Paul David Tripp

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NO LASTING CHANGE

“Our physical bodies and natural appetites were created by God and are not sinful in themselves. Nevertheless, if left uncontrolled, we will find our bodies becoming ‘instrument of wickedness’ rather than ‘instrument of righteousness’” (Rom 6:13)” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p108).

“We tend to act according to our feelings. The trouble is, we seldom ‘feel’ like doing what we should do” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p111).

“There is no point in our saying that we believe that Christ has died for us and that we believe our sins are forgiven unless we can also say that for us old things are passed away and all things are become new, that our outlook toward the world and its method of living is entirely changed. It is not that we are sinless, nor that we are perfect, but that we have finished with that way of life” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, March 28th).

“[T]hrough our union with Christ we have died to this realm of sin. We have been set free from sin (Romans 6:18), rescued from the dominion of darkness (Colossians 1:13), and turned from the power of Satan to God (Acts 26:18). Before our salvation we were in bondage to sin, under the reign and rule of sin. Regardless of how decent and moral we were, we lived in the kingdom of sin. But now through our union with Christ in His death to sin, we have been delivered out of the realm of sin and placed in the kingdom and realm of righteousness” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p54).

“A person who manifests a self-reliant recognition of wrong assigns to himself the power to do better and then gives himself to spiritual-looking acts of penance that make him feel good about himself and his potential ability to do better. But while he is acknowledging sin, there is no verticality to what he is doing. [T]here is no Godward confession, no recognition of his desperate need for rescue, and no repentance that is motivated by a heart filled with gratitude for and worship of God. It is an ‘I can save myself’ way of dealing with sin, and it is far more prevalent in the church of Jesus Christ than we would think. It never results in lasting change” Paul David Tripp ( ref# 190, Nov 17th).

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LOOKING OVER SIN

“He who sees no sin in himself will feel no need of a Savior” William S. Plumer (ref#358, p2).

“Our problem is that we do not take some sin seriously. We have mentally categorized sins into that which is unacceptable and that which may be tolerated a bit” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p18).

“Many of us are careful to maintain an outwardly upright life, but are we just as diligent to cultivate holiness in our thoughts? Since we are unable to do that on our own, are we not in desperate need of a Savior” John Calvin (ref#164, Jan 16th)?

“Christians taking in the teaching of the Bible can be deceived about their own sins. We somehow feel that consent to the teaching of Scripture is equivalent to obedience” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p72).

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22 ESV).

“[A]s human beings, we’re all glory junkies. One bite of chocolate glory is not enough for us. The beautiful watch, the cool car, the best taco, the well-designed golf course, the perfectly appointed kitchen, and the stunning piece of music all get our attention and leave us wanting more.  But these glories were created and placed in our lives for a purpose. All of the glories of the physical created world serve this one purpose—to remind us of and point us to the glory of God. The physical world is wonderfully glorious, but it was never meant to be our stopping point any more than the sign that points to something is meant to be the end of the journey” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, May 31st).

“Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity” (1 John 2:15-17 MSG).

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UNDER THE DOMINION AND POWER OF SATAN

“A gruesome death like the one that Christ endured for me would only be required for one who is exceedingly sinful and unable to appease a holy God” Milton Vincent (ref#60, p33).

“[T]he awful condition of the unconverted. [They are] under the dominion and power of Satan, led captive by him at his will (2 Tim 2:26)” Octavius Winslow (ref#381, p46).

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—“ (Eph 2:1-2 ESV).

“[T]o live under the dominion of sin connotes a settled course of life” Jerry Bridges (ref#192, p71).

“[I]t is a faithful portrait of you, if you are yet not born again of the Spirit. The strong man armed, who is the devil, has still the full possession of your soul and will remain in undisputed, and willing occupation until a stronger than he enters, spoils him of his goods, and casts him out. It is his aim and policy to keep your soul in carnal security, in false peace, in the stillness and insensibility of spiritual death. Mistake not rash confidence for humble faith, groundless expectation for assured hope! Satan is a great counterfeiter! He not only can quote Scripture, but he can imitate grace” Octavius Winslow (ref#381, p46).

