06 October 2010

Packer: Spiritual Authority

From the essay 'The Practical Writings of the English Puritans,' in A Quest for Godliness:
Spiritual authority is hard to pin down in words, but we recognise it when we meet it. It is a product compounded of conscientious faithfulness to the Bible; vivid perception of God's reality and greatness; inflexible desire to honour and please him; deep self-searching and radical self-denial; adoring intimacy with Christ; generous compassion manward; and forthright simplicity, God-taught and God-wrought, adult in its knowingness while childlike in its directness.

The man of God has authority as he bows to divine authority, and the pattern of God's power in him is the baptismal pattern of being supernaturally raised from under burdens that feel like death.
--J. I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Crossway 2010; repr.), 77

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"The man of God has authority as he bows to divine authority, and the pattern of God's power in him is the baptismal pattern of being supernaturally raised from under burdens that feel like death."

Yes. Deeply yes.