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Religion Quotes by Mark Dever

54 Religion quotes by Mark Dever

All Religion quotes Mark Dever’s page

Mark Dever stresses that evangelism is about gentle persuasion, not coercion, and that it belongs to every believer, not just ministers. He describes the church as a living community of people, not a building or service. He also warns that a gospel message lacking joy or urgency feels empty and can lead to hollow churches.

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A gospel that in no way offends the sinner has not been understood.

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The church is the gospel made visible.

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“The "covenant" language in the Bible is not cold, legal language, but relational language.”

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To evangelize properly by delivering the gospel, we need to follow God's agenda.

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I think it's unhelpful to suggest that the task of evangelism is essentially the responsibility of ministers.

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Pride causes us to care more about what our non-Christian friends think of us than what God will do to them in…

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Evangelism is not imposing anything on anyone; it is simply sharing the truth.

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People forget that there is a big difference between coercion and persuasion. The idea that evangelism is coercive is nonsense.

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Christians are defined not by our heritage, but by our mission; not by our blood, but by His.

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We should want to evangelize because of the joy that God puts in our hearts. Ultimately, that's the best reason for sharing…

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If you say that the gospel lays a claim upon people, then you are invading their personal space, and they feel as…

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The more you come to know the Bible - both in reading it extensively and also meditating on it deeply - the…

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Every believer should evangelize. I know some Christians think that evangelism is only for people with special gifts for it, but I…

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Most people are glad for somebody else to share their own story of how they have found spiritual help. The problems start…

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I want to defend the right of employees to share the gospel in appropriate situations. Every situation requires wisdom and insight. I…

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A church is not a Fortune 500 company. It's not simply another nonprofit organization, nor is it a social club. In fact,…

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Friend, the church finds its life as it listens to the Word of God. It finds its purpose as it lives out…

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“Can we say anything further about what discipling is? I’ve said it’s helping others follow Jesus. It’s doing them spiritual good. But…

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Indeed, some secularists are so worried about Christianity, they think Christians are about as dangerous as Muslim terrorists. They get really worried…

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“Yet the Bible teaches that the local church is the natural environment for discipling. In fact, it teaches that the local church…

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We live in a time when people are increasingly skittish about evangelism - Christians and non-Christians alike. People are suspicious of evangelism,…

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“When you understand that evangelism isn’t converting people, but that it is telling them the wonderful truth about God, the great news…

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“You and all the members of your church, Christian, are finally responsible before God for what your church becomes, not your pastors…

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“Given our disagreements over some points of the Bible, denominations are good, not bad, because they allow each church to follow Jesus…

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A healthy church is not a church that's perfect and without sin. It has not figured everything out. Rather, it's a church…

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We need to be realistic and recognize that there will be times when we won't be sharing our faith out of an…

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What really concerns me is for Christians to understand the fundamentals of evangelism in a way that is helpful in the contemporary…

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The church arises only from the gospel. And a distorted church usually coincides with a distorted gospel.

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There is no gospel without the offence. This is God's wisdom. It never seems sensible to us in our flesh.

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Christian proclamation might make the gospel audible, but Christians living together in local congregations make the gospel visible (see John 13:34-35). The…

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Evangelists have absolutely no desire to physically or emotionally coerce anyone. In a sense, we are like doctors: we have a duty…

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As a pastor, I have the opportunity every week to share the gospel publicly in a way that most of the members…

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When a person becomes a Christian, he doesn’t just join a local church because it’s a good habit for growing in spiritual…

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“J. C. Ryle said, "There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have…

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We mustn't be content to just sit around pointing out the errors in others; we actually need to be sharing the gospel…

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All evangelists want to do is share a message about the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. But our world is…

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I don't see a clerical class in the New Testament to which evangelism has been delegated. Preaching is not the only way…

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As long as quick numerical growth remains the primary indicator of church health, the truth will be compromised. Instead, churches must once…

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I love Iain Murray's definition of worldliness: towards the end of Evangelicalism Divided, he says that worldliness consists of loving idols and…

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“Part of being a Christian is recognizing that sin deceives us, and we need other believers to help us see the things…

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More by Mark Dever

“not the writings that come from prophets inspired by the one true God revealed in Jesus Christ, then why do we find those passages…

I think it's unhelpful to suggest that the task of evangelism is essentially the responsibility of ministers.

People forget that there is a big difference between coercion and persuasion. The idea that evangelism is coercive is nonsense.

T]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people…

What really concerns me is for Christians to understand the fundamentals of evangelism in a way that is helpful in the contemporary scene.

Prayer is the preview of God's action.

I assume that normally the Lord will be bringing people to himself through the instrumentality of the preached word. However, we have to be…

“The motive for discipling others begins in the love of God and nothing less. He has loved us in Christ, and so we love…

If joy or urgency are missing from our presentation of the gospel, then our testimony to Christ will be missing that sort of fullness…

“Yet the Bible teaches that the local church is the natural environment for discipling. In fact, it teaches that the local church is itself…

Sin claims to free but in fact it kills.

Some believers are faithful in the way that they live, but at the end of the day, they will not share the gospel with…

We do not fail in our evangelism if we faithfully tell the gospel to someone who is not subsequently converted; we fail only if…

Once we see more of our need and understand more of what Christ has done for us, he will become more precious to us.…

Unfortunately, many of our churches calibrate their life to these nominal Christians. The predictable result is that you get fake, hypocritical churches that confuse…