Quotes from Jerry Bridges

So while the Bible asserts both God's sovereignty and people's freedom and moral responsibility, it never attempts to explain their relationship.

The first is that God is infinite in His ways as well as His being.

How futile and even arrogant for us to seek to determine what God is doing in a particular event or circumstance.

The relationship of the sovereign will of God to the freedom and moral responsibility of people is one of those mysteries.

Mediante la unión con Cristo en Su muerte somos liberados del poder del pecado.

does no good to nail an unattached branch to the vine; there is no life-giving connection. But those branches that are an integral part of the vine share in the life of the vine.

I believe one of our problems in dealing with this subject is that we tend to view the interaction between God and man on the same level as the interaction between man and man.

the faith to trust God in adversity comes through the Word of God alone.

Grace is part of the very nature of God, and He cannot change. He is indeed the generous landowner of the parable in Matthew 20:1-16, continually going to the marketplace of life to find those in need of a day's wages so He can bring them into His vineyard and then reward them out of all proportion to their labors.

In the arena of adversity, the Scriptures teach us three essential truths about God truths we must believe if we are to trust Him in adversity. They are: • God is completely sovereign. • God is infinite in wisdom. • God is perfect in love.

Rather than being offended over the Bible's assertion of God's sovereignty in both good and calamity, believers should be comforted by it.

We tend to think of God as being like us.

The sovereignty of God is asserted, either expressly or implicitly, on almost every page of the Bible.

Yet the Scriptures teach that God does move a person's will, but in such a way that the person acts freely and voluntarily. Furthermore, sovereignty on a human plane suggests force and coercion, people doing things against their wills as in the subjection of slaves to masters, but the Scriptures never portray God's sovereignty in this manner.

Adversity is difficult even when we know God is in control of our circumstances.

It is not the importance of the thing, but the majesty of the Lawgiver, that is to be the standard of obedience. ~Andrew Bonar~

The second truth we must keep in mind is that God is never the author of sin.

Whatever our particular calamity or adversity may be, we may be sure that our Father has a loving purpose in it.

It is frequently asserted in the Scriptures that God uses the sinful actions of men to accomplish His purposes

God does not exercise His sovereignty capriciously but only in such a way as His infinite love deems best for us.

it is the ability of God to so arrange diverse human actions to fulfill His purpose that makes His sovereignty marvelous and yet mysterious.

God is perfectly holy, then we can be confident that His actions toward us are always perfect and just.

uses to carry out His purpose. This truth is taught in such passages as Isaiah 10:5-16 (we will look at this passage in another chapter).

are we justified in concluding that God always orchestrates the events of our lives to fulfill His purpose? According to Romans 8:28, the answer is a solid yes.