"He loves us not because there is something in us that attracts Him to us; He loves us because He determined to love us in spite of our unattractiveness ... It's a love we don't deserve, a love that will never end. It's a love that perseveres even when we fail Him." - John MacArthur
If you could lose your salvation, you would. - John MacArthur
"The dammed think they are good. The saved know they are wicked. The damned believe the kingdom of God is for those worthy of it. The saved know the kingdom of God is for those who realize how unworthy they are. The damned believe eternal life is earned. The saved know it is a gift. The damned seek God's commendation. The saved seek His forgiveness."- John MacArthur, Parables, 2015, page 121
"God must open the eyes of our understanding before we can truly know and rightly interpret His truth. His truth is available only to those with a regenerate spirit and in whom His Spirit dwells, for only the Spirit can illumine Scripture. Just as the physically blind cannot see the sun, the spiritually blind cannot see the Son. Both lack proper illumination." - John MacArthur
"On the cross God looked at Christ and saw you, now he looks at you and sees Christ." - John MacArthur
THEOLOGY: 5-point Calvinist, Credo-baptist, eschatological, ecclesiological dispensationalist, premillenial
Biographical Sketch
John MacArthur is pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley , California , author, conference speaker, president of The Master's College and Seminary, and featured teacher with Grace to You.
From 1964 to 1966 Dr. MacArthur served as an associate pastor at Calvary Bible Church in Burbank , California and from 1966 to 1969 as a faculty representative for Talbot Theological Seminary, where he graduated with honors.
In 1969, John came to Grace Community Church . The emphasis of his pulpit ministry is the careful study and verse-by-verse exposition of the Bible, with special attention devoted to the historical and grammatical background behind each passage.Under John's leadership, Grace Community Church's two morning worship services fill the 3,000-seat auditorium to capacity. Several thousand members also participate each week in dozens of fellowship groups and training programs, led by members of the pastoral staff and lay leaders. These groups are dedicated to equipping members for ministry on local, national, and international levels.
In 1985, John became president of The Master's College (formerly Los Angeles Baptist College ), an accredited, four-year, liberal arts Christian college in Santa Clarita , California . In 1986, John founded The Master's Seminary, a graduate school dedicated to training men for full-time pastoral roles and missionary work. In addition to his administrative responsibilities, John regularly teaches Expository Preaching at the seminary and frequently speaks in chapel.
John is also president and featured teacher with Grace to You. Founded in 1969, Grace to You is the nonprofit organization responsible for developing, producing, and distributing John's books, audiocassettes, free sermons (MP3s) and the Grace to You, Portraits of Grace, and Grace to You Weekend radio programs. Grace to You airs thousands of times daily throughout the English speaking world reaching all major population centers in the United States, as well as Australia, Canada, Europe, India, New Zealand, the Philippines, and South Africa, It also airs more than 450 times daily in Spanish reaching 23 countries, including Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, and Colombia. In its multiple-decade history,
Since completing his first best-selling book The Gospel According to Jesus, in 1988, John has written over 100 books and, through Grace to You and retail bookstores, distributed millions of copies worldwide.Many of John's books are available on CD-ROM and many titles have been translated into Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Marathi, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and several other major languages.
John and his wife, Patricia, live in Southern California and have four grown children: Matt, Marcy, Mark, and Melinda.They also enjoy the enthusiastic company of their eleven grandchildren--Johnny, Ty, Jessy, KD, Olivia, Susannah, Gracie, Kylee, Andrew, Brooke and Elizabeth.
"MacArthur calls himself a "leaky dispensationalist"--meaning he rejects any and all "dispensational" soteriological innovations, holding to classic Reformed (i.e., Protestant, not "covenantal") soteriology. MacArthur's "dispensationalism" is eschatological and ecclesiological only. And given the fact that soteriology is central to our whole understanding of Christianity, whereas eschatology and ecclesiology deal primarily with secondary doctrines, it would be my assessment that MacArthur has far less in common with Ryrie than he would have with anyone who believes 1) that God's grace is efficacious for regeneration and sanctification as well as for justification, and 2) that God graciously guarantees the perseverance of all true believers." - Phil Johnson
Selected Series
The Fulfilled Family (18-part Series)
How to Study the Bible (Series)
Battle for the Beginning (12-Part Series)
The Beatitudes MP3 Series (10_Part Series)
Fundamentals of Expository Preaching (10-Part Lecture Series)
Selected Articles/Sermon Manuscripts
The Sufficiency of the Written Word
Why We Believe While Others Reject the Gospel (MP3 Version here) outstanding!
