“Nothing was more important for John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce than the centrality of the cross as the root of endurance. They did exactly what Hebrews 12:1-2 calls us to do: “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.” They endured … looking to Jesus … who endured the cross.
“But oh how jealous they were—as I am jealous—that we embrace the cross of Christ first and decisively as the ground of our acceptance with God, through faith alone, before we experience the cross as the price and inspiration of our own labors to endure in the battle for justice in the world. That is, they were careful to savor the cross first as the basis of justification before they experienced its purchased power for sanctification. Before the power of endurance came the pardon of guilt. Before the blood-bought enabling of righteous living came the free gift of perfect righteousness credited to our account because of Christ alone through faith alone.”
[Piper, J. (2002). The roots of endurance : Invincible perseverance in the lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce (29). Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books.]
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