God Used R.C., and He Is Using Friends like You
You and I, if we know the Lord, are stories of God’s grace. When God brings a sinner to faith in Christ, it is always by the sovereign and irresistible power of His saving mercy.
Dr. R.C. Sproul proclaimed God’s sovereign holiness and mercy throughout his life and ministry. Your support allows Ligonier Ministries to continue sharing this teaching to people around the world. To thank you for your gift of any amount this month, we will send you a copy of R.C. Sproul: A Life, the new biography of our beloved founder by Dr. Stephen Nichols.
One of the many things I learned from Dr. Sproul is that regeneration precedes faith. Whether a person is raised in a Christian home or is brought to faith from a background of godlessness, every conversion to Christ is caused by God’s initiative. When the Lord by His omnipotent grace draws us to His Son, we cannot help but come (John 6:37, 39, 44).
Believers look for assurance and confidence in the Christian life, and it comes from embracing the truth that the grace of God always achieves its purpose. If the Lord has made you a story of His grace by bringing you to faith in Christ, He will complete that good work in you (Phil. 1:6). He will not fail to bring you all the way home to heaven.
This biblical teaching on God’s sovereign mercy and grace forms one of Ligonier Ministries’ core emphases. We proclaim it loudly and unashamedly because it is from our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and because it is the key to bold Christian witness and faithful Christian living. This has always been Ligonier’s message, and we diligently pray it will continue to be so until the Lord returns.
Dr. Sproul was also a story of God’s grace. Like so many of us, he wasn’t looking for Jesus, but when the Lord called him, R.C. had to come. His conversion began a life of service that God continues to utilize in awakening people to His sovereign holiness and mercy even today.
With R.C., God took a boy from Pittsburgh and made him into one of the most gifted communicators of biblical Christianity in the past century. You may be reading this ministry update because you’ve been ministered to in some way by Ligonier Ministries, the work that R.C. founded fifty years ago and that the Lord is bringing to bear in remarkable ways today.
I’ve said in the past that I wish I could meet with you personally to tell you the things I hear from people around the world about the amazing impact of R.C. and Ligonier. I could mention Mindy, whose cancer diagnosis left her with many questions. As she found trusted answers in Dr. Sproul’s teaching, the Lord brought her to faith in Christ. Or consider Pel and Linda. Ever since they received a copy of Tabletalk magazine from a friend, they have been avid students driven by a desire to deepen their knowledge of God and His Word. Then there’s Brian, who listened to Renewing Your Mind broadcasts in prison. Although he has since been released, it was while he was incarcerated that he was granted true freedom in Christ. In the Lord’s providence, Kilisitina from Tonga was introduced to Ligonier when her uncle visited with a copy of R.C.’s classic series The Holiness of God. Decades later, she continues to use our teaching series in her regular study.
The Lord has graciously used R.C. and Ligonier to write many other stories of His grace, and He continues doing so today. I want you to see some of this history, so I’ve asked the Ligonier team to send you a copy of Dr. Nichols’ new biography of R.C. when you give a gift of any amount to Ligonier this month. I learned new things in every chapter, and I’m sure you will find it captivating as well.
God used R.C. during his lifetime and continues to use him and many others today through the outreach of Ligonier Ministries. And the Lord uses your prayers and financial support to write other stories of His grace, as millions of people are awakened to the holiness and grace of God.
Thank you for standing with Ligonier this month.