Is the Doctrine of Election Unfair?
Salvation: A Sovereign Work of God
Twin Truths: God's Sovereignty and Man's Responsibility
Does the Doctrine of Divine Decree Eliminate Human Will?
"There are basically only two kinds of religion in the world: those based on human achievement and those based on divine accomplishment. One says you can earn your way to heaven; the other says you must trust in Jesus Christ alone." - John MacArthur
The Deadly Dangers of Moralism
A 15-Year Retrospective on the Lordship Controversy
Chosen by God Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 - (1 Peter 1:1-2)
The Sovereignty of God in Salvation
The Infallible, Effectual, Electing Grace of God
The Five Points of Calvinism Defined, Defended and Documented (Forward)
"Indifference to scripture is not a mark of regeneration." - John MacArthur
Why Aren't Christian Leaders More Discerning?
Ten Crucial Lessons We Must Teach our Children
Is Roman Catholicism Biblical?
Preaching the Gospel to a Culture Consumed with Self-Love
Pray For Those Who Persecute You
Was Jesus Polite to False Teachers
"It is pretty easy to be proud when you don't think about God."
- John MacArthur
Personal Evangelism 101: Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Selected Videos
Our Redeemer Lives: Proclaiming the Gospel (YouTube) Outstanding!
Why We Believe While Others Reject the Gospel (YouTube) Wow!
The Solas: The Five Pillars of the Reformation (YouTube)
Christ's Call to Reformation (YouTube)
America Abandoned by God (YouTube)
John MacArthur Rebukes Joel Osteen (YouTube)
Becoming a Better You (YouTube)
The Truth About Hell (YouTube)
Calvinism in a Nutshell (YouTube)
Is Roman Catholicism a FALSE GOSPEL? (YouTube)
Shepherd's Conference Media (2001-2016+)
Selected Topics (Audio & Manuscripts)
THEOLOGY
Ministry of the Holy Spirit (46)
CHRISTIAN LIFE
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The Master's Seminary Journal articles
"The Mandate of Biblical Inerrancy: Expository Preaching" - originally published under the title "Inerrancy and Preaching: Where Exposition and Exegesis Come Together" in Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, and the Bible
"The Psychology Epidemic and Its Cure" - adapted from Our Sufficiency in Christ
"Perseverance of the Saints" - adapted from Faith Works: The Gospel According to the Apostles (1993)
"Mortification of Sin" - adapted from The Vanishing Conscience (1994)
"Evangelicals and Catholics Together" - adapted from Reckless Faith: When the Church Loses Its Will to Discern (1995)
"The Love of God for Humanity" - adapted from The Love of God (1996)
"In Defense of Integrity" - adapted from The Power of Integrity (1997)
"Visions of the Glorious Christ" (1999)
"Is Christ's Return Imminent?" - adapted from The Second Coming (2000)
"Open Theism's Attack on the Atonement" - subsequently published in Taming the Lion: The Openness of God and the Failure of Imagination (2001)
"Creation: Believe It or Not (Genesis 1:1)" - previously published in The Battle for the Beginning: The Bible on Creation and the Fall of Adam (2002)
"Does God Still Give Revelation?" - adapted from Charismatic Chaos (2003)
"The Sufficiency of Scripture" - adapted from Our Sufficiency in Christ (2004)
"A Challenge for Christian Communicators" (2006)
"Perspicuity of Scripture: The Emergent Approach" (2006)
"God’s Word on Homosexuality: The Truth About Sin and the Reality of Forgiveness" (2008)
The Writings of Dr. John MacArthur: A Select Bibliography (1973–2011)
"Trouble, deception, persecution and suffering will burn up the chaff ... it will reveal the shallow, weedy, rocky ground of false profession ... and under these kinds of pressures, superficial interest in Christ will have no endurance ... but he who (by the grace of God) endures to the end will be saved."
- John MacArthur"...believers must not allow blogs, tweets, and status updates to become their primary source of theological education or spiritual input. If they do, they will inevitably become doctrinally shallow and spiritually malnourished."
