Quotes from James Montgomery Boice

John 6:44 looks at the matter from the Godward side and declares, quite rightly, that no one ever made the first move toward God. We come to God only because God draws us. On the other hand, as the texts about the open door show, God does not show favoritism. Anyone, regardless of who he or she is or where he or she comes from, may be among that number.

The call of God is not restricted by anything you can imagine: race, education, social position, wealth, achievements, good deeds, the lack of them, or anything else. Therefore, there is no reason why you (whoever you are) should not be among the number of those whom God draws to Jesus.

Jesus said, "If anyone enters by me, he will be saved" (John 10:9). That includes you, and it refers to something that can take place now. If you have not yet trusted Jesus, You can trust Him now. Today is the day of salvation.

To know God as he is, is to love him as he is and to want to be like him.

So rather than repent of sin and turn for mercy to a God who is altogether sovereign, holy, knowing, and unchangeable, men and women suppress what knowledge they have and refuse to seek out that additional knowledge that could be the salvation of their souls.

Many who begin early will lose their reward (or not even actually come to a true faith in Christ and salvation) because they are approaching God in a false spirit, on the basis of their merit and not on the basis of His grace.

is the world or the church is actually irrelevant. The point is simply that the devil is going to bring forward people (whether in the church or out of it) so much like true Christians, yet not Christians, that even the servants of God will not be able to tell them apart.

Few are guided by principle any longer, only by what they prefer. "You have to decide what's right for you," we are told. In such a climate, the only remaining virtue is tolerance, and the only philosophies that are wrong are those that believe in truth.

The secular church is one dominated by the world, as much of the contemporary church is. It is characterized by the world's wisdom, the world's theology, the world's agenda, and the world's methods. The evangelical church, when it is secular, is one that seeks to do God's work but in the world's way. It looks to the media and money rather than to God and His power, which is unleashed through prayer.

In election and "irresistible" grace God does not disregard or act contrary to the will of any man or woman, as implied above. Rather, He regenerates the individual, as the result of which a will is born that now desires what the old will previously despised. Before, George hated Christ. Now he loves Him and so comes willingly when the gospel is preached. Again, if Mary desires to come, it is not in spite of God's predetermination in her case but because of it.

Contrast, as a result of that study, blessed and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we will begin to take on something of the glorious luster of the Lord Jesus Christ and will become increasingly like him.

By insisting on "grace alone" the Reformers were denying that human methods, techniques, or strategies in themselves could ever bring anyone to faith. It is grace alone expressed through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to Christ, releasing us from our bondage to sin and raising us from death to spiritual life.