“As long as you are in the position of trying to justify yourself, you have not repented” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#189, Dec 29th).

“If you have quit being defensive and are now willingly and humbly approachable, you know that transforming grace has visited you. Sin makes us all shockingly self-righteous. It makes us all committed self-excusers. Because accepting blame is not natural, it takes rescuing, transforming grace to produce a humble, willing, broken, self-examining, help-seeking heart” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Apr 26th).

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A MATTER OF THE HEART

“[T]he heart refers to the center of one’s being including the mind, emotions, and will” ESV Study Bible (ref#125, p1907).

“Sin isn’t primarily about acts of rebellion. Sin is, first of all, a condition of the heart that results in acts of rebellion. You and I commit sins because we are sinners” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Jan 30th).

“Have you known anything of real, personal, inward consciousness of the awfulness of your guilt in the presence of a holy God? Have you seen the horribleness of a heart that is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” Albert N. Martin (ref#221, p8)?

“[D]isobedience is personal. Every sin is a violation of a relationship—a sin against God. The first way we devalue sin is to think that sin is about behavior and behavior alone. Sin is always a matter of the thoughts, desires, motives, and choices of the heart. [Y]our body physically goes where your heart has already gone” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Dec 11th ).

“[T]he LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.’” (1 Sam 16:7 ESV).

“The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust” (James 1:13-15 MSG).

“[I]t is only when God is in his rightful place in my heart that I desire to live in a way that please him. Every sin denies his existence and his authority. Every sin replaces him with something else. Every sin quests for his power and his glory. Every sin is after his throne” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Dec 11th).

“You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way. [W]hat he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find” (James  4:4-6 MSG).

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EXCEEDING EVIL OF SIN

“God’s grace is active, rescuing, transformative grace. You celebrate this by being as serious about your need as the God of this grace is. God took sin so seriously that he did two things when the first transgression occurred—he immediately meted out punishment and he immediately set in motion his plan of rescue and redemption. Both demonstrate God’s seriousness about what we all too easily deny or minimize” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, June 5th).

“[T]he truth of what the Word of God declares concerning the exceeding evil of sin; for the same eye that discerns the transcendent beauty of holiness necessarily therein sees the exceeding odiousness of sin; the same taste which relishes the sweetness of true moral good tastes the bitterness of moral evil. And by this means a man sees his own sinfulness and loathsomeness; for he has now a sense to discern objects of this nature, and so sees the truth of what the Word of God declares concerning the exceeding sinfulness of mankind, which before he did not see. He now sees the dreadful pollution of his heart; and this shows him the truth of what the Scripture reveals concerning his nature, and his need of a Savior” Jonathan Edwards (ref#229, p83).

“Why did the Son of God come into this world of sin? He came ‘to save that which was lost’, to provide pardon and forgiveness of sin by the shedding of His own blood and the breaking of His own body upon the cross. If I say I have no sin, I am denying the incarnation, the death and the resurrection—I am making God a liar” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#332, p113).

“[F]ailure to realise that we as sinners need forgiveness is the failure to realise the nature of sin, to grasp that our own natures are sinful and to understand that we have all actually sinned and need forgiveness” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#332, p113).

“Corruption does not lie dormant in the Christian: though it reigns not supreme (because of a principle of grace to oppose it) yet it molests and often prevails to a very considerable extent. Because of this the Christian is called upon to wage a constant warfare against it: to ‘mortify’ it, to struggle against its inclinations and deny its solicitations” A.W. Pink (ref#269, p112).

“[W]hen divine justice is seen requiring the very heart’s blood of God’s only son in order to quench its infinite need for satisfaction; when God in Christ is seen in His humiliation, suffering, and death, all with the design of pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin; how fearful a sin against this holy Lord God seems! Do not be discouraged if the more intensely the desire for sanctification rises, the deeper and darker the revelation of the heart’s hidden evil” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Aug 13th).