- Dr. John MacArthur"We are not on the brink of Divine judgment, we are in the middle of it... ... What does this look like: "Therefore God gave them over..." (Rom :24) This is where God removes restraint. This is God sentencing a people. The wrath of abandonment... the cycle of human history. When he turns people over judicially to his wrath. Sin is the reason and sin is the result. When God gives people over the first thing that happens is a sexual revolution. (Rom 1:24). When this dominates a society we know that the wrath of God is at work"
- John MacArthur"...grace is not merely God's response to the sinner's initiative. Quite the opposite. Because He is gracious, God takes the initiative, drawing the sinner (John 6:44, 65), granting repentance (Acts 3:26; 5:31; 11:18), and awakening the heart to faith (Acts 13:48; 16:14). Every aspect of the believer's response--conviction, repentance, and faith--is the result of God's gracious work in the heart. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8)."
- John MacArthur"...morality, I warn you, folks, morality damns just like immorality...you can become moral, you can change, you know, you can turn over your life and have some kind of as it used to be called "moral rearmament," come through a crisis and decide you're going to turn away from living an immoral life or you're going to start to live a better life, a cleaner life, clean up your act, and that has no bearing on your relationship to God whatsoever. Listen, the biblical message is not that humanity is divided between the moral and the immoral, or that humanity is divided between the good and the bad, or that humanity is divided between the virtuous and the wicked. The message of the Bible is that ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God, that there is no division, they're all immoral, bad and wicked."
- John MacArthurAnybody ... who thinks they've arrived spiritually and they're more spiritual and more pious and more godly and more virtuous than somebody else really doesn't understand ... that they are wicked because a person who is truly godly is really humble, has had their spiritual pride devastated.
- John MacArthur"Saving faith is not just believing that Jesus lived and died. Faith that saves is the confident, continuous confession of total dependence on, and trust in Jesus Christ to meet the requirements on your behalf to give you entrance into God's Eternal Kingdom. It's the surrender of your life in complete trust to Him to do what you cannot do."
- John MacArthur"Justification is... a completed fact for the believer; it is not an ongoing process."
- John MacArthur"No amount of human cleverness, religious ingenuity, or postmodern contextualization can add any power whatsoever to the unadulterated gospel."
- Dr. John MacArthur
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Books and Monographs
Bibles
The MacArthur Topical Bible (1999) Word
The MacArthur Student Bible (2001) Word
MacArthur Daily Bible (2003) Thomas Nelson
The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version (2006) Thomas Nelson
The MacArthur Study Bible: English Standard Version (2009) Crossway
The MacArthur Study Bible: New International Version (2013) Thomas Nelson
Commentary and Bible study
Liberated for Life (Galatians) (1975) Regal
Beware the Pretenders (Jude) (1980) Victor
How to Study the Bible (1985, 2009) Moody ISBN 0-8024-5303-1
How to Get the Most from God's Word (1997) Word
MacArthur's Quick Reference Guide to the Bible (2002) Word
MacArthur Bible Handbook (2003) Thomas Nelson
MacArthur Scripture Memory System (2003) Nelson Reference & Electronic Publishing
The MacArthur Bible Commentary (2005)
Romans: Grace, Truth, and Redemption (2015)
The MacArthur New Testament Commentaries
Hebrews (1983)
1 Corinthians (1984)
Matthew 1-7 (1985)
Ephesians (1986)
Galatians (1987)
Matthew 8-15 (1987)
Matthew 16-23 (1988)
Matthew 24-28 (1989)
Romans 1-8 (1991)
Colossians/Philemon (1992)
Acts 1-12 (1994)
Romans 9-16 (1994)
1 Timothy (1995)
2 Timothy (1995)
Acts 13-28 (1996)
Titus (1996)
Revelation 1-11 (1999)
Revelation 12-22 (2000)
Philippians (2001)
1 & 2 Thessalonians (2002)
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
James (2003)
1 Peter (2005)
