Andrew Fuller Quotes on Faith, the Gospel and Backsliding
Andrew Fuller was a Baptist pastor in Kettering, England, and the theologian behind the mission that sent William Carey to India. He wasn't a showy writer. He wrote the way a thoughtful farmer talks: plainly, carefully, and with a habit of putting a whole argument into one firm sentence. That makes him very quotable.
Many Fuller quotes online come without a source. Every quotation below is copied exactly from his books in TheWay Library, with the book and chapter it comes from, so you can read each one in its setting. In the memoir of his friend Samuel Pearce, most of the book is Pearce's own letters; the lines here are only Fuller's. For his life story, see who was Andrew Fuller. For a guide to his books, see Andrew Fuller books.
On faith and the gospel offer
This was the question of Fuller's life: is every sinner who hears the gospel called to believe? He answered yes.
Faith in Jesus Christ, even that which is accompanied with salvation, is there constantly held up as the duty of all to whom the Gospel is preached.
The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, Proposition I
If faith in Christ be the duty of the ungodly, it must, of course, follow, that every sinner, whatever be his character, is completely warranted to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of his soul.
The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, Concluding Reflections
Nothing can be an object of faith, except what God has revealed in his word…
The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, Part I
The grand object on which faith fixes, is the glory of Christ…
The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, Part I
But if we be concerned only for our own security, our faith is vain, and we are yet in our sins.
The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, Part I
It is the peculiar property of true faith, to endear Christ…
The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, Part I
On the heart, sin and God
Fuller believed unbelief isn't a weakness to be pitied but a sin of the heart. He also believed real faith and real love can't be separated.
A sinner cannot have due prevalent love to God, and hatred of sin, without prevalent desire of obtaining deliverance from sin, and the enjoyment of God.
The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, Proposition II
Indeed, such is the nature of divine truth, that every heart which is honest towards … God must receive it.
The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, Proposition IV
If God be sought, loved, or served, we may be sure that Jesus is embraced; and, if Jesus be embraced, that sin is abhorred.
The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, Concluding Reflections
The object at which sin aims, whether in believers or unbelievers, is death, eternal death; and to this it hath a natural and direct tendency.
The Backslider, On the Injurious and Dangerous Effects of Sin Lying upon the Conscience Unlamented
One sin makes way for another, and renders us less able to resist, or to return to God by repentance.
The Backslider, On the Injurious and Dangerous Effects of Sin Lying upon the Conscience Unlamented
On backsliding
The Backslider is a short book, and it's full of sentences that search the reader.
All backsliding from God originates in a departure of heart from him: herein consists the essence and the evil of it.
The Backslider, On the General Nature and Different Species of Backsliding
Where the principles of the gospel are abandoned, the spirit of prayer, and of all close walking with God, will go with it.
The Backslider, On the General Nature and Different Species of Backsliding
…there are few open falls but what are preceded by a secret departure of heart from the living God.
The Backslider, On the Symptoms of a Backsliding Spirit
The great end of existence with a good man, is to live to him who died for us and rose again. If God bless us, it is that like Abraham we may be blessings to others.
The Backslider, On the Injurious and Dangerous Effects of Sin Lying upon the Conscience Unlamented
On the way back to God
He didn't stop at the diagnosis. The last chapter of The Backslider is a call to come home.
Undoubtedly it is much easier to get out of the way than to get in again… Sin is of a hardening nature; and the farther we have proceeded in it, the more inextricable are its chains.
The Backslider, On the Means of Recovery
The greater our sin has been, the greater reason there is for us to confess it upon the head of the gospel sacrifice, and to plead for mercy in his name.
The Backslider, On the Injurious and Dangerous Effects of Sin Lying upon the Conscience Unlamented
It is desirable that we be recovered from our backslidings; but it is not desirable that we should think ourselves recovered when we are not so.
The Backslider, On the Means of Recovery
One thing is certain; you are a sinner, a poor miserable perishing sinner: the door of mercy is open; and you are welcome to enter it.
The Backslider, On the Means of Recovery
If we have no heart to repent, and return to God by Jesus Christ, we are yet in our sins, and may expect to reap the fruits of them.
The Backslider, On the Means of Recovery
From the Genesis sermons
Fuller's Sunday-morning expositions are full of short, practical lessons drawn from the oldest stories in the Bible.
In this account of the creation nothing is said on the being of God: this great truth is taken for granted.
Expository Discourses on the Book of Genesis, On the Book in General, and the First Day's Creation
Let us learn to keep God's words in our minds, and hide them in our hearts, that we may not sin against him.
Expository Discourses on the Book of Genesis, Creation Reviewed
The door of mercy is open to faith, without distinction of nations; nor was there ever a time in which the God of Israel refused even a Canaanite who repented and embraced his word.
Expository Discourses on the Book of Genesis, The Generations of Noah
It is pity that those whom grace unites, and who are fellow-heirs of eternal life, should be parted by the lumber of this world.
Expository Discourses on the Book of Genesis, The Separation of Abram and Lot
…the grace which above all others honours Christ, it is that which above all others God delights to honour.
Expository Discourses on the Book of Genesis, Abram Justified by Faith
Loud and passionate appeals to God, instead of indicating a good cause, are commonly the marks of a bad one.
Expository Discourses on the Book of Genesis, Sarai's Crooked Policy for the Accomplishment of the Promise
Human life is a subject of very uncertain calculation: God often takes the youngest before the eldest.
Expository Discourses on the Book of Genesis, The Death and Burial of Sarah
On a life well spent
When his friend Samuel Pearce died young, Fuller wrote his life and drew out what it teaches.
There is undoubtedly a way of rendering a short life a long one, and a long life a short one, by filling or not filling it with proper materials.
Memoir of Rev. Samuel Pearce, Concluding Reflections
Cheerfulness was as natural to him as breathing; and this spirit, sanctified by the grace of God, gave a tincture to all his thoughts, conversation, and preaching.
Memoir of Rev. Samuel Pearce, General Outlines of His Character
Religion to him was habitual seriousness, mingled with sacred pleasure, frequently rising into sublime delight, and occasionally overflowing with transporting joy.
Memoir of Rev. Samuel Pearce, General Outlines of His Character
Read Fuller for yourself
Fuller's sentences are strong on their own, but his books are better. Start with The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation, and if any of the lines on backsliding stung, read The Backslider next. All four of his books are on the Andrew Fuller author page.