'The cross is an offence because it proclaims the weakness, the ungodliness and the inability of human beings to please God. It calls upon us to place all our hope for righteousness in Christ, and such a message is a great scandal for all who worship themselves and are entranced with their ability. Perseverance, then, is nothing other than grasping the scandal of the cross until the day we die.'
Thomas R Schreiner, Run to Win the Prize: Perseverance in the New Testament, p.78.
