Lewis B. Smedes
Lewis B. Smedes
Lewis Benedictus Smedeswas a renowned Christian author, ethicist, and theologian in the Reformed tradition. He was a professor of theology and ethics for twenty-five years at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. His 15 books, including the popular Forgive and Forget, covered some important issues including sexuality and forgiveness...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
CountryUnited States of America
blood business christ covers experience god order personal
The blood of Christ covers all of our sins, but each of us must do personal business with God in order to experience his forgiveness.
forgiveness pain order
I worry about fast forgivers. They tend to forgive quickly in order to avoid their pain. Or they forgive fast in order to get an advantage over the people they forgive. And their instant forgiving only makes things worse... People who have been wronged badly and wounded deeply should give themselves time and space before they forgive... There is a right moment to forgive. We cannot predict it in advance; we can only get ourselves ready for it when it arrives... Don't do it quickly, but don't wait too long.
almost arise causing dealt society
Retributive justice did not arise from any Christian principle; almost every pre-Christian society dealt with wrongdoers by causing them pain.
cannot decide private
Nothing is more private than a woman's body; it is her physical, emotional, and moral citadel. She cannot be free at all if she is not free to decide for herself, in private, what to do with her body.
care couple die died father five heart kids leave months wife
My father was only thirty-one when he died of a heart attack, much too young for a father to die and leave his young wife with five rambunctious little kids to take care of. I was the youngest. Only a couple of months old when he died.
belongs infer job might properly punishing reasonably render state though
Jesus said that we should render to the state what properly belongs to the state, and though he had taxes in mind, we might reasonably infer that giving the state the job of punishing wrongdoers is one way of giving the state its due.
help life people promises
Some people still make promises and keep those they make. When they do, they help make life around them more stably human.
causes people seems though
Some people still have causes they will not desert, even though the cause seems lost.
human
Common sense suggests that if no one ever judged other people, there would be no real human community.
agree membership privilege religious respect society
Our society is pluralistic. We who accept the privilege of membership in that society agree to respect the people's right to live by their own religious precepts.
call citizen exist failed grade held jury nobody sinful sit teacher
In a sinful world, no community can exist for long where nobody is ever held accountable: no teacher would grade a student's performance; no citizen would sit on a jury or call a failed leader to account.
god
God is not a doormat, nor should anyone else be a doormat.
personal prying secret victims
The right to personal privacy is precious. Without it, we are all potential victims for a prying secret police.
faith informed salvation
As I read the New Testament, I find only one path to salvation - the path of an informed faith in Jesus Christ.