The Grace Of Repentance Repackaged Edition

Out of the Protestant Reformation came several important doctrines, including a renewed understanding of repentance. Instead of viewing repentance as a one-time confession, the reformers began to teach what the Bible teaches—that it is both radical and perpetual. In this redesigned, concise volume Sinclair Ferguson examines how the Bible defines repentance and how the doctrine has fared in today’s evangelical churches. He finds many sorely lacking in proper theological understanding: “Once again we need to proclaim the full-orbed doctrine of repentance within an evangelical world that has begun to manifest symptoms of the same medieval sickness.” This reversion to a kind of medieval theology includes the viewing of repentance as an isolated, emotional event. Ferguson combats this trend by pointing us toward repentance in the Bible. As we embrace continual confession and turning from sin, we will find our spiritual walk transformed and our fellowship with Christ renewed. This is an important book for every Christian who wants the grace of repentance to regain rightful prominence in evangelical churches.

Does a person have to "convert" to be a Christian? Or can one merely "follow" Jesus by studying Scripture? Does the Bible ever say that conversion is necessary? Or is it a development of the church? Turning to God explores these fundamental questions about regeneration and conversion, distinguishing Christianity from every other faith as one in which conversion is unique, supernatural, and necessary for salvation. In it you will find a clear, thoughtful, balanced discussion of the Christian conversion experience, including its history, controversy, and scriptural basis. Anyone who has marveled at the mystery of how and why we turn to God, along with those skeptical of religious conversion, will find themselves challenged and encouraged by this thorough treatment of one of the fundamentals of the Christian faith.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of the most widely read Christian writers of the twentieth century. Although his work has been influential among academics, his widest readership has always been the church. Each Sunday, Bonhoeffer's writings are referenced in sermons and study groups around the world. And yet no systematic introduction to Bonhoeffer exists for this audience. In Bonhoeffer for the Church, Matthew Kirkpatrick corrects this omission. Structured around topics such as preaching, worship, sacraments, prayer, pastoral care, confession, evangelism, and apologetics, Bonhoeffer for the Church offers an accessible but comprehensive introduction to Bonhoeffer's life and thought for those in ministry or interested in understanding their life in community better. In making Bonhoeffer accessible for the church, Kirkpatrick also reveals Bonhoeffer's astonishing message to the church. Despite his well-known conflicts with the churches and church leaders of his time, the church remained for Bonhoeffer the foundation for God's redeeming activity to the world and in individual lives. Drawing on the full range of his writings, including his less well-known sermons, diaries, and letters, Bonhoeffer for the Church presents this astonishing vision and shows how Bonhoeffer can revitalize and inspire the life and ministry of the church and our individual relationships. For those who struggle in their ministry, doubt the relevance of the church, or who simply need to be reenergized in their relationships with other Christians, Bonhoeffer for the Church offers a crucially important message.

Thomas Chalmers, in his classic sermon entited, “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection,” correctly ascribes subjective power to subjective affections, for love does have an expulsive power, whether one loves God to the despising of self, or loves self to the despising of God. But he incorrectly sides with objective justification, full pardon and gracious acceptance as the power that creates love and the engine that empowers sanctification. He is right to suggest that a new affection has expulsive power, but wrong to suggest that the source and power of a new affection is primarily in the indicative benefits. Jonathan Edwards, on the other hand, sided with regeneration for the obvious reason that without a new nature, the natural man can only be constrained by outside considerations (the indicatives) to superficially walk in newness of life (the imperatives). Such considerations mght produce change that rises as high as the outward performance of the Legalist, but it is still only the superficial height that self-love alone can achieve. The Spirit’s work of illuminating the higher glory and beauty of Christ to the soul is the only source of an affection that can be called new. If the expulsive power of a new affection does not dethrone self as one’s primary concern in life and theology, then what exactly is being expulsed by the power of the gospel? If one’s religion does not surpass one’s primary concern for what’s in it for oneself, then one’s self-love may have an expulsive power, but it will be the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus that is expulsed by the power of self-love. The irony of the cross was that Christ was crucified by those who already had a knowledge of God’s steadfast love and rejoiced in spiritual priviledges. The proper force and source behind the believer’s love for God is not found in the objective benefits as they reflect upon the believer’s high privileges, but God’s power alone as it is exerted in the soul by the Spirit imparting a new heart, new affections and a new principle of action that did not exist prior. Good fruit is produced only by a good tree, and however constrained by outside forces, a bad tree cannot be manipulated to produce fruit contrary to its nature.

This collection of articles is designed to help Christians better understand their Savior by seeing the centrality of His affections for them in their day-to-day lives. Sinclair Ferguson points us to Jesus, beautiful in His love and faithful in His work on behalf of His people.

The enormous growth of evangelicalism is one of the major developments in recent American life. Like other scholars, Jorstad acknowledges that evangelicalism has grown because it is theologically attractive. But Jorstad also attributes the growth of the evangelical movement to its relationship with American popular culture. According to the author, the evangelical movement was able to integrate populist, democratic traditions with a cultural inclusiveness, a mastery of high technology, and a willingness to use mass media to spread its views. The book contains three sections. The first traces the development of evangelical subculture between 1960 and 1990. The second part discusses the evangelical movement and social and individual values. The third part explores popular religion and the media. The book considers the involvement of evangelicals in popular religion, the appeal of popular religion to many but not to all evangelicals, the similarities between popular religion and more traditional religious organizations, and the means by which evangelicalism effectively utilizes the many genres and styles of popular culture.

Focusing on the life and work of the evangelical reformer John Bale (1485–1563), Wort presents a study of conversion in the sixteenth century.

Pastor Kyle Idleman doesn’t just want to be a fan of Jesus, he wants to full heartedly commit to him and be a follower of Jesus. But how can you make the leap from fan to follower? In Not a Fan Idleman uses biblical examples to show how the people who met Jesus also had to decide if they were fans or followers, and what it meant for them to then become followers. Being a follower doesn’t mean that you go to church every week, that you slap a Jesus fish on the back of your car, and that you give to charity. That’s what a fan does. What a follower of Jesus does, Idleman observes, is die to themselves each and every moment of the day because “you can’t say yes to following Jesus unless you say no to living for yourself.” In this three part book Idleman helps you to discover whether you are a fan or a follower, how to recognize the invitation Jesus has given, and what following Jesus looks like in your daily life. With humor and real life examples to draw you closer to Jesus, Kyle Idleman compels each and every one of us to Not Be A Fan