Graeme Goldsworthy > Quotes

“Some may object that to speak of election or predestination is to limit the kingdom of God to a few. Does it make God a capricious tyrant? We must answer that such objections usually stem from a refusal to accept that we are faced here with a mystery that is not given to us to solve. There is also a radical misunderstanding which maintains that God's sovereignty in election removes man's responsibility. Such is not true. How divine sovereignty and human responsibility work together we cannot know. The Bible makes it clear that they do. // Let us remember that Jesus discriminated and limited the numbers of the saved: 'Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it' (Matthew 7:13-14). This is in line with the Old Testament teaching that only a faithful remnant of Israel would be saved.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, The Goldsworthy Trilogy: Gospel and Kingdom, Wisdom, and Revelation

“Sovereignty means exercising kingly power. We use the word in relation to God meaning that there is absolutely nothing that he does not control.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible

“The truth of God's Word cannot be subject to the puny light of man's self-centred reason”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, The Goldsworthy Trilogy: Gospel and Kingdom, Wisdom, and Revelation

“God’s eternal purposes precede anything we can conceive of as an absolute beginning.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, The Son of God and the New Creation

“How does God rule in his kingdom? In Eden he ruled by speaking to
Adam and Eve and by giving them rule over the rest of creation. God was ruling when he called Abraham. He was ruling when he spoke to Moses out of the burning bush and when he gave him the law on Mount Sinai. Already we see that God's choice is to rule his kingdom, even before the fall, through human beings. Moses, the prophet and priest, also mediated God's kingship through the law and in his personal leadership. Joshua's leadership upheld the law of Moses and asserted itself against the nations which opposed the coming of God's kingdom.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible

“La salvación no fue un cambio de planes causado por la catástrofe no predicha de la caída. El plan original de Dios para la creación era que ésta encontrara su sentido y cumplimiento en Cristo y en su Evangelio.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, Cómo predicar de Cristo usando toda la Biblia

“The Gospel presents us with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, who, in his earthly life, perfectly interpreted the word of his Father. In so doing he justified the fallible attempts of his people to interpret the word. The justification of our hermeneutics by the perfect hermeneutics of Christ is the motivation for us to strive for hermeneutical sanctification.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics: Foundations and Principles of Evangelical Biblical Interpretation

“Christ will have none of this in his revelation to John. The first three chapters of Revelation set forth the seeming paradox of the sovereignty of the Lord of the church and the human responsibility of his people. This has often been a problem to Christians. How can God be absolutely sovereign at the same time as man is absolutely responsible? Surely the one cancels out the other. The attempts to resolve the paradox by either diluting God’s sovereignty or by curtailing man’s responsibility are the attempts of the sinful mind of man to dictate the truth about God on the basis of human reason. The Christian mind is informed and renewed by the gospel, though even Christians go on bringing non-Christian ways of thinking to the problems of the Bible. The truth of the matter, as always, is in the gospel. The problem of sovereignty and responsibility is the problem of how a truly sovereign God can go on being truly sovereign while relating to truly responsible man. The gospel does not solve the problem in the sense of telling us how in a way that is able to be fully understood by the human mind. Rather it shows us that the mystery is characteristic of God himself. For in the gospel we see the incomprehensible has happened: true sovereign God and true responsible man have united in the one person Jesus Christ. In the history of the early church we can see how Christians grappled with this mystery. But every time they were tempted to solve the mystery either by reducing the deity of Christ to fit in logically with his humanity, or vice versa, the result was a destruction of the gospel itself. Orthodox Christianity learned to live with the mystery and indeed, to glory in it. Jesus Christ was true God in union with true man in such a way that neither nature was diminished by the other nor confused with it.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, The Goldsworthy Trilogy: Gospel & Kingdom, Wisdom in Revelation: Three Classic Books in One Volume

“The disciples' question in Acts 1:6 indicates that they expected the kingdom would be a visible result of the resurrection. Instead, the gospel summons people to faith in the risen and now invisisble Saviour.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible

“Literalism involves the very serious error of not listening to what the New Testament says about fulfillment. It assumes that the fulfillment must correspond exactly to the form of the promise. In fact, literalism assumes that the meaning of history is self-evident. Such an assumption goes contrary to all that we have said about revelation and its necessity for the correct interpretation of any fact.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible

“A Bíblia fala que nós conhecemos a Deus e somos conhecidos por Deus. Esses dois fatos importantes fazem parte da teologia que cada um de nós constrói durante toda a nossa vida de cristãos. Alguma vez você já ouviu alguém dizer (sobretudo no meio de uma discussão sobre a Bíblia): “Não sou teólogo, mas…?”. Quando ouço isso, minha resposta é: “Sim, você é! Todo cristão é teólogo, mas alguns são teólogos mais capacitados do que outros”. Todo cristão por definição conhece a Deus, reflete acerca de Deus e faz declarações sobre Deus. Portanto, você é um teólogo. Uma das características de ser cristão é fazer teologia. Isto é, reunimos diferentes aspectos do que entendemos sobre Deus e com isso construímos uma espécie de entendimento coerente de nossa existência como povo redimido de Deus que vive no mundo.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, Introdução à teologia bíblica: O desenvolvimento do evangelho em toda a Escritura

“El Dios que actúa en el antiguo testamento es el mismo Dios que se hace carne en el Nuevo, con el fin de consumar en el mundo una obra de salvación definitiva.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, Cómo predicar de Cristo usando toda la Biblia

“Dois acontecimentos fundamentais, acima de todos, são considerados a preparação para a vinda de Jesus. São eles as promessas da aliança com Abraão, Isaque e Jacó, e o reino de Davi. Três pessoas, Abraão, Davi e Jesus, unem os propósitos e atos da salvação de Deus numa única grande obra de salvação. A história inteira de Israel inclui-se, portanto, na revelação redentora de Deus, cujo ponto culminante é Jesus Cristo.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, Introdução à teologia bíblica: O desenvolvimento do evangelho em toda a Escritura

“The paradox of God’s being is a true and eternal mystery, not merely a reflection of our fallenness.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, The Goldsworthy Trilogy: Gospel & Kingdom, Wisdom in Revelation: Three Classic Books in One Volume

“Nevertheless, for the Christian, the motivation to holy living provided by the hope of his coming is not fear of judgment, but the desire to be like him.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible

“The incarnation (becoming flesh) of God is at the very center of the gospel event by which God restores the true relationship between himself and the human race.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible

“Perfect humanity will show itself in the way we shall worship at the throne of God and the Lamb. The mystery shall remain an endless source of praise.”
― Graeme Goldsworthy, The Goldsworthy Trilogy: Gospel & Kingdom, Wisdom in Revelation: Three Classic Books in One Volume