Pithy gems from Augustus Toplady

(1740 – 1778)

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Whom should we love—if not Him who loved us, and gave himself for us?

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A man's free will cannot cure him even of the toothache, or a sore finger—and yet he madly thinks it is in its power to cure his soul.

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The greatest judgment which God himself can, in the present life, inflict upon a man—is to leave him in the hand of his own boasted free-will.

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Grace finds us beggars—and leaves us debtors.
Nothing in my hand I bring—simply to Your cross I cling!

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When Christ entered into Jerusalem—the people spread garments in the way. When He enters into our hearts, we pull off our own righteousness, and not only lay it under Christ's feet but even trample upon it ourselves.

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Grace alone, makes the elect gracious.
Grace alone, keeps them gracious.
Grace alone, will render them everlastingly glorious in the Heaven of heavens.

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Faith, repentance, and holiness—are no less the free gifts of God, than eternal life.

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That opinion that personal holiness is unnecessary to final glorification—is in direct opposition to every dictate of reason, and to every declaration of Scripture.

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The church of the elect, which is partly militant on earth, and partly triumphant in Heaven—resembles a city built on both sides of a river. There is but the stream of death between grace and glory!

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To a true believer, death is but going to church; from the church below—to the church above.

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Conformity to Christ, is the best cure of conformity to the world.

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Christ is like the sun in the firmament, incessantly communicating light and heat, and diffusing gladness to others, without exhausting, impairing, or diminishing His own immense fullness.

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Judge of the infinite malignity of sin by the price which was paid to redeem us from it, and by the power which is exerted in converting us from the dominion of it. For the former, no less than the incarnation and death of God's own Son could avail. For the latter, no less agency than that of God's own Spirit can suffice.

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Christ's sheep do not contribute any part of their own wool to their own clothing.
They wear, and are justified by, the fine linen of Christ's obedience only.

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Since much wealth too often proves a snare and an encumbrance in the Christian's race—let him lighten the weight by giving to the poor. Thereby he will both soften the pilgrimage of his fellow travelers—and speed his own way the faster.