“As long as you and I understand salvation as checking off a box to get to God, we will find ourselves in the meaningless sea of world religions that actually condemn the human race by exalting our supposed ability to get to God. On the other hand, when you and I realize that we are morally evil, dead in sin and deserving of God's wrath with no way out on our own, we begin to discover our desperation for Christ.”

“We assume that our race simply deserves heaven, that God owes heaven to us unless we do something really bad to warrant otherwise.”

“God actually delights in exalting our inability. He intentionally puts his people in situations where they come face to face with their need for him.”

“If we conclude that people can get to heaven apart from faith in Christ, then this would mean there is something else they can do to get to heaven. Such a conclusion would not only undercut the proven truth we saw in Romans; it would also be tantamount to saying to Jesus, "Thank you for what you did on the cross, but we could have gotten to God another way.”

“God beckons storm clouds and they come. He tells the wind to blow and the rain to fall, and they obey immediately. He speaks to the mountains, 'You go there,' and He says to the seas, 'You stop here, and they do it. Everything in all creation responds in obedience to the Creator...until we get to you and me. We have the audacity to look God in the face and say, 'No.”

“We desperately need to explore how much of our understanding of the gospel is American and how much is biblical.”

“Everything in all creation responds in obedience to the Creator...until we get to you and me. We have the audacity to look God in the face and say, "No.”