Book Review: Evangelical Pharisees by Michael Reeves

When we think of the Pharisees, we think of men who were religious zealous who put man-made rules on people, which is true. We think of those who conspired to have Jesus killed, which is also true.  Pharisees were very proud of their place at the table and how they were revered with the Jewish people. They were also proud people when it comes to how religious they were.

Have you ever been proud of how people see you as a Christian? Do you think God is pleased with how spiritual you are? The question is, are you a modern-day pharisee?

In his new book, Evangelical Pharisees, which is a follow-up to Gospel People, Michael Reeves addresses issues of religious pride and legalism. This book is only four chapters long, but each deal with specific issues the Pharisees had and why it is important that we must avoid them.

First, one of the biggest things about the Pharisees is that they were hypocrites. A hypocrite is basically being someone who you are not when no one else is around you. Another way of looking at it when a Bible teacher instructs their people to avoid certain sins, he does what he just told them not to do. It is like some parents who say, "Do what I told you. Don't do as I do." 

Reeves points out that Jesus identified the three theological mistakes the Pharisees have made which is discussed in the remainder of the book. The first one is their understanding the God's revelation in the Scriptures. The Pharisees believed their Bible knowledge was legitimate proof of their right standing with God. Sounds familiar? It should because there are a number of people in the church who think if they have enough Bible knowledge they will be saved. Jesus told the Pharisees that know they search the Scriptures; they refuse to come to Him for eternal life because the Scriptures testify about Jesus (see John 5:39-40). God shows us Christ who is the source of eternal life through His special revelation in the Scriptures.

The next theological error of the Pharisees was their understanding of redemption. They believed if they did enough good works, they would be right in God's eyes. If you know your Bible really well, you know that is not true. Good works are not the root of our salvation by the root of it. We are justified by faith alone, not by works lest any man should boast (see Ephesians 2:8-9). Christians in the church today can fall under this same error the Pharisees were under if they put their faith and trust in what they do rather than what God has done in Christ. 

The final theological error is that of regeneration. This doctrine simply states that God removes our heart of stone to become a heart of flesh (see Ezekiel 36:26-27) which allows us to love and follow God. This work cannot be done on our own, this is a work of God. Our outward expressions of faith are a result of what God has done in our hearts. It is not keeping God commandments because we make God love us even more, but as a result of the work of God in our hearts.

The final chapter of the book deals with looking to the glory of God rather than the glory of man. Pharisees love to be man-pleasers and seek the glory of man. Those things do not last. In addition, we have nothing to contribute to our salvation, except, as Jonathan Edwards puts it, the sin for it to made possible. Pharisees will only seek out their own glory which goes back to the errors previously mentioned. 

This book is very easy to read. It is not a lengthy book so one can go through it within a week. I think this was a perfect follow-up to Reeves's previous book.

I received this book from Crossway in exchange for an honest review.