John R. Rice Quotes of the Week

"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps. 51:5). David did not mean that it was a sin for his mother to be married, and be a normal wife and conceive and bear children. He meant that since his mother was human and his father was human, that taint was on him from conception. His nature is evil and not good. He is saying that the awful sins of adultery and murder, which exploded in his life, grew from an inherent taint that every man has from birth. - John R. Rice

So Eliphaz in Job 15:14 says, "What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?" And Job 25:4 says, "How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?" The Scripture says, "They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies" (Ps. 58:3).
That does not speak primarily of deliberate sin.
That speaks of the inborn sinful nature. - John R. Rice

Christians are now born of God. They are now "partakers of the divine nature" (II Pet. 1:4). We are even told about this new nature that is born of God, "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him" (I John 3:6). It is the old man, the old nature that commits sin and is of the Devil. And we are told again in I John 5:18, "We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not." We are even told in I John 3:9, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." Remember, however, that it is only the new nature that is born of God and so the Christian has both the old and new natures. - John R. Rice

Every Christian ought to do two or three things with the Scriptures. First, he ought to read them carefully every day to find what is the plan of God and the will of God, what is right and what is wrong. Second, he ought to meditate therein so that the Holy Spirit can use them to speak to his heart. And third, he ought to be most careful to listen to what the Bible says. Remember that Proverbs 28:9 says, "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." - John R. Rice

My brother, Dr. Bill Rice, and I were discussing this problem of what any sin, when consented to and unrebuked in the heart of a Christian will do. And he said, "If you leave one little gate open, every cow in the pasture may get out." And he meant that a man who consents to a little "white lie," as you might call it, will go deeper in lying. And one who is intemperate in his speech may grow to cursing. One who allows hate and malice may become a murderer. There is no safe course for one who consents to some sin and lets it go unrebuked, unconfessed, unrepented in this life. - John R. Rice 

A holy and good God who has done His best to save people has a right to be angry with holy indignation against those who reject His mercy, who hate His Son, who scorn His entreaties and go on in their sins. Hell is not only the inevitable but the righteous and proper end for the unrepentant Christ-rejector. - John R. Rice

There are only two plans of salvation really. Analyze every religion in the world, true and false, and you will find the salvation offered is under one of these two plans. People are either saved by their own good works, the good things they do, or they are saved by faith in the good things that Christ has done for us. One must depend either on human goodness, works and ceremonies, or trust in God to give freely what the sinner cannot earn. Those are the only two plans of salvation that have ever been invented. They are Cain's way and Abel's way. They are illustrated in Luke eighteen by the Pharisee's boast of his good works and the publicans cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" Which plan are you trying to use to get to Heaven? - John R. Rice