2 Peter and Jude (2005)
John 1-11 (2006)
1-3 John (2007)
John 12-21 (2008)
Luke 1-5 (2009)
Luke 6-10 (2011)
Luke 11-17 (2013)
MacArthur Bible Studies
1 & 2 Peter (2000)
1 Samuel (2000) Word
Acts (2000) Word
Daniel (2000) Word
Ephesians (2000) Word
John (2000) Word
Mark (2000) Word
Romans (2000) Word
Ruth & Esther (2000) Word
1 & 2 Timothy (2001) Word
1 Corinthians (2001) Word
Hebrews (2001) Word
James (2001) Word
Nehemiah (2001) Word
Revelation (2001) Word
Galatians (2006)
MacArthur Study Series
Saved Without a Doubt: Being Sure of Your Salvation (1992, 2006) ISBN 0-7814-4337-7
Alone with God: Rediscovering the Power and Passion of Prayer (1995, 2006)
First Love: The Joy and Simplicity of Life in Christ (1995)
The Power of Suffering: Strengthening Your Faith in the Refiner's Fire (1995)
Standing Strong: How to Resist the Enemy of Your Soul (2006)
Divine Design: God's Complementary Roles for Men and Women (2006)
Anxious for Nothing: God's Cure for the Cares of Your Soul (2006)
Found: God's Will (2012)
Genesis 1 to 11: Creation, Sin, and the Nature of God (2015)
The Believer's Walk with Christ: A John MacArthur Study Series (2017)
The Deity of Christ: A John MacArthur Study Series (2017)
Individual books
1970s
The Church: The Body of Christ (1973) Zondervan
Found: God's Will (1973, 1977) Victor
Can a Man Live Again? (1975) Moody
Keys to Spiritual Growth (1976) Revell
Focus on Fact: Why You Can Trust the Bible (1977) Revell
God's Plan for Giving (1977) Western Baptist Press
Giving: God's Way (1978) Tyndale
The Charismatics: A Doctrinal Perspective (1978) Zondervan
1980s
Kingdom Living: Here and Now (1980) Moody
Take God's Word For It (1980) Regal
Why Believe the Bible (1980) Regal
Jesus' Pattern of Prayer (1981) Moody
The Family (1982) Moody
The Ultimate Priority (1983) Moody
Why I Trust the Bible (1983) Victor
The Legacy of Jesus (1986) Moody
The Gospel According to Jesus (1988) Zondervan revised and expanded in 1994
The Lordship Controversy (1988) Word of Grace Communications
When the Healing Doesn't Come (1988) Word of Grace Communications
You Can Trust the Bible (1988) Moody
God With Us: The Miracle of Christmas (1989) Zondervan
republished in 1993 as The Miracle of Christmas
Shepherdology (1989) The Master's Fellowship
1990s
Keys to Spiritual Growth (1991) Revell
Our Sufficiency in Christ (1991) Word
The Master's Plan for the Church (1991) Moody
Charismatic Chaos (1992) Zondervan
How to Meet the Enemy (1992) ChariotVictor Publishing
Rediscovering Expository Preaching (1992) Word
Anxiety Attacked: Apply Scripture to the Cares of the Soul (1993) ChariotVictor Publishing
Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World (1993) Crossway
Drawing Near (1993) Crossway
Faith Works: The Gospel According to the Apostles (1993) Word
republished in 2000 as The Gospel According to the Apostles
republished in 2005 by Thomas Nelson
God: Coming Face to Face with His Majesty (1993) Victor
Different By Design (1994) ChariotVictor Publishing
Reckless Faith: When the Church Loses its Will to Discern (1994) Word
The Vanishing Conscience (1994) Word repub in 2005 by Thomas Nelson
The Body Dynamic: Finding Where You Fit in Today's Church (1996) ChariotVictor Publishing
The Glory of Heaven: The Truth About Heaven, Angels, and Eternal Life. (1996) Crossway
The Love of God: He Will Do Whatever it Takes to Make Us Holy (1996) Word
The Silent Shepherd: The Care, the Comfort, and the Correction of the Holy Spirit (1996) ChariotVictor Publishing
Strength for Today (1997) Crossway
The Power of Integrity: Building a Life Without Compromise (1997) Crossway
In the Footsteps of Faith (1998) Crossway
Our Sufficiency in Christ (1998) Crossway
Successful Christian Parenting (1998) Word
The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness (1998) Good News
The Only Way to Happiness (1998) Moody
The Pillars of Christian Character: Attitudes of a Living Faith (1998) Crossway
I Believe in Jesus: Leading Your Child to Christ (1999) Nelson
Nothing but the Truth (1999) Crossway
The Second Coming (1999, 2005) Crossway
2000s
What The Bible Says About Parenting Biblical Principle For Raising Godly Children (2000)
The Murder of Jesus (2000)
Whose Money Is It, Anyway? (2000) Word (Out of Print)
