Sunday, December 24, 2017

R.C. Sproul Showed Us Christ

I'm coming across a lot of tributes to Dr. Sproul. They show a man who loved God and lived his life in submission to Him. There are areas where I disagreed with him (eschatology and his negative view of dispensationlism). But his love for the Lord was an inspiration. I particularly like Derek Thomas' tribute, even though I didn't agree with the first line. But there you go:
A prince has fallen in Israel.
The death of Dr. R.C. Sproul was not wholly unexpected. His declining health in recent years helped to prepare us for his passing. Watching him decline, we sometimes allowed ourselves to ponder what life without R.C. would be like. It always proved a contemplation too painful to consider for any length of time. But now that it has happened, we prove once more that gospel certainty far outweighs the transient pain of loss. With a conviction that rises to full assurance, we believe R.C. is in heaven—that blessed place promised to the dying thief on the cross when Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). He is there because he was a sinner who placed his faith in Jesus Christ alone (and we can hear him even now insisting upon the word alone). Faith alone, in Christ alone—apart from works. Can’t you hear him saying it? How he loved these Reformation solas! He ran the race and finished the course. He endured to the end. And as he passed from this world to the nearer presence of the Lord Jesus, there was laid up for him the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, awarded to him on that day, and not only to him but also to all who have loved Jesus’ appearing (cf. 2 Tim. 4:8)...keep reading

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