The Father’s Gift to the Son
from R.C. Sproul May 13, 2011 Category: Articles
The motif of the gift of the elect to the Son is expressed by Jesus on various occasions, particularly in the Gospel of John: "This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
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On True Seekers
from R.C. Sproul May 03, 2011 Category: R.C. Sproul
Jonathan Edwards used to say that the chief business of the Christian was the seeking of the Kingdom of God. And what he meant by that was the chief business of the Christian is seeking after God. We have such a superficial understanding of seeking that we attribute it to non-believers when the non-believer is not seeking God—he's running away from God. Keep Reading
