Paul David Washer Quotes

It is only against the pitch blackness of the night that we see the glory of the stars. And it is only against the pitch blackness of man’s radical depravity that we can begin to see the glories of the gospel.

Avoid trivial pursuits. You are a child of God, destined for glory, and called to do great things in His Name. Do not waste your life on hobbies, sports, and other recreational pursuits. Do not throw away the precious moments of your life on entertainment, movies, and video games. Though some of these things can properly have a 'small place' in the Christian’s life, we must be careful not to give undue attention to temporal and fruitless activities. Do not waste your life. Employ the time of your youth in developing the character and skills necessary to be a useful servant of God.

He [Jesus] knew no sin. Do you realize this? There has never been one moment in your life— not one moment in your life that wasn’t tainted by sin. And yet, there never was a moment in His life that was tainted by sin! Someone asked me a long time ago, "What is the greatest sin you can commit?" And all of a sudden it just popped in my head so I said it— I said, “Well, I suppose the greatest sin you could commit is to break the greatest commandment that’s ever been given: to love the Lord your God with all you heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Do you realize there’s never been one moment in your life that you have loved God as God ought to be loved? To even suggest that you have is paramount to blasphemy. You have never loved God in a way that God deserves to be loved. But there was never one moment in the life of the man Jesus Christ that He did not love God as God deserves to be loved! You think Jesus is great? He’s greater than you know...

The desire to be affirmed and appreciated is deadly venom to a man of God, yet it appears that many have been bitten.

The New Testament leaves no room for the popular evangelical opinion that a person may be truly born again who is apathetic toward righteousness and lives a life of open sin and rebellion.

Although all believers are subject to many failings and can fall before the smallest temptation, their determination to continue in the faith and their gradual and progressive sanctification are great evidences of salvation and provide a solid ground for assurance. 1

There is not a godly remnant in the true church; that true church is the godly remnant.

The person who professes faith in Christ and yet finds beauty and joy in the things that oppose the will of God should be concerned about the validity of his profession.

Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.”17 Any man who entertains even the remotest possibility that there is a personal and moral God must tremble at David’s question. Unless he is an imbecile or his conscience has been seared beyond use, he must recognize that he does not possess the necessary qualifications to stand approved before the Judge of all the earth.

We must recognize that we have not been honest until we have explained to seekers that receiving Christ is the most sensible yet dangerous thing they could ever do. After all, like C. S. Lewis’s Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, He is not a tame lion, and He certainly is not safe. He has the right to ask anything of those who confess His lordship. The same Jesus who beckons the weary to Himself may also ask everything of them, even sending them forth to lose their lives for His sake in this dark and fallen world.

Very few have heard that without holiness or sanctification no one will see the Lord.

God uses these false prophets to draw out the unbelieving and unregenerate from among His people so that their poison might not spring up and defile many.

We must renounce the present-day methodologies that lead people to trust in a sinner’s prayer and bring them to a persevering “looking unto Christ” in faith.

the false convert is unmoved by Christ’s teaching because he is unmoved by Christ’s person.

Contemporary evangelicalism has been grossly affected by a “once saved always saved” teaching that argues for the possibility of salvation apart from sanctification.

However, a person’s singular and sincere desire to save his own skin does not prove a work of conversion in his heart.

The validity of our confession of Jesus Christ’s lordship and of our conversion is evidenced by our obedience to the Father’s will.

the Scriptures are adamant, even relentless, in their striving to convince us that the evidence of having passed through the gate is that we have become pilgrims on the narrow way.

Those who choose the broad way boast that they have freed themselves from the Tyrant of heaven, but in doing so they have subjected themselves to the tyranny of their own depraved hearts.

However, the most frightening thing about many of the individuals and churches that identify with evangelicalism is not that they struggle against sin, but that they do not struggle at all.

Those who identify themselves with Christ but exhibit an ongoing disinterest in His Word are in as great danger as those who live in open defiance and shake a clenched fist in the face of God.

First, whose company do you most enjoy? Do you seek fellowship with other believers and delight in conversations about Christ? Or do you prefer the company of the world and rarely speak about the things of God?

The former work is accomplished through the cross. The latter work is accomplished through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, who radically transforms or recreates each member of God’s new covenant people.

It is a comfort to know that we will not remain as we are, and yet it is sometimes frightening to think of the fires through which we must pass on the narrow way in order to be rid of what God will not tolerate in us.

