Erwin W. Lutzer Quotes

Each temptation leaves us better or worse; neutrality is impossible.

In salvation, God both declares us guilty and pays our debt. Only he can satisfy his own requirements. A savior less than God would be disqualified; God must do it himself.

We cannot say no to temptation without saying yes to something far better.

Keep in mind that when sin is viewed superficially, it is dealt with superficially.

We must worship in truth. Worship is not just an emotional exercise but a response of the heart built on truth about God. "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth" (Psm. 145:18). Worship that is not based on God's Word is but an emotional encounter with oneself.

Spiritual maturity is marked by being comfortable with the unpredictability of God.

God loves the world. Go thou and do likewise.

God does not make our choices easier because temptation is his character development curriculum.

To make sure our convictions, views, and assumptions about our Creator stay based on biblical truth and not on popular consensus, we must continually check what we believe against the Scriptures.

Mass communication can aid in personal evangelism and the development of Christians, but it cannot be a substitute for the world seeing the truth lived through us.

When the mask of self-righteousness has been torn from us and we stand stripped of all our accustomed defenses, we are candidates for God's generous grace.

Within evangelicalism is a distressing drift toward accepting a Christianity that does not demand a life-changing walk with God. Many evangelicals (today) do not realize that the church has always been an island of righteousness in a sea of paganism, but as a result they turned the world upside-down.

Worship is not just an emotional exercise but a response of the heart built on truth about God.

The ability to make judgments lies at the heart of Christian living. Unless we are able to judge doctrine, lifestyles, and entertainment, unless we are able to distinguish between outer appearance and inner character, we just might miss the purpose for which God placed us on this earth. We might end up accepting a stone for bread and a snake for a fish.

No matter how many pleasures Satan offers you, his ultimate intention is to ruin you. Your destruction is his highest priority.

Forgiveness is always free. But that doesn't mean that confession is always easy. Sometimes it is hard. Incredibly hard. It is painful to admit our sins and entrust ourselves to God's care.

There is more grace in God's heart than there is sin in your past.

Every time we love, we increase our capacity to be hurt.

Someone has said that the marks of a strong church are wet eyes, bent knees, and a broken heart. We'll never be powerful until we let God be God and jealously guard His honor.

A Christian life based on feeling is headed for a gigantic collapse.

Often the doorway to success is entered through the hallway of failure.

Don't ever think that there are many ways to the Divine. Jesus is the one qualified mediator, the only qualified sacrifice, and the only qualified savior.

It is not enough to do God's work; it must be done in His way and for His credit.

Make no mistake about the intention of these secularists: It is to discredit the voice of Christians so that America will tolerate only one view.

Prayer, desperate prayer, seems so simple, but it’s a step rarely taken by those in family conflict.

There is a clear intent to keep Christian thinking out of the mainstream of the media and the nation's political life.

Paul taught that religions evolved because man did not honor the true God. Because of rebellion, they "exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of the corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." One characteristic of idolatry is that it always confuses the creature with the creator.

Thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness in our pain is the indisputable proof that we believe God is a part of our pain.

Faith is only as good as the object in which it is placed.

Everything that God brings into our life is directed to one purpose: that we might be conformed to the image of Christ.

Only those who see themselves as utterly destitute can fully appreciate the grace of God.

The activities we do for God are secondary. God is looking for people who long for communication with Him.

Milk many cows but make your own butter.

Only eternal values can give meaning to temporal ones. Time must be the servant of eternity.

Emotional peace and calm come after doing God's will and not before.

Worship is not an external activity precipitated by the right environment. To worship in spirit is to draw near to God with an undivided heart. We must come in full agreement without hiding anything or disregarding His will.

Those who have failed miserably are often the first to see God's formula for success.

Money is emphasized in Scripture simply because our temptation to love it is inexplicably powerful.

Are we as willing to go into debt for the work of God as we are for a vacation to Hawaii?

There are no shortcuts to spiritual maturity. It takes time to be holy.

Temptation is God's magnifying glass; it shows us how much work he has left to do in our lives.

Thank God for the way He made you. You are special, distinct, and unique. You were not made from a common mold. Thank Him that you are special.

Better to love God and die unknown than to love the world and be a hero.

Men look for better methods, but God looks for better men.

Satan exploits pain by making it the central focus of the man’s (or woman’s) thoughts and attitudes.

You become stronger only when you become weaker. When you surrender your will to God, you discover the resources to do what God requires.

Christmas can be transformed into a celebration more attuned to honoring the One whose birthday we celebrate.

Our response to temptation is an accurate barometer of our love for God.