List of Twelve Top Books

In Sunday's message, I encouraged folks to make an intentional effort to grow in Christ this year. The text was from Paul's own testimony in Philippians 3:7-16, and the critical point was that "pressing toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" implied specific, strenuous effort.

It is this passage in which we see clearly that sanctification is, as Jerry Bridges puts it, a "joint-venture" between us and God. Paul says in verse 12, "I press on so that I may lay hold of [our part of our own sanctification, notice the implication of effort] that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus [God's part of our sanctification]."

In any case, among the practical suggestions that I gave for areas of growth in which to strive in this new year, was a recommended reading list of good books. I've been asked to provide this list, so here it is. Note that the list is weighted heavily toward theology in general, and the holiness of God in particular. While it contains some samples of application (Priolo, Viars, Metzger, and one of Bridges), these books are more about knowing God than they are practical Christian living.

There are multiple reasons for that. One of them arises out of the text. Paul speaks in verse 8 of "knowing Christ my Lord," and verse 10, "that I may know him." Our deepest errors are not failures of practice, but a failure to know God, and the truth about God, properly. I would argue that all failures of practice can ultimately be traced back to a defective knowledge of God, and a defective love for Him.

In no particular order, here's the list:

• Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges
• Knowledge of the Holy, A. W. Tozer
• Basic Christianity, John Stott
• The Dangerous Duty of Delight, John Piper
• Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, Packer
• Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul
• Knowing God, JI Packer
• Respectable Sins, Jerry Bridges
• Heart of Anger, Lou Priolo
• Teach them Diligently, Lou Priolo
• Putting your past in its place, Steve Viars
• Tell the Truth, Will Metzger

There are many excellent books that could be added to this list. Most of these on the list are books I find myself turning to over and over again. A few are recent additions that I believe are "best in class" or close to it.

God has given the church teachers (Ephesians 4:11). Use them. Pick them well, pick them carefully, but use the teachers with which God has blessed His church.

I love You, Lord, because. . .

This is how Psalm 116 begins. The psalmist goes on to say that he loves the Lord because God answers his prayers, because God has delivered him, and so on.

When you stop to think about it, the psalmist sounds like the ultimate user: “I love you because of what you do for me.”

Of all potential targets of love, surely Almighty God is the most worthy. He is consummately merciful, just, good, giving, righteous, holy, faithful, longsuffering, generous, of unparalleled skill and beauty in His artistry, and much more. Surely we ought to love Him simply because of His glorious perfections of character! Of all that is, He is the most, well, lovable.

Does there have to be a self-interest on our part? Does that not, sort of, grind on your good ‘ol human pride? Do we only love God for what we get from Him?

But that’s who we are. We are totally dependent upon God’s continuing grace (be it common or special), for our very existence. We are weak, contingent creatures, who draw breath only because He upholds all things by the word of His awesome power. We are also sinners, consumed by our ungodly project to supplant the true and mighty God with our pompous selves. Left to our natural selves we are hostile against God, self-declared enemies. We want to think of ourselves as gods, usurping His rule. All the while the truth remains that if He were to turn from us, in an instant our frail little house of cards would collapse.

He alone is self-existent, needing nothing, needing no one’s approval, no one’s love, no one’s acknowlegement. He is complete in Himself, separate from and transcendent above creation and all of its creatures.

But He loves us dearly, because it is His nature to do so. And He has walked among us in the Person of His Son. And we love Him, but only because . . . He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

Throwing red meat to a doctrinal dog[matist]

Look, folks, I am absolutely convinced of the power of the truth of the Bible. There has long been this utterly misplaced debate in American Christiandom that poses some sort of antithesis between knowing truth and doing truth, as though somehow the two militate against one another, or are even mutually exclusive.

That's a crock. It ain't so. In fact, there is nothing more dangerous to Christianity than zeal that is not tempered by the confines of truth, i.e., solid doctrine (see Romans 10:1-3). Many of the cults had their genesis in zeal without knowledge.

In today's modern church, zeal without knowledge produces a man-centered therapeutic Christianity that has as much foundation in secular psychobabble about self-esteem, and diverse theories of personality, as it does the Scripture. The unfortunate thing is that many of the good, godly people who support such nonsense are wholly unaware of how man-centered and idolatrous their mix of secularism and Bible actually are. Under the fallacious moniker of "all truth is God's truth" they baptize the results of psychology with same authority they acknowledge in the Scripture, and like Old Testament Israel, wind up with a messy mix of syncretism that worships Jehovah and Baal (and ultimately, self).

Okay, I feel better now. Got that off my chest. Let's get to the red meat part for doctrinal dogmatists.

E. F. Harrison in the introduction to his commentary on Romans, considers some possible purposes in Paul's letter to the Roman church. One that he makes a case for is the idea that Paul is intending to make Rome a home-base for his intended mission to Spain, much the way Antioch functioned for the first three missionary journeys. In order to do this, he needs to get the Roman church up to speed on doctrine, hence, the epistle to the Romans.

Did you catch that incredible connection? In order to make the Roman church an adequate base for missionary expansion to Spain, HE HAS TO GET THEM SOLIDLY SETTLED IN DOCTRINAL TRUTH. Let's run this past you one more time: IN ORDER THAT THEY MIGHT DO MISSIONS, HE MUST TEACH THEM TRUTH!

Wow. Incredible. I love it.

And oh, by the way: for those of us who do not like "complicated, deep sermons;" please re-read the book of Romans, and remember that this complex, in-depth message was sent to a young church that did not have near the background we do in either the Old or the New Testaments.

Maybe the problem of depth is not in the message presented, but in us as listeners. Perhaps Hebrews 5:11-14 applies to us.

Sic' 'em, Paul!

John Stott; promoted to Glory

John Stott has gone home to be with the Lord. In my opinion, Stott was one of the premier Anglican theologians of the last fifty years. I am sorry to lose him now, when the Anglican Church most needs its scholars that are genuinely biblically faithful. But the Lord of the Church makes no mistakes.

While Stott authored many books, the one which I really treasure is his Basic Christianity. This little book is both an explanation, and somewhat of a defense, of the basic doctrines of Christianity. I have used it as an evangelistic tool, as well as a small study to get believers up-to-speed on the faith.

If you have not read this little book (available in both the BFC library and bookstore, as well as on Amazon), you are denying yourself an excellent intro to Christian doctrine.

Rest in peace, John Stott.