So many pastors are trying to keep together a bunch of wicked people, while a little flock in the midst of them is starving to death and made to go in directions they don’t want to go. They are made to go along with the carnal majority!

Our growth in Christ and our fruit-bearing are dependent upon our volition; however, we must not fail to see that our volition is dependent upon our natures, which have been radically changed through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.

The question then is not whether a person wants to pray and ask Jesus into his heart but if God has so worked in his heart through the preaching of the gospel that he is now repenting of sin and believing in Jesus Christ for the salvation of his soul.

The psalms of David confront us with man’s greatest dilemma: “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.”17 Any man who entertains even the remotest possibility that there is a personal and moral God must tremble at David’s question. Unless he is an imbecile or his conscience has been seared beyond use, he must recognize that he does not possess the necessary qualifications to stand approved before the Judge of all the earth.

However, to the degree that the inclinations and aspirations of our lives bear a striking resemblance to those of the unbelieving world, we should be concerned. If we share the same goals with the world, and if our thoughts, time, and resources are spent on the pursuits of this age, we have cause for fear.

Our society considers a man careless if he does not have a backup plan or an alternative escape route, if he has not diversified his investments, if he has put all his eggs in the same basket, or if he has burned bridges behind him. Yet this is the very thing that the man who receives Jesus Christ must do.

We live in a world that is hostile to the gospel of Jesus Christ and holds it in contempt. Furthermore, this world is under the power of the evil one, who opposes the gospel above all other doctrines and would eradicate it from the universe if he could.33 In fact, the devil would gladly lay a Bible in the hands of every man and promote obedience to every command if in exchange we would give him the gospel.

authority. What we face now is the “sinner’s prayer.” And I am here to tell you, if there is anything I have declared war on, it is the sinner’s prayer. Yes, in the same way that dependence upon infant baptism for salvation,[29] in my opinion, was the golden calf [30] of the Reformation, the sinner’s prayer is the golden calf of today for the Baptists, the Evangelicals, and everyone else who has followed them. The sinner’s prayer has sent more people to hell than anything on the face of the earth! You say, “How can you say such a thing?” I answer: Go with me to Scripture and show me, please! I would love for you to show me where anyone evangelized that way. The Scripture does not tell us that Jesus Christ came to the nation of Israel and said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, now who would like to ask me into their hearts? I see that hand.” That is not what it says. He said, “Repent and believe the gospel” (Mar 1:15)! Men today are trusting in the fact that at least one time in their life they prayed a prayer, and someone told them they were saved because they were sincere enough. And so if you ask them, “Are you saved?” they do not say, “Yes I am, because I am looking unto Jesus and there is mighty evidence giving me assurance of being born again.” No!—they say instead, “One time in my life I prayed a prayer.” Now they live like devils, but they prayed a prayer!

We have learned of three vital characteristics of God’s new covenant people: first, those who are truly Christians will possess one heart and unite in their affections for God and for one another. Second, they will possess one way or a singularity of purpose and conduct: they will be followers of Jesus Christ. Third, they will be marked by a genuine fear of the Lord, which will result in their own blessing and the blessing of those after them.

The gospel call to repent and believe has been replaced with a call to accept Christ and repeat the sinner’s prayer, which is often at the end of tracts and the conclusion of emotional and often manipulative public invitations.

We will not because we cannot, and we cannot because we are new creatures who are no longer able to live without the light of God’s presence or to endure the darkness and filth of this age.

Many preachers today now present the gospel as a series of concise, convenient statements that, while inherently true, are often left unexplained and hollowed of their true evangelical meaning and power.

They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. —Jeremiah 32:38–39

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”—Romans 12:1-2

Si tu ropa es un marco para tu rostro del cual emana la gloria de Cristo, complace a Dios. Pero si tu ropa es un marco para tu cuerpo, es sensual, Dios lo aborrece. La naturaleza de Dios guía nuestras decisiones en cada detalle de nuestra conducta.

Se cuenta que uno de los violinistas más grandes de Europa, ya anciano, dio un concierto final. Cuando terminó, se le acercó un joven violinista y le dijo: “Señor, yo daría mi vida por tocar como usted”. A esto, el anciano respondió: “Hijo, yo he dado mi vida por tocar como yo”.

