Quotes by Lewis B. Smedes

About Lewis B. Smedes:

Lewis Benedictus Smedes was a renowned Christian author, ethicist, and theologian in the Reformed tradition. He was a professor of theology and ethics for twenty-five years at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. His 15 books, including the popular Forgive and Forget, covered some important issues including sexuality and forgiveness.
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Nothing enables us to forgive like knowing in our hearts that we have been forgiven.

Lewis B. Smedes

Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.

Lewis B. Smedes

You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well.

Lewis B. Smedes

Our history is an inevitable component of our being. One thing only can release us from the grip of our history. That one thing is forgiveness.

Lewis B. Smedes

The blood of Christ covers all of our sins, but each of us must do personal business with God in order to experience his forgiveness.

Lewis B. Smedes

True, the apostles did not expressly say that people will be saved only if they repent, believe, and confess. But most evangelicals assume - with good reason - that this is what the apostles implied.

Lewis B. Smedes

Modern Americans suffer from a fear of judging. Passing judgment on the behavior of fellow human beings is considered an act of medieval, undemocratic intolerance.

Lewis B. Smedes

As I read the New Testament, I find only one path to salvation - the path of an informed faith in Jesus Christ.

Lewis B. Smedes

God is not a doormat, nor should anyone else be a doormat.

Lewis B. Smedes

The God who has the whole world in his hands has grace for the whole world in his heart.

Lewis B. Smedes

God does not give us salvation because we believe. Our believing is only the normal way of receiving the salvation he freely gives.

Lewis B. Smedes

At the cross, God was punishing Jesus for the sins of the world. God's justice required a penalty from sinners, and in his unspeakable love, he paid the penalty himself in the person of his crucified Son.

Lewis B. Smedes

The Holy Spirit, thank God, often enables people to forgive even though they are not sure how they did it.

Lewis B. Smedes

I believe that we should, on biblical grounds, tell all parents of mentally disabled children that God loves their children, regrets terribly that they are disabled, and will, when they die, carry them gently into a heavenly life where every person i...

Lewis B. Smedes

Some people still make promises and keep those they make. When they do, they help make life around them more stably human.

Lewis B. Smedes

Forgiving is love's toughest work, and love's biggest risk.

Lewis B. Smedes

Promise keeping is a powerful means of grace in a time when people hardly depend on each other to remember and live by their word.

Lewis B. Smedes

It takes one person to forgive, it takes two people to be reunited.

Lewis B. Smedes

Our society is pluralistic. We who accept the privilege of membership in that society agree to respect the people's right to live by their own religious precepts.

Lewis B. Smedes

Retributive justice did not arise from any Christian principle; almost every pre-Christian society dealt with wrongdoers by causing them pain.

Lewis B. Smedes

In a sinful world, no community can exist for long where nobody is ever held accountable: no teacher would grade a student's performance; no citizen would sit on a jury or call a failed leader to account.

Lewis B. Smedes

Author Bio

  • NameLewis B. Smedes
  • DescriptionAmerican theologian
  • BornAugust 20, 1921
  • DiedDecember 19, 2002