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TEMPTATIONS

“Temptation itself is not sin; but temptation is the invitation to sin, and the wages of sin is death” Jeff Pollard (ref#372).

“A temptation in general, is anything that for any reason exerts a force or influence to seduce and draw the mind and heart of man from the obedience that God requires of him to any kind of sin. In particular, it is a temptation if it causes a man to sin, gives him opportunity to do so, or causes him to neglect his duty” John Owen (ref#373, p4).

“Temptation plays to the evil desires and idolatrous cravings that still live in my heart. Temptation appeals to my selfishness and greed. Temptation targets my laziness and impatience. Temptation hooks my materialism and discontent. Temptation goes after my desire to have my own way and write my own rules” Paul David Tripp (ref# 190, Nov 29th).

“Every man is haunted with special temptations—temper, sex, age, custom, calling, company, course of affairs” Thomas Manton (ref#375, p15).

“For all its pretty lies, all temptation is the original promise that cannot be kept. The devil’s temptations are always thoroughly man-centered and custom-crafted for the individual” Jeff Pollard (ref#372).

“The heart is corrupted by objects that we take in by the senses, as it corrupted Eve. [It] dealt with her first by the sense: the forbidden fruit was full in her way, then the devil sets upon her. He knows how to tempt by awakening the inclinations of our own body against us” Thomas Manton (ref#375, p14-15).

“[L]et the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isa 55:7 ESV).

“When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions. Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple” (Ps 65:3-4 ESV)!

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PRESENT HELP

“It’s the evil inside me that connects me to the evil outside me. God’s grace is grace for the heart” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Mar 7th).

“Every moment in which we do not love God with all our hearts, we sin. Every moment in which we do not love our neighbor as ourselves, we sin. Every moment in which we do not exercise faith in Christ, we sin. When we do not set our affections on things above, we sin. When we are not constantly influenced by the fear of God, we sin. When we do not rejoice in God, we sin. When the contents of God’s Word [do] not properly affect us, we sin. When we do not forgive and love our enemies, we sin” Edward Payson (ref#362, p29).

“Sin is a matter of our nature before it is ever played out in our behavior. [S]ystems of behavior reformation won’t work for us because our problem is deeper than behavior. Systems of self-help won’t work because we are our own biggest problem. The grace that placed our iniquity on the Savior, so that we could be both forgiven and delivered, is more powerful than our sinful natures. Our cure is not a system; it is a person, and his name is Jesus” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Aug 2nd)!

“Our struggle with sin is so deep that it was not enough for God to forgive us, so he also unzipped us and got inside of us by his Spirit” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Oct 4th).

“He gets inside us, working within us, because there is no possibility that we will desire and do what is right without the inner working of his power. [W]e cannot take credit for any aspect or any instance of our obedience, because apart from the Spirit’s presence, we would have neither the motivation nor the power to obey. He has come, and his convicting and enabling grace is his moment-by-moment gift to you” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Oct 4th).

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FEAR OF GOD

“Do you hope in the one you fear and fear the one you hope in” John Piper (ref #220, p197)?

“[T]he LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread” (Isa 8:13 ESV).

“When the fear of God overwhelms and controls your heart, it protects you from the paralyzing and debilitating fear of other things” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Aug 26th).

“[F]ear reflects the greatness of his power and our hope reflects the bounty of his grace. God delights in those responses which mirror his magnificence. This is just what we would have expected from a God who is all-sufficient in himself and has no need of us—a God who will never give up the glory of being the fountain of all joy, who will never surrender the honor of being the source of all safety, who will never abdicate the throne of sovereign grace. God has pleasure in those who hope in his love because that hope highlights the freedom of his grace. When I cry out, ‘God is my only hope, my rock, my refuge!’ I am turning from myself and calling all attention to the boundless resources of God” John Piper (ref# 220, p199).

