Book Review: Show Them Jesus

Show Them Jesus is reputed to be a book about teaching the gospel to kids, as the subtitle suggests. But it’s actually a captivating, practical theology, expanding what it means to be united with Christ through the gospel. The author does an outstanding job of weaving an orthodox understanding of the gospel of grace into an instruction manual for reading, interpreting, and teaching the Bible through the lens of our union with Christ.

As a manual for teachers and parents, it is indispensable. The author provides practical tips in each chapter teaching how to uncover the Bible's emphasis on Jesus Christ in the background of every story. He demonstrates that the gospel is always the point. The moralism that pervades much of modern children's ministry curriculum is exposed as a sterile legalism that perverts rather than proclaims the gospel.

 But suppose you aren’t a teacher, or a parent. Suppose your view of the gospel has been that, yes, I am saved through faith, and now that I am saved God’s love for me and pleasure in me is commensurate with my obedience. That if two pounds of obedience yields two pounds of love from the Father, four pounds of obedience will double His love. Klumpenhower gently dismantles that perspective, showing that the gospel of grace is always the rule through which God views His children. This book is balm to the soul of one who has been raised in a performance-based Christian environment. Using fascinating illustrations from years of communicating the gospel to kids, the author wields an impressive command of Scripture to demonstrate that the Christian is beloved by God precisely because he is in Christ.

For too long the vital doctrine of Union with Christ has been overlooked by the Church. Happily, in our day it’s being rediscovered. This little volume is part of that renewed appreciation. Though there are a few bones I might pick at in chapter nine, I just love this book. Five stars. Ten stars, really. I thoroughly recommend this book—both as an instruction book for parents and teachers, and as a volume useful for counseling someone who’s entrapped in perfectionism or a performance mentality.

Review: Killing Calvinism, by Greg Dutcher

This isn’t really a review, it’s more of a brief reflection. Dutcher has identified the weak underbelly of the Young, Restless, and Reformed stream of Christianity today. As with all critiques of this nature, the author is speaking of the movement in general; the reader will always find exceptions in his personal experience. That said, you will do yourself no favors if in quibbling on this point or that you miss the overall thrust of Dutcher’s theme: Calvinistic theology is in danger of being controverted by the arrogance of some of its proponents. I remember once thinking of a bombast I was listening to, “If you are a Christian, please don’t tell anyone else.” One could say the same thing about some of Calvinism’s fans. And there have been times one could say the same thing about me.

Dutcher is not dealing with the arrogance of our opponents or their faults or failures; he’s pointing out sin in our camp. We who love Scripture and thrill in the doctrines of grace and feel deeply the depravity of man should be the very first to recognize—and confess—the scent of that depravity among ourselves—and in ourselves.

Dutcher is not a cheap-shot artist in the tradition of those who find it easier to criticise than construct. He’s rather a voice calling us to repentance, and to love, appreciate, respect, and learn from those who differ. Pick up any good volume on church history and turn to the early church fathers and read what they wrestled with as the orthodoxy of the church was discovered from Scripture over the first five hundred years or so after Christ, before you start slinging around the term “heretic.” Read Augustine, for instance. That godly champion of justification by faith had an amazing amount of residual Roman Catholicism in his belief system. Shall we call him a heretic?

And is it not possible that both we and our brothers and sisters in Christ will experience some recapitulation of “faith seeking understanding” as we wrestle with the meaning of Scripture? How many of today’s enthusiastic Calvinists went through their early Christian life with an essentially Arminian understanding until their ongoing study of Scripture reformed their thinking? I know I did. And are we not willing to give our brothers and sisters the love and respect and time and space to work through the issues themselves, just as we did?

Our church has a two year course in advanced theological training. Dutcher’s book just became part of the required curriculum. I commend it without reservation.

Book Review: Amazing Grace, by James M. Boice

Boice has written a text that very well may become a classic, as Gerstner’s comment on the back cover suggests. The book is written with a near-perfect combination of popular-level scholarship and pastoral voice. Boice delivers on what his title and subtitle promise, as he enters into a comprehensive, but non-technical, study of grace.

