Book Review: The Gospel Call & True Conversion by Paul Washer

In a lot of churches, pastors and teachers proclaim that conversion is when a person gets saved. That is partly true but what they imply is conversion is mostly in the hands of the believer with no work of the Holy Spirit or the proclamation of the gospel. Churches have tried to make Christianity into praying a prayer or signing a card as evidence of your salvation. Paul Washer in his book, The Gospel Call & True Conversion, proclaims that being saved is not a matter of free will but of God's will.

This book is the second of a series called, Recovering The Gospel, published by Reformation Heritage Books. In the intro to the series, Washer writes that this series "does not represent an entirely systematic presentation of the gospel, it does address most of the essential elements, especially those that are the most neglected in contemporary Christianity." The goal of this series is to address the true elements of the gospel as proclaimed in the Bible and not some of the mushy gospel-less teachings you hear on Christian radio and television.

The book is divided into three parts. The first that about the gospel call and what is the nature of that call. There is the call to repentance and faith followed by believing and confessing. Washer addresses some evangelistic methods to present the gospel such as using Revelation 3:20 for people to know Christ is knocking as the door of our hearts, which he says is an accurate picture of the gospel.

The second part of the book is about the nature of true conversion as it relates to the Christian getting a new heart when conversion happens. Washer addresses who is the true author of salvation, who is God alone, as well as how the Holy Spirit works in regeneration which that is a subject for a book by itself. The third part continues to deals with nature of true conversion but this time as it relates to the people of God, which I am very thankful Washer wrote about. He addresses the New Covenant, how God makes a new people for Himself, and how God continues to show kindness to His people for all eternity.

When I first picked this book up, I really had a problem of putting it down. Washer has this gift of getting straight to the point without stretching out his words to fill his page. This book is filled with such theological truths that makes me want to read over and over again because there were a lot. This book also makes me want to get the first book of the series, The Gospel's Power & Message. I highly recommend this book.

Thanks Reformation Heritage Books for letting me review this book.