Why Government Can't Save You (2000) Word
A Bright Tomorrow (2001) Crossway
God in the Manger (2001) Word
How to Survive in a World of Unbelievers (2001)
Our Awesome God (2001) Crossway
Terrorism, Jihad, and the Bible (2001) Word
The Battle for the Beginning (2001) Word
The God Who Loves (2001) Word
The Keys to Spiritual Growth (2001) Crossway
Truth for Today (2001) J. Countryman (a division of Thomas Nelson)
Can God Bless America? (2002) Word
Twelve Ordinary Men (2002) Word
Why One Way (2002) Word
Hard to Believe (2003) Thomas Nelson
Lord, Teach Me to Pray (2003) J. Countryman (a division of Thomas Nelson)
Safe in the Arms of God (2003) Thomas Nelson
Think Biblically! (2003) Crossway
Unleashing God's Word in Your Life (2003) Thomas Nelson
Follow Me (2004) J. Countryman (a division of Thomas Nelson)
The Book on Leadership (2004) Nelson
Truth Matters (2004) Thomas Nelson
The Heart of the Bible (2005) Nelson Reference & Electronic Publishing
Twelve Extraordinary Women (2005) Moody
Experiencing the Passion of Christ (Student Edition) (2006) Nelson Impact
The Quest for Character (2006) Thomas Nelson
Because the Time Is Near: John MacArthur Explains the Book of Revelation (2007) Moody
The Extraordinary Mother: Blessings for You from Bible Moms (2007) J. Countryman
The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception (2007) Nelson
A Tale of Two Sons: The Inside Story of a Father, His Sons (2008) Nelson
Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong: A Biblical Response to Today's Most Controversial Issues (2009) Harvest House
The Jesus You Can't Ignore: What You Must Learn from the Bold Confrontations of Christ (2009) Thomas Nelson
God's High Calling For Women (2009)
2010s
Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like The World (3rd Edition) (2010)
Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ (2010) Thomas Nelson
Truth Endures: Landmark Sermons From Forty Years of Unleashing God's Truth One Verse at a Time (2011) Crossway
At The Throne of Grace: A Book of Prayers (2011) Harvest House
Worship: The Ultimate Priority (2012) Moody Publishers
One Perfect Life: The Complete Story of Jesus (2013) Thomas Nelson
Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship (2013)
The Upper Room: Jesus' Parting Promises for Troubled Hearts (2014)
Why Believe the Bible? (2015)
Found: God's Peace: Experience True Freedom from Anxiety in Every Circumstance (2015)
Parables: The Mysteries of God's Kingdom Revealed Through the Stories Jesus Told (2016)
Remember and Return: Rekindling Your Love for the Savior--A Devotional (2016)
Brave Dad: Raising Your Kids to Love and Follow God (2016)
A Simple Christianity: Rediscover the Foundational Principles of Our Faith (2017)
Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth (2017)
None Other: Discovering the God of the Bible (2017) (audio)
The Shepherd as Theologian: Accurately Interpreting and Applying God's Word (2017)
The Gospel According to Paul: Embracing the Good News at the Heart of Paul's Teachings (2017)
"...the only effective way of seeing the significance of a passage is in its context. Going through an entire book sets the passage in its context on its widest, deepest, and richest level. . . . Neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament was written as a collection of verses to be thrown into the air and allowed to fall back wherever they might. Rather, each book has a reasonable, logical, inspired flow of thought going from point A to Z, with all stops in between. Each was designed by the Holy Spirit so that you have the Holy Spirit communicating something powerfully and clearly in the whole letter: you dare not miss a single part! If I received five letters in the mail one day, it would make no sense to read a sentence or two out of one, skip two, read a few sentences out of another, and go to the next one and read a few out of that, and on and on. If I really want to comprehend the letter - what is going on, the tone, the spirit, the attitude, and the purpose - I must start from the beginning and go to the end of each one. If that is true of personal correspondence, then how much more is it so of divine revelation." John MacArthur Rediscovering Expository Preaching, p. 341.