Book Reviews

The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler and Jared Wilson

Kirk E. Miller

Matt Chandler, with the help of Jared Wilson, has published his first book–The Explicit Gospel.

The Purpose

Summary

This book’s purpose is a negative one–to get its readers to the point of not assuming the Gospel. As Chandler states towards the end of his book,

Unless the gospel is made explicit, unless we clearly articulate that our righteousness is imputed to us by Jesus Christ, that on the cross he absorbed the wrath of God aimed at us and washed us clean–even if we preach biblical words on obeying God–people will believe that Jesus’ message is that he has come to condemn the world, not to save it.

But the problem is deeper than that and more pervasive. If we don’t make sure the gospel is explicit, if we don’t put up the cross and the perfect life of Jesus Christ as our hope, then people can get confused and say, “Yes, I believe in Jesus. I want to be saved. I want to be justified by God,” but then begin attempting to earn his salvation [pg. 208-209].

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The Gospel & Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever

Kirk E. Miller

This is less of a review and more of a recommendation.

One of the ways I evaluate whether a book is really good is whether or not I will read it a second time. … A few weeks ago I finished this book for the second time.

As Mark Dever notes in the video below, his purpose for writing this book was to provide an excellent introductory level book (only 119 pages!) on evangelism written for the average Christian. But at the same time, although he speaks in common, easy-to-understand language, the instruction and insights in this book are deep and well-worth the meditations of any Christian.

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What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert

Kirk E. Miller

What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert is a great little book explaining the Gospel in an unintimidating 121 pages of colloquial language .

The book provides an accurate, concise, clear presentation of the Gospel in very a Pauline, protestant, evangelical, and Reformed fashion. He explains the Gospel in very “Romans’ road”-like terms and uses penal substitution as his foundational motif in explaining the Gospel (hence very Pauline, protestant, evangelical, and Reformed). Gilbert uses the well-known, often used, and quite excellent, “God, man, Christ, response” outline to explain the Gospel. This outline demonstrates a fantastic and simply model to help one get a solid grasp of what the Gospel is really all about. It also prompts one to ask important questions about what the Gospel message assumes (sometimes called the “bad news”), means, and implies.

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Understanding the Big Picture of the Bible by Grudem, Collins, and Schreiner

Kirk E. Miller

Understanding the Big Picture of the Bible: A Guide to Reading the Bible Well

See a list of and information about the editors and contributors here.

I’ll have to be honest. As I began to read this book, I was initially disappointed. The title of the book, especially the “Big Picture” part, gave me the impression that this book was a introductory Biblical theology of sorts. I was expecting this book to help its readers see how the various parts of scripture (e.g., the Pentateuch, historical books, wisdom literature, etc.) all fit together in the overarching “storyline” of scripture.

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Humble Orthodoxy by Joshua Harris

Kirk E. Miller

It seems incredibly inappropriate to criticize a book that focuses so heavily on humility… which is why I’m glad Humble Orthodoxy has basically nothing to criticize.

I consider myself a pretty well-abled critic. So, I don’t say this lightly; the book is fantastic.

The title of Joshua Harris‘ book, Humble Orthodoxy: Holding the Truth Without Putting People Down, does a fine job explaining what the book is about (based largely on 2 Tim 1:13-14 and 2 Tim 2:23-25). The following statement sums up the book quite well:

Here’s what I believe: truth matters…but so does our attitude. This is what I mean by humble orthodoxy: we must cared deeply about truth, and we must also defend and share this truth with compassion and humility. [pg.5]

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