“’The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him,’ and to fear Him is not to dread Him as a slave, but, as a child, to walk blameless in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Sept 30).

“What kind of response can God demand from us so that the demand gives good news to us and glory to him? This is the answer: the demand to hope in his love with an earnest, profound sense of his awesome power: John Piper (ref#220, p199).

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love cast out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (1 John 4:18 ESV).

“[W]hen you hope in God you show that he is strong and you are weak; that he is rich and you are poor; that he is full and you are empty. When you hope in God you show that you are the one who has needs, not God” John Piper (ref#220, p200).

“Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence, assured of his glad welcome” (Eph 3:12 NLT).

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SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS

“I know that I suffer from spiritual blindness and don’t see myself accurately” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, May 18th).

“The old life was disciplined [trained] toward ungodliness. We all tend to act according to these sinful habits that have been engraved in us from long practice” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p55).

“Sin does two very significant things to us all. First, it causes us all to insert ourselves into the center of our worlds, making life all about us. In our self-focus, we are all too motivated by our wants, our needs, and our feelings, and because we are, we tend to be more aware of what we don’t have than of the many wonderful blessings that we have been given. But there is more; because we are self-focused, we tend to be scorekeepers, constantly comparing our piles of stuff to the piles of others. It’s a life of discontentment and envy. Envy is always selfish” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Jan 6th).

“We struggle with pride, jealously, materialism, impatience, and lust. We still eat too much, waste our time, criticize each other, shade the truth just a little, and indulge in a dozen other sins, all the time hating ourselves for doing them” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p51).

“[W]e eat and drink just to gratify physical desire. [W]e lie in bed in the morning simply because we don’t ‘feel’ like getting up when we should. [W]e give in to immoral looks and thoughts” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p108).

“No need to carry the burden of ownership of your life today. You’ve been bought with a price, so you don’t belong to you anymore” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, May 30th).

“The God who now owns you is committed to keep you and care for you. He covers your past with his grace; he protects, provides for, and empowers you in the present; and he holds every aspect of your future in his sovereign and gracious hands” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, May 30th).

“Yes, because you were purchased at the price of blood, you don’t belong to you anymore. But that is a good thing. The One who now owns you is a wiser and more powerful manager of your life than you ever would have been. He cares for you with magnificent grace, incalculable wisdom, and limitless power. Being owned by him means you are in the best of hands. It means you’re no longer burdened by living for you. A new owner has taken control of your life, and this new owner is more capable than anyone or anything you could give your life to” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, May 30th).

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SAINTS WHO SIN

“There never was a child that required schooling or education to learn deceitfulness, sensuality, passion, self-will, gluttony, pride, and foolishness” J.C Ryle (ref#363, p35).

“The fall made us all a danger to ourselves. Because of the sin in us, we think bad things, we desire bad things, we are attracted to bad things, and we choose bad things—and we are blind to much of this going on inside of ourselves. So not only do we need God’s presence and his wisdom to guide and protect us, but we also need his grace to rescue us” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, May 29th).

 “[T]here is no one who does not sin” (2 Chron 6:36 ESV).

“[W]e all start out as sinners. There’s nobody living right, not even one. [W]hatever is written in these Scriptures is not what God says about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! Our involvement with God’s revelation doesn’t put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity” (Rom 3:9-20 MSG).

“[T]he heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil” (Ecc 8:11 ESV).

“[Y]ou want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves” (James 4:1-2 MSG).

“The idol of idols really is the idol of self. We make it all about us. We put ourselves in the center of the story” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Aug 3rd).

 “[T]he power of sin has been broken, but the presence of sin still remains inside us and is being progressively eradicated by God’s delivering grace. We all still carry around inside us the darkness of iniquity, transgression, and sin. We have not yet fully escaped the dire danger that is us” Paul David Tripp (ref#190, Mar 18th).

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9 ESV).

“Not only the sins I have committed and still commit, but the evil nature, the unworthiness in me, I have to mortify” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#211, p48).