Quotes About Cross of Christ

Quotes about cross of Christ from throughout Christian History.

Ignatius, c. A.D. 110

I have heard of some who have passed on from this to you, having false doctrine, whom you did not allow to sow among you, but stopped your ears, so that you would not receive those things which were sown by them because you are stones of the temple of the Father, prepared for the building of God the Father, and drawn up on high by the instrument of Jesus Christ, which is the cross,543 making use of the Holy Spirit as a rope, while your faith was the means by which you ascended, and your love the way which led up to God. (Letter to the Ephesians 9)

Let my spirit be counted as nothing for the sake of the cross, which is a stumbling block to those that do not believe, but to us salvation and life eternal. (Letter to the Ephesians 18)

Ignatius ... to the holy church which is at Tralles, beloved by God the Father, and Jesus Christ, elect, and worthy of God, possessing peace through the flesh and Spirit of Jesus Christ, who is our hope in his suffering by the cross and death, and in his resurrection. (Letter to the Trallians, Introduction)

Flee, therefore, those evil offshoots which produce death-bearing fruit, of which if any one tastes, he instantly dies. For these men are not the planting of the Father. For if they were, they would appear as branches of the cross, and their fruit would be incorruptible. By it he calls you through his suffering, as being his members. (Letter to the Trallians 11)

I trust in the grace of Jesus Christ, who shall free you from every bond. And I exhort you to do nothing out of strife, but according to the doctrine of Christ. I heard some saying, "If I do not find it in the ancient Scriptures, I will not believe the Gospel." On my saying to them, "It is written," they answered me, "That remains to be proved." But to me Jesus Christ is in the place of all that is ancient: His cross, death, resurrection, and the faith which is by him, are undefiled monuments of antiquity by which I desire, through your prayers, to be justified. (Letter to the Philadelphians 8)

I have observed that you are perfected in an immoveable faith, as if you were nailed to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, both in the flesh and in the spirit, and are established in love through the blood of Christ, being fully persuaded with respect to our Lord, that he was ... truly, under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch, nailed [to the cross] for us in His flesh. Of this fruit we exist by his divinely-blessed passion, that he might set up a standard for all ages through his resurrection to all his holy and faithful, whether among Jews or Gentiles, in the one body of His Church. (Letter to the Smyrneans 1)

Ignatius answered, "There is but one God, who made heaven, earth, and the sea, and all that are in them; and one Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, whose kingdom may I enjoy."
     Trajan said, "Do you mean the one who was crucified under Pontius Pilate?"
     Ignatius replied, "I mean the one who crucified my sin, along with him who was the inventor of it, and who has condemned all the deceit and malice of the devil under the feet of those who carry him in their heart."
     Trajan said, "Do you then carry within you the one that was crucified?"
     Ignatius replied, "Truly so, for it is written, 'I will dwell in them, and walk in them.'" (Martyrdom of Ignatius 2)

Pseudo-Barnabas, A.D. 80 - 130

Abraham, the first who enjoined circumcision, looked forward in spirit to Jesus and practiced that rite, having received the teachings of the three letters. For [the Scripture] says, "And Abraham circumcised ten and eight and three hundred men of his household." (This is a combination of Genesis 14:14 with Genesis 17:26-27)
     What, then, was the knowledge given to him in this? Learn the eighteen first and then the three hundred. The ten and the eight are thus denoted: Ten by Ι (iota), and Eight by Η (eta). You have Jesus [the first two letters of Jesus in Greek, which is Iesous). And because the cross was to express grace by the letter Τ (tao), he says also, "Three Hundred." He signifies, therefore, Jesus by two letters, and the cross by one (tao, shaped like a cross).
     He knows this, who has put within us the engrafted gift of his doctrine. No one has been admitted by me to a more excellent piece of knowledge than this, but I know that you are worthy. (Letter of Barnabas 9)

[God says] in another prophet, "The man who does these things shall be like a tree planted by the courses of waters, which shall yield its fruit in due season; and his leaf shall not fade, and all that he doeth shall prosper. Not so are the ungodly, not so, but even as chaff, which the wind sweeps away from the face of the earth. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the counsel of the just; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish" [Psalm 1:3-6]. Mark how he has described at once both the water and the cross. For these words imply, blessed are they who, placing their trust in the cross, have gone down into the water. "For," says he, "they shall receive their reward in due time." Then he declares, "I will recompense them."(Letter of Barnabas 9)

[God] points to the cross of Christ in another prophet, who says, "And when shall these things be accomplished? And the Lord says, 'When a tree shall be bent down, and again arise, and when blood shall flow out of wood.'" [from an unknown apocryphal book]. Here again you have an intimation concerning the cross, and the one who would be crucified.
     Yet again he speaks of this in Moses, when Israel was attacked by strangers [Ex. 17:8-16]. And that He might remind them, when assailed, that it was on account of their sins they were delivered to death, the Spirit speaks to the heart of Moses, that he should make a figure of the cross [by raising his hands], and of the One about to suffer on it. For unless they put their trust in Him, they shall be overcome forever.
     Moses therefore placed one weapon above another in the midst of the hill and stood upon it, so as to be higher than all the people. He stretched forth his hands, and thus again Israel acquired the mastery. But when he let down his hands again, they were again destroyed. For what reason? That they might know that they could not be saved unless they put their trust in him [others read "the cross" here]. (Letter of Barnabas 12)

Polycarp, A.D. 125

Whoever does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is antichrist. Whoever does not confess the testimony of the cross is of the devil. Whoever perverts the oracles of the Lord to his own lusts and says that there is neither a resurrection nor a judgment, he is the firstborn of Satan. Therefore, let us forsake the vanity of many, and their false doctrines, and let us return to the word which has been handed down to us from the beginning. (Letter to the Philippians 7)

Clement of Alexandria, c. A.D. 190

We have as a limit the cross of the Lord, by which we are fenced and hedged about from our former sins. Therefore, being regenerated, let us fix ourselves to it in truth, and return to sobriety, and sanctify ourselves. (The Instructor III:12)

A.W. Tozer, d. 1963

The old cross slew men; the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned; the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it. ("The Cross: New vs. Old", accessed 01/13/2012)