The rampant rebellion in much of Western evangelicalism is not because the new covenant is no better than the old is or because it shares some of the same weaknesses. On the contrary, apathy, materialism, and rebellion have occurred because many who profess Christ are not really of Christ, and much of what is called the church is not the true, living church at all.

They are a new people who desire God and delight in His law, not because they come from better stock than the nation of Israel but because the Holy Spirit has recreated them.

First, the vast number of carnal people who identify themselves with the church is the result of the unbiblical gospel preached from most evangelical pulpits.

We rarely mention the radical depravity of man and the heinous nature of his sin or expound it to wound the conscience. We have replaced the call to repentance and faith with the repetition of a prayer.

Preachers rarely proclaim the apostolic message that demanded that people “should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance” (Acts 26:20).

In Whitefield’s day, carnal people found assurance in their baptism and confirmation. In our day, the same kind of carnal people find their assurance in the apparent sincerity of a decision they once made and a prayer they once prayed.

The erroneous, but prevailing theory of the day is that church must look as much like the world as possible in order to be relevant and reach people for Christ. Thus, we change our look, our services, and our focus. We become interested in things that interest carnal people so that they will become interested in us. This is a grave error.

one of the great lessons learned by any true pilgrim of the narrow way is that God will go to the greatest lengths and spare no expense to make His children holy.

The Scriptures and the great confessions of the church rank saving faith among the “deep things” of God, a doctrine of unfathomable profundity that should be examined and contemplated with the greatest concern and care.

How is it, then, that so many in the evangelical church are unaware of their sin and unmarked by confession? It is because they are largely unconverted.

The Scriptures teach that, prior to conversion, a man cannot come to God because he loves evil, disdains righteousness, and fears that his evil deeds will be exposed.18 Similarly, fallen man will not seek out fellowship with a genuine disciple of Christ because he disdains the righteousness of his life and proclamation and dreads being exposed by them.

An erroneous three-tiered ranking of individuals within the evangelical community has existed for far too long:

Such a ranking has allowed the church to be filled with men, women, and youth who have a form of godliness, but deny its power; who profess God, but deny Him with their deeds; and who emphatically confess Christ’s lordship, but do not do the will of the Father.

In his outstanding book The Gospel’s Power and Message, author and preacher Paul Washer said the gospel is the great need of our day. He emphasized what we have lost and what we must regain is a passion for knowing the gospel and an equal passion for making the gospel known.

As preachers and congregants, we would be wise to see the gospel anew through the eyes of this ancient apostle and to esteem it worthy of a lifetime of careful investigation. For though we may have already lived many years in the faith; though we may possess the intellect of Edwards and the insight of Spurgeon; though we may have memorized every biblical text concerning the gospel; and though we may have digested every publication from the early church fathers, the Reformers, the Puritans, and up through the scholars of this present age, we can be assured that we have not yet even reached the foothills of this Everest that we call the gospel.

La psicología, antropología y sociología han llegado a ser las influencias más poderosas en las iglesias.

My dear friend, everybody wants to go to heaven—they just don’t want God to be there when they get there! The question is not, “do you want to go to heaven?” The question is this: “Do you want God? Have you stopped being a hater of God? Has Christ become precious to you? Do you desire Him?

Jesus gave His life for the Church, a beautiful, virgin, pristine Church. If you want to give your life for something in the ministry, give it to the Church: to a church, a body of believers, a local congregation.

He let them both run wild. But in Esau there was no work of discipline, no work of godly correction, nothing—this was the wrath of God upon him! But God severely disciplined Jacob almost every day of his life—this was the love of God upon him! It was the loving discipline, the correction of God, to bring him to holiness. And it is the same for all true believers today.

(Mat 12:33). Now, if you think that you have given Christ your heart, then He will have your body too. And I will tell you why. The heart, my friend, is not some blood-pumping muscle or some figment of a poet’s imagination. In the Bible, heart refers to the very essence or core of your being. Don’t tell me Jesus has the very essence and core of your being and it doesn’t affect your whole body and life. It just does not happen that way!

The evidence that God has made an everlasting covenant with you, sir, is that He has put the fear of God in you, so that you will not turn away from Him. And if you turn away from Him and He does not discipline you, and you continue turning away from Him, it is evidence that He has not put His fear in you. This is evidence that you have not been regenerated—you have no covenant with God at all! This, dear friends, is biblical truth.

You made a confession of faith in Christ. You professed Him even in baptism, but now it seems as though you have turned away from Him. Examine yourself. Test yourself. There is little evidence of any true conversion in you!

