G.C. Berkouwer > Quotes

“Scripture ... does not derive its authority from the fact that we use it, not even when we use Scripture in faith.”
― G C Berkouwer

“Faith is decisively determined by the object of faith, namely, God and His Word. This does not ... imply that Scripture ... derives its authority from the believer's faith: this idea is already rendered untenable by the very nature of faith, which rests on and trusts in the Word of God.”
― G.C. Berkouwer

“In Scripture the election of God ... does not come out of works but out of grace. God's electing plan prepares the way of salvation in which man learns that salvation is obtained only as a divine gift an never as an acquisiton because of good works.”
― G C Berkouwer

“Dilemmas always are a source of polarization. We quickly move over to simplistic either-or’s … in which the fulness of truth is torn apart. And in the atmosphere of false polarities, we often stop listening to each other’s words. With this, irritation and pique poison the theological discussion. But it is striking and, at the same time, reassuring that the clear intent of the gospel comes through even in the midst of theological polarization, especially when all the parties intend to be faithful to the gospel.”
― G C Berkouwer

“...in the sacraments we encounter not merely fragments of earthly reality, but rather, signs in which the living God himself acts, taking up the earthly element as a testimony to his trustworthy promise.”
― G.C. Berkouwer, The Sacraments

“Salvation ... has its eternal foundation in the love of God.”
― G C Berkouwer

“If theology is to speak adequately of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it must be thoroughly committed to hearing “the powerful witness of the ‘tremendous’ Word that always speaks against us so that we can learn to stop speaking against it.”
― G C Berkouwer

“The jubilation of God's salvation corresponds to man's very real condition of lostness ... In Scripture, there is never any mention of a relativizing of sin since any such relativizing of sin would also automatically relativize the unspeakably wonderful nature of salvation.”
― G C Berkouwer

“The perseverance of the saints is not primarily a theoretical problem but a confession of faith ... a song of praise to God's faithfulness and grace.”
― G C Berkouwer

“One cannot mount from reality to the righteousness of God, because reality can only be known through the explaining word of revelation. The Light that illumines the world is found only in faith.”
― G.C. Berkouwer

“Authority ... cannot be a darksome power that compels us to subject ourselves without reason.”
― G C Berkouwer

“God ... is hidden from corrupt eyes, from the proud and disdainful, but revealed to those who in confession of sin and receptive faith are open to His grace. Salvation is preached in Christ: it is not necessary for one to travel a long way to overcome its hiddenness: he should simply accept this gift in faith.”
― G C Berkouwer

“The perspective of Thomas' confession - 'My Lord and God' - must prevail through all our thinking and all our reinterpretations ... All reinterpretation should be tested by whether it can participate in this confession.”
― G.C. Berkouwer

“On the route of faith and action, along with hope, we see that the gospel we believe is far removed from the picture of a future without bearing on the present, a heavenly hope without concern for the neighbour and his world.”
― G C Berkouwer

“The freedom of the man of God has nothing to do with autonomy … and … does not stand opposed to submission to God”
― G C Berkouwer

“The object of Christology is not a purely theoretical knowledge but a profitable, wholesome knowledge of the salvation of God in Jesus Christ.”
― G C Berkouwer

“The sanctification ... demanded is always an implicate of the sanctification that originates in God's mercy. Hence the sanctification of believers is never an independent area of human activity ... we can speak truly of sanctification only when we have understood the exceptionally great significance of the bond between Sola-fide and sanctification ... the Sola-fide ... a confession of 'By grace alone we are saved' ... is the only sound foundation for sanctification.”
― G C Berkouwer

“If apologetics becomes a fight over a system ... it becomes something very different from the 'giving an answer' for faith that the New Testament asks for. The struggle may not be waged for the sake of a fight, but only for the sake of the truth. There must, therefore, never be lust for victory in confrontation. Confrontations can easily be waged in a manner that alienates faith from science without the believing disputants even understanding the problems of science; quick counterarguments are then not even taken seriously by the other side. Apologetics may then celebrate some sort of victory, while in reality it has only exposed its poverty.”
― G.C. Berkouwer

“The gospel does not leave unchanged the person who does not listen and remains disobedient ... unbelief can lead only to progressive hardening of the heart.”
― G C Berkouwer

“Worthy partakers are those who confess their sins in self-abhorrence, humiliation, faith in God’s promises, and gratefulness of heart. This is the ‘worthiness’ that belongs to the Lord’sSupper. It is not at all meritorious in nature, but is in complete harmony with what is signified and sealed in the Lord’s Supper. It is a worthiness that coincides with a confession of‘unworthiness’ and with trust in the salvation of God.”
― G C Berkouwer

“The authoriyty of God's Word ... is (known) in the way of the Spirit, who leads man to obedience and draws him in his full existence to the gospel.”
― G C Berkouwer

“Common grace ... an imperfect solution ... does centre our attention on the gracious act of God in protecting man’s corrupt and apostate nature from total demonization.”
― G C Berkouwer

“The authority of God's Word ... is (known) in the way of the Spirit, who leads man to obedience and draws him in his full existence to the gospel.”
― G C Berkouwer

“The Holy Spirit … does not lead us into error but into the pathways of truth … The Spirit, with this special concern, has not failed and will not fail in this mystery of God-breathed Scripture”
― G C Berkouwer

“In the New Testament, "myth stands over against the truth (aletheia) of the history of Jesus Christ ... the decisive die has ... been already cast in the New Testament opposition to myth”
― G C Berkouwer

“The purpose of the God-breathed Scripture is not at all to provide a scientific gnosis in order to convey and increase human knowledge and wisdom, but to witness of the salvation of God unto faith. This approach does not mean to separate faith and knowledge. But the knowledge that is the unmistakable aim of Scripture is the knowledge of faith, which does not increase human wisdom, but is life eternal.”
― G C Berkouwer

“The restoration ... of the image of God ... the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness ... the new ... nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator ... the restoration and renewal of the image will throw light upon the meaning and content of the original creation of man in the image of God.”
― G C Berkouwer

“Whoever reflects on the origin of sin cannot engage himself in a merely theoretical dispute; rather, he is engaged, intimately and personally, in what can only be called the problem of sin’s guilt”
― G C Berkouwer

“The authority of Scripture is never established by means of a rationalistic apologetic. It is established through the testimony of the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of Biblical authority as not a conservative testimony in fear of facts, but … a conviction of faith.”
― G C Berkouwer

“It is the marvel of the work of the Holy Spirit that those who really respond to the proclamation of reconciliation claim no merit whatsoever for that response, but rather find the essence of their joy in God, who reconciled us unto himself.”
― G C Berkouwer