2011 National Conference - Session 1 (R.C. Sproul)

This afternoon marks the beginning of the 24th Ligonier Ministries National Conference. This year’s conference is titled “Light & Heat: A Passion for the Holiness of God.” It brings together the ministries of R.C. Sproul and John Piper.

The conference began with Chris Larson, Executive Vice President of Ligonier, interviewing Dr. Sproul about how he came to be drawn to God’s holiness.

Dr. Sproul spoke of his early days as a Christian. Just weeks after the Lord saved him, he read the whole Bible and immediately found himself drawn to God’s character. This first reading came as shock as he encountered the nature and revelation of God. And in particular, he was drawn to God’s holiness.

Over the first years of his ministry he had opportunity to deliver a series of lectures on God’s holiness, and later to have it recorded. Then a publisher asked him to write The Holiness of God. And the rest is history.

Why this emphasis on God’s holiness? Because our doctrine of God informs the doctrine of Christ, of atonement, of salvation, of sin, of everything. The control mechanism for all our thought is who we understand that God is. To grow in grace we have to grow in our knowledge of God, not just to puff up our intellect but that we may know him. The more we know him, the more we love him, the more we love him, the greater our capacity to serve and honor and obey him.