Review of Dean Inserra’s The Unsaved Christian: Reaching Cultural Christianity with the Gospel

The Unsaved Christian is a great book, and is going to be discomfiting for many people who view themselves as right with God, but whose views on that score are wholly without warrant.

First, a bit of historical perspective: parts of the United States were swept by revivalism in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Much good came out those revivals, but there were also some results that were not particularly praiseworthy. One of them was a reductionism of redemption: in many cases it was reduced to a “decision” rather than a whole-life reorientation around repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Master. Salvation is not less than a decision, but it is much more than that.

Add to that an unbalanced emphasis on eternal security (especially in the mid to late 20th century), virtually separating the doctrine of assurance from the “new life” aspect of regeneration. And add to that a sort of “second-blessing” theology that teaches the decision to yield to Jesus as Lord and Master is separate from the decision to trust Him as Savior, and what you wind up with is a culture that views salvation as little more than checking the right boxes. Salvation becomes a cultural inheritance of white, conservative, flag-waving Americans, something akin to joining the Republican party.

Dean Inserra’s book is a gentle but firm expose of that problem: cultural Christianity is not biblical Christianity, and it is decidedly not a “Christianity” that saves. He deals with a variety of flavors of it: moral theism, watered-down mainline Protestantism, the Bible Belt cultural ambience, the confusion of patriotism with Christianity, and so on. One particularly good chapter explores the Christmas and Easter attendance phenomenon and yields some rather surprising observations.

Inserra is not swinging a club—he’s not browbeating. He’s quite gentle, in fact, and includes questions at the end of each chapter for self-evaluation. But he also pulls no punches. Chapter 3 is entitled “Civic Religion: Generic Faith that Demands and Asks Nothing of Its Followers.” His view of the true gospel, biblical faith, salvation, the effects of regeneration, and so on are fully orthodox.

Buckle your spiritual seatbelt, put on your crash helmet, and read this book. Here at Bible Fellowship, we’re going to go through this book in Sunday School. It’s too important to leave sitting on the shelf. For some, it might make an eternity of difference. Five stars, highly recommended.

Brief Review of The Gospel according to Jesus, revised edition

MacArthur, John. The Gospel According to Jesus. revised ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008.

Why, you might ask, are you reviewing a book first published over 20 years ago (1988)? Good question. First, because I just finished it (I guess you can see how far behind I am in my reading). Second, because this is a significant book that should not be buried by anything as inconsequential as the mere passage of time. So I suppose that I am hoping to put it on your radar. Third, it remains a critical topic for the church today, perhaps even more so now than 20 years ago. At BFC, Pastor Robb and I have been hammering away for years at the false security of many who claim Christ but do not manifest the life-change that always accompanies regeneration.

This is a crucially important book. John MacArthur deals with the Lordship-salvation controversy in a thorough, convincing way.  He begins by examining modern manifestations of the gospel, and finds them inadequate. Specific examples are given, most of which involve reducing a confession of Christ to little more than intellectual assent to the facts of the gospel and the verbalization of it. In this deficient gospel, consecration to Christ’s Lordship is seen as a secondary decision sometimes far removed, chronologically, from the initial confession of faith. “Carnal Christian” is viewed as a state in which one might live, not a passing failure brought on by momentary stumbling.

MacArthur tours the gospels, demonstrating that the call of Christ is always a call to discipleship and commitment. This is illustrated through the encounters Jesus had with seeking sinners, the parables, and Jesus’ own theological statements as to the nature of salvation. MacArthur employs his characteristic skill as a careful expositor in these chapters.

In the appendices, the author marshals plenty of evidence to show that the response of faith manifested by life-change-and-commitment is the same response to the gospel that the apostles demanded (as evidenced by the epistles), as well as the response that the true church has always required as a manifestation of saving faith.

The book is easily accessible to anyone with a high-school education, and is, in my opinion, irrefutable. At critical turns in his presentation, MacArthur uses quotes from his opponents (usually Zane Hodges, Charles Ryrie, or Lewis Sperry Chafer) to illustrate the positions of those who disagree with the Lordship-salvation position (a term the author does not even like, but uses because it has become the main label for this particular debate). This is a critical book for all those wishing to evangelize in a manner faithful to Scripture, and for those who are fighting for the purity and holiness of the church.

BFC'ers: we have this in the library for loan. You can always ask the BFC bookstore to order you a copy for purchase. I encourage you to get it and read it.