Horatius Bonar Quotes on Peace, Holiness, Sorrow and Christ
Horatius Bonar (1808–1889) was a Scottish minister who spent his life pointing anxious people to Christ. Most people know him through his hymns, like "I heard the voice of Jesus say." But he also wrote a shelf of books, and his prose has the same gift as his hymns: short, warm sentences that turn you away from yourself and toward what God has done.
Many Bonar quotes online come without a source, and some aren't his. 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. For his life story, see who was Horatius Bonar. For a guide to all eighteen of his books here, see Horatius Bonar books.
On peace with God
Bonar's best-known book, God's Way of Peace, was written for people who want to be right with God and can't find rest. Again and again he tells them to stop looking inward and look at God.
The sinner's peace with God is not to come from his own character.
God's Way of Peace, chapter II, Man's Own Character No Ground of Peace
In all unbelief there are these two things, — a good opinion of one's self, and a bad opinion of God.
God's Way of Peace, chapter III, God's Character Our Resting-Place
That which he shews us of ourselves is only evil; that which he shews us of God is only good.
God's Way of Peace, chapter III, God's Character Our Resting-Place
If Christ be not the Substitute, he is nothing to the sinner.
God's Way of Peace, chapter V, The Blood of Sprinkling
And to the seeker who keeps waiting until he feels earnest enough:
You are in earnest now; but I fear you are making your earnestness your Christ, and actually using it as a reason for not trusting Christ immediately.
God's Way of Peace, chapter IX, Believe Just Now
On grace and the blood of Christ
Herein is love; not man loving God, but God loving man; so loving man as to persist in his great work of grace, notwithstanding man's utmost hatred and rejection.
Family Sermons, The Surety's Thirst
In man is seen God, very God; in God is seen man, very man.
Family Sermons, Divine Philosophy
Whatever man's indifference to it may be, that cannot alter God's estimate of the blood.
The Blood of the Cross, chapter IV, God's Controversy with the World
We see that blood as God sees it, and our consciences are unburdened — our souls are set at rest.
The Blood of the Cross, chapter IV, God's Controversy with the World
He has seen sin in the light in which God sees it; but he has also seen the blood in that same light also.
The Blood of the Cross, chapter IX, The Thoughts of the Saint Concerning It
God approaches us in Christ, lays hold on us in Christ, looks at us in Christ, makes proposals to us in Christ, links us to Himself in Christ.
The Christ of God, chapter VII, God's Mighty Work in and Through the Church
On God's sovereign grace
Bonar held the Reformed faith of the Scottish church. In Truth and Error he wrote to a friend confused by a newer teaching that made salvation hang on the human will.
It was not Adam who chose to be made; but it was God who chose to make Adam.
Truth and Error, Letter IV, Election
God presents salvation to all; he gives it to those that believe.
Truth and Error, Letter VII, Faith — the Gospel — Assurance
He is represented as helping God to save him; or rather, we should say, God is represented as helping man to save himself!
Truth and Error, Letter II, General Principles, Continued
On holiness
In God's Way of Holiness Bonar argued that a holy life grows out of peace with God, not the other way round. He was sharp with any teaching that moved the ground of peace from Christ to the believer.
Holiness is likeness to God; to Him who is the Holy One of Israel.
God's Way of Holiness, chapter I, The New Life
Faith is but the organ, the instrument, the medium; Christ alone is the satisfaction and the merit.
God's Way of Holiness, chapter II, Christ for Us, the Spirit in Us
The cross makes us whole; not all at once indeed, but it does the work effectually.
God's Way of Holiness, chapter V, The Cross and Its Power
To each of us a cross is presented when we assume the name of Christ.
God's Way of Holiness, chapter V, The Cross and Its Power
Thus the foundations were destroyed; the ground of reconciliation was not the blood of the sin-bearer, but the new man; the foundation of peace was a perfect self and not a perfect Christ.
God's Way of Holiness, chapter VII, The Saint and the Seventh of the Romans
On following Christ
Follow the Lamb is his short book of counsel to new converts. It's affectionate and searching at once.
It is a great thing to be a Christian.
Follow the Lamb, Follow the Lamb
To say, 'I am a Christian,' is to say, 'I belong to God's nobility; I am of the peerage of heaven.'
Follow the Lamb, Follow the Lamb
Intimacy with God is the very essence of religion, and the foundation of discipleship.
Follow the Lamb, Follow the Lamb
The impatience that demands instantaneous perfection is unbelief, refusing to recognize God's spiritual laws in the new creation.
Follow the Lamb, Follow the Lamb
Let your life tell your fellow-men what He is, and what He is to you.
Follow the Lamb, Follow the Lamb
The same book closes with four of his hymns. One ends like this:
Love is the smoother of the rugged way, And hope, at midnight, as in brightest day, Breaks forth in song!
Follow the Lamb, Thou Believest? What Then?
On sorrow and suffering
Bonar buried five of his children. The Night of Weeping, written for suffering believers, is tender because he knew what he was talking about.
God must have the heart; nay, and he must have it beating truly towards him.
The Night of Weeping, chapter IV, The Family Discipline
Sickness teaches that activity of service is not the only way in which God is glorified.
The Night of Weeping, chapter V, The Family Rods
Some God cannot trust with health; they need sickness to keep them low and make them walk softly all their days.
The Night of Weeping, chapter V, The Family Rods
God is saying to us, improve this light cross, and you will not need a heavier.
The Night of Weeping, chapter VIII, The Rebuking
We have but one life, and it must be laid out for God.
The Night of Weeping, chapter XIV, The Consolation
On the morning to come
Its companion, The Morning of Joy, looks past the sorrow to the return of Christ and the gathering of God's family.
The Church of God on earth is not what she seems; nay, is what she seems not.
The Morning of Joy, chapter I, The Anticipations
For every night God has provided a morning, so that as we have many nights, we have also many mornings even here.
The Morning of Joy, chapter III, The Earnests of the Morning
It is not time that heals the sorrows of the saints, or dries up their tears; it is God; God himself; God alone.
The Morning of Joy, chapter VII, The Victory Over Death
On the minister's life
Words to Winners of Souls is a short, searching book for pastors. Bonar believed a few holy ministers would do more than many careless ones.
He must be called by God, before he can call others to God.
Words to Winners of Souls, chapter II, The Minister's True Life and Walk
Nearness to him, intimacy with him, assimilation to his character — these are the elements of a ministry of power.
Words to Winners of Souls, chapter II, The Minister's True Life and Walk
Nothing short of positive success can satisfy a true minister of Christ.
Words to Winners of Souls, chapter I, The Importance of a Living Ministry
It is when coming out fresh from communion with God that we go forth to do his work successfully.
Words to Winners of Souls, chapter IV, Ministerial Confession
On the Bible
Last, two lines from his book on the opening chapters of Genesis, and one from his writing on prophecy.
Genesis is not merely the first book of Scripture, but it is the fountainhead of revelation.
Earth's Morning, Preface
Man cannot give a name to God: God Himself has done it; and the name is our refuge and our joy.
Earth's Morning, chapter I, Genesis I
God is represented as dealing with persons, with nations, with cities, but never with systems.
The Coming and Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, Daniel
Where to read more Bonar
If you want to read one book of his first, read God's Way of Peace, a short book for anyone who wants to know they're right with God. If you're carrying a grief, read The Night of Weeping. All his books are on the Horatius Bonar author page, and you'll find God's Way of Holiness among our best Christian books on holiness.