You have the authority to tell men the Gospel. You have authority to tell men how to be saved, and you have authority to teach men biblical principles of assurance. But you have no authority to tell men they are saved. That is the work of the Holy Spirit of God!

when you look back and you see Israel, you see a bunch of godless people, idolaters. And in the midst of them there was a tiny remnant of true believers.” That is true, but don’t apply that to the New Testament Church, because God says, “I am going to do something different, Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, declares the LORD. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD, I will put my law within them” (vs. 33).

God has only one religious institution: It is the Church. And our ultimate goal and the ultimate result of revival in this world will be the planting of biblical churches.

Is the Holy Spirit so at work in your heart through the preaching of the Gospel, that a change has been wrought, so that the sin you once loved you now hate, and the sin you once desired to embrace, you are wanting to run from it as though you were running from a dragon?

if you ever come up with this idea as a man of God, “I am sacrificing my family for the sake of the ministry,” I will tell you: you are a bold faced liar. You are sacrificing your family for the sake of the little kingdom you are trying to build. I can say that because the will of God is perfect; that means I do not have to violate the will of God with regard to my family, in order to fulfill the will of God with regard to my ministry. God doesn’t need you! He does require, however, that you be obedient.

Effectual ministry is hard, and it will cost you everything! And by the time you are an old man, you will be broken—but strong in the things of God!

A church ought to be seeker friendly, but the church ought to recognize there is only one Seeker. His name is God!—and if you want to be friendly to someone, if you want to accommodate someone, accommodate Him and His glory, even if it is rejected by everyone else.

I submit to you that this country is not Gospel hardened; it is Gospel ignorant, because most of its preachers are. Let me repeat this. The malady in this country is not liberal politicians, the root of socialism, Hollywood, or anything else. It is the so-called evangelical pastor, preacher, or evangelist of our day; that is where the malady is to be found. We do not know the Gospel.[20] We have taken the glorious Gospel of our blessed God and reduced it down to four spiritual laws, and five things God wants you to know, with a little superstitious prayer at the end. And if someone repeats it after us with enough sincerity, we popishly declare them to be born again! We have traded regeneration[21] for decisionism.[22]

Jóvenes, disciplínense en la oración. Disciplínense para leer sistemática y repetidamente las Escrituras desde Génesis hasta el Apocalipsis.  Disciplínense en su hablar. Disciplínense y cuídense con quién andan. Disciplínense cuando se acuestan y cuando se levantan. Esta es una guerra. ¡Disciplínense!

By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. —1 John 2:5–6

To put it plainly, the one who demonstrates a real and enduring love for his brother in Christ and for the church collectively gives powerful evidence of conversion. However, the one who claims Christ and yet does not love his brother has little grounds for such a boast.

It seems that the evangelical community no longer views conversion primarily as a supernatural work of God wrought through the miracle of the new birth.

If even the most emphatic and frequent confession of the lordship of Jesus Christ is not evidence of true conversion, then what is?

these teachings of Christ and the apostles are not denials of the essential Christian doctrine of justification by faith alone. They are simply affirming the universal truth that the inward reality of a thing is revealed by its accompanying character and deeds.

If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.

Eternal life is not an undetectable positional standing before God or a theological conjecture. It is a present, experimental, and discernible reality in the earthly pilgrimage of the believer.

It is as real to him as the recovery of sight to the blind, the gift of hearing to the deaf, and the restoration of life to the dead.

Therefore, Christians are viewed as those who have merely changed their minds rather than those who have been transformed by the power of God into new creatures with new natures resulting in new and righteous affections.

Christ warns us that there is a narrow path that “leads away” to eternal life and a broad path that “leads away” to eternal destruction.

Few understand the concept of the new birth as a supernatural work of God that changes the nature of a person to such a degree that he can be referred to in the Scriptures as a new creature.

We no longer think the need to examine and test ourselves to see if we are in the faith is necessary.23 Thus, the carnal sing the songs of Zion, thinking they have heaven as a future home, even though this world has their present heart.

want you to know, my friends, salvation is by faith alone! It is a work of God. It is a grace upon grace upon grace. But the evidence of conversion is not just your examination of your sincerity at the moment of your conversion. It is the on-going fruit in your life.

No somos llamados a construir imperios. No somos llamados a ser grandiosos. Somos llamados a glorificar a Dios.