How would you like a book that takes the concept of grace and interweaves it through the whole of Scripture? By that I mean what grace really means to us. How does faith play out to bring the dramatic power of grace into our lives? How does grace, faith, sin, and the promises of God interrelate to make the Christian life the awesome thing it is? I assure you that Mr. Piper makes one of the strongest explanations I have seen in that regard.

Not that I would agree with everything he writes (I don’t), but he takes you to thoughts that need to be entertained though you have never thought them before. That interrelation of key Bible concepts I spoke of is the volume’s greatest asset. He connected a few dots for me.

Though he ties many things together, his theme is one: we must live by faith in the future grace of God. We find that that simple theme brings great clarity to the Christian life as expressed in the Scriptures. Or as he further explained, “…the faith which justifies also sanctifies, because the nature of faith is to be satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus.”

I can at best whet you appetite in this review of the things he brings out. For example, he describes sin as what you do when you are not satisfied with God. We sin, he says, because we believe we will find happiness there. That presupposes a lack of faith in what God said. If we believed His grace will deliver what it promised, it would be impossible to think that the sin in question could bring happiness. I can see that truth, can’t you?

Perhaps you will be as shocked as I was to follow his discussion on the debtor’s ethic. He justly describes how we so often try to motivate ourselves and others by saying that we owe the Lord for what He did for us. Though what He did for us is monumental beyond description, he shows that is not at all how the Bible seeks to motivate us. No, he rightly argues, our problem is always a lack of faith, not a lack of gratitude, when it comes to the matter of radically following and obeying Jesus Christ.

Pride, he goes on, is a specific form of unbelief that is a turning from God to self. With that goes a loss of faith that comes a foolish faith in the promises of self. That ties the hands of grace’s work. Building on C.S. Lewis he tells of the “itch of self-regard and the scratch of self-approval.” He quotes: “The pleasure of pride is like the pleasure of scratching. If there is an itch one does want to scratch; but it is much nicer to have neither the itch nor the scratch.” He explains how the craving of the praise of others is a loss of faith in future grace.

There is so much more. He goes all the way to a faith in future grace that can triumphantly lay down one’s life for the glory of God as many martyrs before us have done. How did they do it? They believed the promises of God and the grace they contain.

Besides a few points of disagreement, I love this book. I find it superior to his writings on Christian hedonism, though he believes they are connected. It is 400 pages that I had to read slowly, but it is worth it. He has conveniently given this work in 31 chapters if you want to take a month with it. That might be the best way.

This volumes re-establishes how my faith in what my Lord has told me is so essential to the overall success of my Christian life. For that, I thank Mr. Piper.

 

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 .

 

 

 

Well, can one really know if he or she is saved? Can those lingering doubts ever be put to rest? Must we have to make that fifteenth profession of faith? Or in a few weeks will it be what it always comes to–the pain of just not being sure if you are going to Heaven or not?

Perhaps this issue is the ultimate elephant in the living room for Christians. Over the years I have come to the opinion that it touches more Christians than it does not. I have not personally dealt with it in my own heart, but I have certainly worked with those who have. That I have not doubted has nothing to do with living so highly that I was insulated from it. To the contrary, I have done plenty enough to raise doubts since I was saved all those years ago. I credit an incredibly clear presentation of the Gospel for sparing me. I have always known it was Him and not me. I praise God for it too.

Still, many have a storm raging in them. Happiness always runs just out of reach. It makes sense. Who could be happy if you just didn’t know if you would open your eyes in Heaven or not someday? To make it worse, it is hard to fathom exactly what is at stake if we lack assurance. Our entire Christian life gets tied up in knots if we can’t get out of this struggle. Obedience struggles too because obeying to gain salvation is flawed and doomed to failure. It can only thrive when we know where we stand.

A book I recently read, “Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart” (reviewed below), got me thinking about it again. I have read plenty on it, but apparently we don’t have enough written on it as of yet.

I don’t think we can give generic advice as all cases of doubting one’s salvation don’t spring from the same place. If you battle a lack of assurance, I suggest you figure which category you are in:

1. Confused

You hear much preaching and teaching that throws you onto the merry-go-round. Just when you think you got it, along comes another sermon and presto, there you go again! It is not a matter of not really wanting to be saved, or of being insincere, or any such thing. It is an intellectual misunderstanding of a heart that truly loves Christ.

2. Backslidden

Since salvation is as eternal as the fact of physical birth, The Lord uses different means to reach us when we go the wrong path. A lack of assurance is actually a tool from His toolbox to help us. Such a lack of assurance really traumatizes and can lead us back. First John is a whole book about dealing with a lack of assurance and joy.

3. Unsaved

Of course it is an option. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 7:23, “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” These folks have a false assurance. Surely at times they hear the little voice that says you are not saved. To trust something other than Christ can’t satisfy,and in such a case, a lack of assurance is a glorious gift.

Now let’s talk solutions to these cases of doubting one’s salvation (in reverse order):

1. Unsaved

You need to see your condition before a Holy God and throw yourself on His mercy provided in the Person of Jesus Christ. There is no other hope for you! ( please write me if you have questions).

2. Backslidden

I imagine you know exactly what to do. Just remember this gnawing will never go away till you do!

3. Confused

You likely are putting yourself through needless torture. Do you love Jesus? Do you want desperately His salvation? Do you really think One as loving as Him wants to make it so hard? We are the ones who make it so hard by always thinking that some of His work is ours to do. Ours is but to see the absolutely helpless conditions of our souls, the gory depths of sin in ourselves, and the infinite grace of Jesus Christ. Run to Him! If you did, He did save you as He expressly promised in His Word.

Examine your heart. Are you downplaying your sin and imagining that you just need a little help? If not, I think you can trust His Word. Spend your days looking at Jesus. Learn of Him. Don’t stop until you learn once and for all what grace is. Until you do, the torture may dog you.

The main thing is that it is Jesus, not you. You bring your brokenness, He brings His peace; you bring your failure, He brings His righteousness. You don’t contribute to your salvation, you only bring your lostness. It might be that you just need to remember your part (nothing) and remember His part (everything). It can be no other way.

And by the way, heaping more guilt on yourself will only add to the problem. Being ashamed of your situation is pointless too as you are one of so many. The right approach is dealing DIRECTLY with the problem with no One other than Jesus! Get the other voices out of your head and His voice will be kind, calm, loving, and will lead you back to peace.

BOOK REVIEW:

J. D. Greear has given us a thought-provoking volume. The title (Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart) alone titillates! I do not agree with everything he says (there is some Calvinism), but he helps us get away from a life of multiple professions that plague so many. The book digs into the subject and helps us wrestle with this critical subject.