The answer, The answer, my friend, is not yours to invent or create. It will be decided for you. It is outside you. It is real and objective and firm. One day you will hear it. You donโt create it. You donโt define it. It comes to you, and sooner or later you conform to itโor bow to it.
John PiperIt is evil to justify killing (unborn babies) by the happy outcome of eternity for the one killed. This same justification could be used to justify killing one-year olds, or any heaven-bound believer for that matter. The Bible asks the question: "Shall we sin that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1) And: "Shall we do evil that good may come?" (Romans 3:8). In both cases the answer is a resounding NO. It is presumption to step into God's place and try to make the assignments to heaven or to hell. Our duty is to obey God, not to play God.
John PiperI sometimes fear that we have so redefined conversion in terms of human decisions and have so removed any necessity of the experience of Godโs Spirit, that many people think they are saved when in fact they only have Christian ideas in their head not spiritual power in their heart.
John PiperThe Great Commission will not get done if weโre not ready to risk our lives and the lives of our family.
John PiperSo saving grace, converting grace, for Augustine, is God's giving us a sovereign joy in God that triumphs over all other joys and therefore sways the will. The will is free to move toward whatever it delights in most fully, but it is not within the power of our will to determine what that sovereign joy will be.
John Piper