Major Ian Thomas Quotes
Christianity is more than a religion or ethic, but a revolutionary principle of life that transforms us through Christ's presence and power.
Major Ian Thomas emphasizes that Christ's death was not merely for the forgiveness of sins but to enable divine action in our lives. He argues that true Christianity transcends religion and ethics, offering a revolutionary principle of life that is exciting and relevant today. Eternal life is not just a future promise but a present reality for those who are born again, and it is through the Holy Spirit that believers can live righteously. Thomas warns against living for oneself, highlighting that true worth is found in living for Christ, who empowers us to do so. Ultimately, he asserts that the essence of the Gospel is Christ in us, which transforms our lives and actions.
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Christ did not die simply that you might be saved from a bad conscience, or even to remove the stain of past failure, but to "clear the decks" for divine action.
There is something, which makes Christianity more than a religion, more than an ethic, and more than the idle dream of the sentimental idealist. It is this something, which makes it relevant to each one of us right now as a contemporary experience.
Christian living is not a method or technique; it is an entirely different, revolutionary principle of life.
There are few things quite so boring as being religious, but there is nothing quite so exciting as being a Christian!
Eternal life is not a peculiar feeling inside! It is not your ultimate destination, to which you will go when you are dead. If you are born again, eternal life is that quality of life that you possess right now.
The One who calls you to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, is the One who by your consent, goes into all the world and preaches the Gospel to every creature through you!
True godliness leaves the world convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the only explanation for you, is Jesus Christ to whose eternally unchanging and altogether adequate "I AM!" your heart has learned to say with unshatterable faith, "Thou art!"
There are those who have a life they never live. They have come to Christ and thanked Him only for what He did, but do not live in the power of who He is.
The moment you come to realize that only God can make a man godly, you are left with no option but to find God, and to know God, and to let God be God in and through you.
The One who calls you to a life of righteousness is the One who by our consent lives that life of righteousness through you!
To live "to and for yourself" is to "walk after the flesh"! To live "to and for Christ" is to "walk after the Spirit"!
Man was so engineered by God that the presence of the Creator within the creature is indispensable to His humanity.
The moment you are redeemed through the atoning death of Christ upon the cross, you receive the Holy Spirit within your human spirit.
The measure of a man's worth is the measure in which he no longer lives "to and for himself," but "to and for Jesus Christ." No more and no less!
A man could have all the money in all the banks in all the world, and be worth nothing so far as God is concerned, if he were still living "to and for himself"!
Christ in you, on the grounds of redemption this is the Gospel! To preach anything less than this must inevitably produce "Evan-jellyfish" folk with no spiritual vertebrae, whose faith does not "behave!"
The flesh everything that you do apart from Him "profiteth nothing" (John 6:63), and there is always the awful possibility, if you do not discover this principle, that you may spend a lifetime in the service of Jesus Christ doing nothing!
It is not the nature of what you are doing that determines its spirituality, but the origin of what you are doing.
Jesus Christ Himself is the final exegesis of all truth. He is all that we need to know about God, and He is all that we need to know about man.
Sermon Outline
- The Purpose of Christ's Death
- What Makes Christianity Unique
- The Nature of Christian Living
- Eternal Life and the Power of Christ
- The Importance of God's Presence
- The Measure of a Man's Worth
- Living 'to and for Jesus Christ'
- No more and no less
Key Quotes
“There are few things quite so boring as being religious, but there is nothing quite so exciting as being a Christian!” — Major Ian Thomas
“The One who calls you to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, is the One who by your consent, goes into all the world and preaches the Gospel to every creature through you!” — Major Ian Thomas
“Jesus Christ Himself is the final exegesis of all truth. He is all that we need to know about God, and He is all that we need to know about man.” — Major Ian Thomas
Application Points
- We must live our lives 'to and for Jesus Christ' to truly experience spiritual life and growth.
- The presence of God is indispensable to our humanity, and we must seek to know and experience Him.
- Our worth and value are measured by our relationship with Christ, not by our accomplishments or possessions.