Considering the Transforming Power of the Gospel

Jerry Bridges’ newest book, The Transforming Power of the Gospel, is what I now call a “blender book”.

I suppose some background is in order. My son recently had surgery and has been on a pureed food diet for 3 weeks. We take what the rest of us are having, usually, toss it in the Ninja (the Magic Bullet broke from overuse, so we moved on) and chop it up. Everything is combined into easy to eat mush, which is really important when you’ve had surgery on your palate.

This book takes the subject matter from Transforming Grace,The Practice of Godliness, The Gospel for Real Life, Growing Your Faith, The Discipline of Grace and more, and puts it in easy to eat chapters. It is not mush, there is a distinct progression to the book. He’s not merely repackaging the material either. He wrote a new book that blends all those together. There are people who would not own (and read) all of those books like I have. Or perhaps they are new to this thing (afterall, I’ve been reading his books since the late 80’s) and this provides a good summary to whet the appetite. Some will choose to read more deeply in some areas, and others will be quite content with what they find here.

What they find here is quite satisfying. It is an easy read in many ways. As a friend used to say, he puts the cookies on the counter anyone can reach them. Yet, he covers significant things pertaining to the Christian life. He presents them in engaging fashion as well. This is a book that is rich in Scripture. One of the other strengths of the book, I think, is that he often refers to “the dead theologians.” He is not caught up in the theology of the present, but mining the riches of the past. This is a “gateway book”, allowing the reader the opportunity to enter a new world of theology- that of the time-tested dead guys.

He begins with a few chapters that work through Isaiah 6 to help us grasp the holiness of God, our sinfulness in light of that holiness, and how God has provided redemption in His Son. This is a necessary foundation for any growth in holiness.

“We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake or we cannot ever be accepted at all.”

The next chapter focuses on our embracing of the gospel daily. This is something that he addressed in The Gospel for Real Life. It is something popularized by Jack Miller. But he shows that there is a rich heritage of this thinking in people like Robert Haldane, B.B. Warfield and John Owen. He points the reader to strategic Scripture memorization to lay hold the gospel each day.

“Consciousness of one’s own sinfulness and assurance of forgiveness are the foundation of our love for God.”

He returns to Isaiah 6 to talk about a gospel motivation for godliness and service. Here he pulls the Heidelberg Catechism, J.C. Ryle, John Newton and William Cowper  into the discussion.

The next few chapters explore the meaning of grace, the transforming work of the Spirit and the balance of responsibility in sanctification. Our progress in sanctification, becoming like Jesus, is dependent upon the gracious transforming work of the Spirit. Yet, we must work. He pulls them together for us, so we have a biblical model instead of the extremes of self-will and passivity.

He then spends a few chapters addressing the means of grace, which he calls the instruments of grace. God has appointed particular ways for us to grow in grace (when practiced in faith). These are important if we are to make any progress in sanctification. This is part of how we pursue it. We aren’t earning that grace, but seeking it where God says it is found: Word and sacrament, prayer and adversity.

“During this time, there is a continual tension between who we are ‘in Christ’ and what we are in our daily experience.”

The book ends on the note of the “Already, Not Yet” character of our sanctification. We already have a new identity in Christ. We already have the indwelling Spirit in Christ. We already have pardon for sin in Christ. We already have gifts for service in Christ. We are not yet free from sin. We will not arrive until we see Jesus face-to-face. We need to have realistic expectations just as much as we take seriously the call to holiness found in Scripture.

Bridges has given us an accessible and significant book to assist us in becoming more like Christ precisely because it points us to Christ so often. Too often we look in, but we should be looking out- outside of ourselves to Christ. Now I can recommend this one book to congregants instead of 5 or 6 of his books. This is a big help to pastor and congregation alike.