“Calvary not merely made possible the salvation of those for whom Christ died; it ensured that they would be brought to faith and their salvation made actual.”

J.I. Packer

“We are not bearing our crosses every time we have a headache; an aspirin tablet will take care of that. What is meant is the trouble we would not have if we were not Christians.”

Vance Hanver

“The purpose of our holy and righteous God was to save His church, but their sin could not go unpunished. It was, therefore, necessary that the punishment for that sin be transferred from those who deserved it but could not bear it, to one who did not deserve it but was able to bear it.”

John Owen

“The husband is the head of the wife just in so far as he is to her what Christ is to the church. He is to love her as Christ loved the Church—read on—and gave his life for her (Eph. V, 25). The headship, then, is most fully embodied not in the husband we should all wish to be but in him whose marriage is most like a crucifixion; whose wife receives most and gives least, is most unworthy of him—is, in her own mere nature—least loveable. For the Church has no beauty but what the Bridegroom gives her; he does not find, but makes her, lovely.”

C.S. Lewis-The Four Loves