Book Reviews - 3/22/10

By Grace Alone: How the Grace of God Amazes Me, Sinclair Ferguson, 2010, Reformation Trust Publishing, Lake Mary, Fla., ISBN 9781567692020, 118 pages, $18.00, hardcover.

As we’ve said before in reviewing books in this space, a book doesn’t need to be new and different to merit writing and distribution. Sometimes the best books are those that retread the tried and true ground, leading the reader back to the green pastures and still waters that refresh and renew the soul.

Sinclair Ferguson’s By Grace Alone is such a book. Over seven chapters, each paralleling a stanza from Burundian pastor Emmanuel T. Sibomana’s hymn, “O How the Grace of God Amazes Me”, Ferguson gently unpacks the mystery of God’s mercy of salvation and bids the reader follow him into the richness and rest of unmerited grace.

Beginning with a discourse on the bondage of sin, Ferguson traces the miracle of grace through God’s love, Christ’s sacrificial atonement, the defeat of sin and death, and our redemption into God’s purpose and plan. His exposition of the parables of Luke 15, particularly that of the prodigal son, powerfully illustrates the depth of how our sin grieves God and the sheer wonder of the Father’s desire to forgive and restore us.

Ferguson doesn’t get complex in this book, but neither does he leave the reader on the surface of the faith. The book is simple and understandable enough to be an ideal tool for new Christians seeking to grasp the interplay between their obedience and God’s forgiveness or for helping an unbeliever see that “doing the right thing” is a futile way to salvation. At the same time, his subject matter is the stuff on which the household of faith is built and should be kept always before us lest we forget its power. God’s grace is indeed amazing, and we dare not grow accustomed to it as though it is in any way ordinary or deserved.

Justin Lonas

Target: All
Type: Doctrine/Christian Living
Take: Recommended

Your Church is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s Mission Is Vital to the Future of the Church, John H. Armstrong, 2010, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Mich., ISBN 978-0310321149, 224 pages, $19.99, hardcover.

Taking his title from J.B Phillips’ book, Your God is too Small, John Armstrong’s Your Church is Too Small discusses how unity in Christ’s mission is crucial in the life of the Church. Armstrong makes it clear that his title is not a numerical reference, but rather a narrow-mindedness he sees in himself and other believers that detract from fulfilling Christ’s plan for the nations to glorify God through the Church.

Armstrong, who is president of Act 3 ministries, a pastor, and an adjunct professor at Wheaton College, has had numerous encounters with people of every stripe of Christianity through his work over the years. He says that these experiences are what caused him to see the work of the Church from many perspectives (including how in hindsight his upbringing led him to believe many unfounded, uninvestigated misconceptions about other denominations and traditions outside his own).

His work also prodded him to research Church history in order to see the strengths and weaknesses of the past in order to provide some answers on how to create unity among believers.  Armstrong uses the phrase “missional ecumenism” to encourage readers not to be so focused on the disagreements that it becomes impossible to concentrate on the places where believers have commonality, those elements that will bring Christians together in unified work for God’s glory.

Unlike some ecumenical movements of the past that have veered heavily into false teaching, Armstrong does not advocate any tolerance of heresy or syncretism, but rather attempts to pull together the strengths from various Christian traditions. He claims that he is seeing believers do this today unlike any time in history. In a time when the faith is under constant assault from the world, he has an important message to share with those who desire to see the bride of Christ pursuing our biblical calling. 

Rachel Lonas

Target: All/Pastors/Leaders
Type: Mission/Ecclesiology
Take: Recommended