Quotable

Christianity…walks with strong step and erect frame…kindly, but firm…gentle, but honest…decided, but not churlish. It does not fear to speak the stern word of condemnation against error, nor to raise its voice against surrounding evils…[and] does not shrink from giving honest reproof….It calls sin sin, on whomsoever it is found….

Both Old and New Testaments are marked by fervent outspoken testimonies against evil. To speak smooth things in such a case…is not Christianity. It is a betrayal of the cause of truth and  righteousness….Charity covereth a multitude of sins; but it does not call evil good because a good man has done it; it does not excuse inconsistencies because the inconsistent brother has a high name and a fervent spirit….

Horatius Bonar (1808-89)

There is freedom to choose which side we will be on [good or evil] but no freedom to negotiate the results of the choice….By the mercy of God…[the gospel message] announces the good news of redemption accomplished in mercy; it commands all men everywhere to repent and…to surrender to the terms of grace by believing on Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. We must all choose whether we will obey the gospel or turn away in unbelief….Our choice is our own, but the consequences of the choice have already been determined by the sovereign will of God, and from this there is no appeal.

A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of  the Holy