Category: Quote of the Day

We cannot of ourselves produce any of the experiences of the Christian life. We cannot regenerate ourselves, for we are born again not of the will of the flesh but of God (John 1:13). We cannot confess Jesus as Lord but by the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:3). We cannot understand the Bible but by the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; I John 2:27). We cannot live the Christian life – Christ lives in us (Philippians 1:21; Galatians 2:20). The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God (I Corinthians 2:14). We can consent and cooperate, but this is a supernatural work of God from start to finish.

A Senator is reported to have said that our early victories in American history were products of “reckless youth favored by improbable run of luck” and that now “we must come of age.” Some of us have felt that an overruling Providence had a hand in the exploits of our forefathers. An attitude similar to the Senator’s prevails among some churchmen as to the early days of the church. The Book of Acts is not the record of Christianity in its “reckless youth” when its early success was due to high enthusiasm favored by circumstance. Nor have we come of age today in our passionless churchanity. America needs to recover the early fervor that made her great and the church needs a new chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.