The topic is dealt with in four parts. Part One deals with Our Gracious God. Starting with God’s actions toward Adam and Eve at the time of the Fall, the author demonstrates that there was grace expressed in Eden. He then moves on to discuss the vital issue of Common grace (theologians’ explanation for God’s goodness as it is experienced by all people), and then wraps up the section by speaking of the grace that was revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

In Part Two, Saving Grace, Boice sets the table by beginning with an exposition of Ephesians, in which he demonstrates that God’s saving grace proceeds from God’s sovereign choice in election. This is followed by a chapter (again using Ephesians) asserting that salvation is by grace alone, followed by the next chapter which attests that justification is by grace alone. Boice does an excellent job explaining the terminology, such that this book could be given to a seeker who is largely unfamiliar with the intellectual territory of salvation.

Moving along to chapter seven, we are shown the effects of God’s grace in our daily lives (the title is, aptly, Standing in Grace). Boice uses this chapter to deal with the all-important subject of our union with Christ, as well as the vital topic of suffering. Many Christians are confused about the issue of our security in Christ, and the author handles that matter in chapter eight. Part Two wraps up with a discussion of the abundance of God’s grace and the relationship of law and grace.

So far, the book has operated somewhat on a chronology of a spiritual journey. The first part dealt with the awakening to sin, and the awakening to Christ. The second with matters pertinent to becoming a true believer in Christ. In keeping with this pattern, the third part (Living by Grace)deals with issues for a new Christian.

Chapter eleven covers growing strong in grace, and twelve the sufficiency of grace to cover our weaknesses. Boice then moves on to the role of grace in prayer, giving, and our communications in succeeding chapters.

The final part of the book (Grace Triumphant) is given to the matter of perseverance, and the Bible’s benedictions of grace.

One of the strengths of this marvelous exposition of grace is the wide range of audiences for whom it will be helpful. Christians of any spiritual age will benefit from the results of Boice’s careful study. Individual chapters of the book can be profitably employed by biblical counselors seeking to build up one portion or another of a counselee’s life. The book can also be given to those who are not yet in Christ, as the first two parts comprise a compelling, lucid explanation of the gospel.

This is an excellent book written at an accessible, popular level, and I recommend it highly. You may have a little difficulty securing a copy; at the moment (April, 2012) it seems to be out-of-print, which is a real shame considering its value. You can find used copies on the Internet, however, for a good price.

Common Grace, Special Grace, Amazing Grace

Common grace is the term by which theologians refer to God's goodness expressed to mankind generally.

One of the clearest biblical statements of common grace is found in Matthew 5:44-45 (NASB) "But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous [emphasis mine].

The sun rising upon those who reject Him, and the rain falling on those who hate Him is a sample of God's common grace. Once you start to think about it, you discover that we are inundated by evidences of God's love and care for His creation.

• Why are babies cute? Because God is good.
• Why does ice cream taste good? Because God is good [why is there ice cream? Because God is good!].
• Why are the Rocky Mountains pleasing to look at? Because God is good.
• Why is there football? Because God is good! [why is there baseball? So there is something to do between football seasons!]

The list could go on ad infinitum. The point is obvious; this creation is stuffed to the gills with signs of transcendence, the fingerprints of a Creator God Who is good.

Some people question common grace, and even the existence of God Himself because of the suffering they see around them. But what we are seeing is a cosmos of men in rebellion against their Creator. Suffering is the inevitable result. Squabbling children is not an evidence that the parents are evil (nor is it a particularly compelling evidence that the parents don't exist).

The question is not, if God is so good, why is there suffering? The real question is, in an obviously fallen world, why is there still so much good? And the answer is God's own powerful goodness, which mankind experiences as common grace.

There is another sort of grace, a special, salvific grace, sometimes called particular grace, experienced only by His elect. This grace is what draws some men and women to a special relationship with Him. The only reason that the gospel is foolishness to most, but the power of God unto salvation to a few, is God's particular grace (1 Corinthians 1:23-24).

 By this grace, fallen man's hostility against God is overcome; spiritually blind eyes are made to see, spiritually dull ears are made to hear, and spiritually dead hearts are made alive. Ephesians 2:1-9 provides a good look at this miracle of grace.

The bottom line is this: if you know Christ, and your neighbor does not, it does not mean that you are any smarter than your neighbor. It certainly does not mean you are any better than your neighbor. In fact, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 tells us that the opposite is true: God has chosen the weak, the foolish, the base, the despised. If you know Christ and your neighbor does not, it is only because God has, by His sovereign choice, granted to you the particular grace of salvation. It has nothing to do with you, my friend. It has everything to do with the amazing grace of God.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I'm found; was blind, but now I see. . .