Book Review: Christ Has Set Us Free

The book of Galatians is a very important book in the Bible. In fact, all scripture is important because it is God-breathed, but Galatians is important. The reason is that the Apostle Paul confronted a false teaching that infiltrated the church, which was you who are Gentile must be circumcised if you want to be saved. They were proclaiming a "Jesus +" gospel.

There have been many commentaries on the book of Galatians as well as sermons. I have sat through a series on Galatians and have heard it preached online. I have also took teenagers through the book of Galatians during our Sunday School hour. Christ Has Set Us Free is the latest resource for Christians to have when it comes to the study of the book of Galatians.

The book begins with an introduction to Galatians from Thomas R. Schreiner followed a chapter from Gerald L. Bray on how the Reformers interpreted the letter. The next six chapters are the messages from the Gospel Coalition National Conference in 2017, which celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The messages are from John Piper, Sandy Wilson, Peter Adam, D.A. Carson, Thabiti Anyabwile, and Tim Keller, which I have shared all of those messages on the blog. The final chapter deals with Sinclair Ferguson on the issue of legalism and antinomianism which the book of Galatians does not teach. We do not believe that you must do in order to be saved, but it does not mean we can live life without any regard for holiness.

This is a delightful book to add to the ever growing list of resources to study the book of Galatians. I know there are a few of the pastors involved with this book that may have said some questionable things over the past couple of years, but when it comes the gospel, they are solid.

Thanks Crossway for letting me review this book.

Understanding Jesus as the Son of God Ought to Have a Bearing on Our Evangelism

In past generations—how far back depends on the location—our evangelism in the Western world was largely confined to the churchified and to those who had at least been exposed to basic Christian doctrine. To insist on the importance of believing on Jesus the Son of God, or to preach that God sent his Son into the world to save the world, raised few eyebrows: the “Son” language was so much a part of the heritage that very little was done to unpack it. Today, however, in much of the Western world, we are dealing with biblical illiterates. What does it mean to them when they hear that God has a Son, or that God sent his Son into the world to bear our sins in his own body on the tree? This is not a subtle-but-wicked plea to avoid complex doctrines. Far from it: rather, just as we have to start farther back in our evangelism to provide more of the Bible’s story line for the good news of Jesus to cohere—much as Paul provides much of the Bible’s story line when he preaches the gospel to biblically illiterate pagans (Acts 17:16–31)—so we have to unpack more of the doctrine of God, and thus of the Son, to a generation that knows nothing of the Trinity. There are many ways of doing this, of course, but one of them is to follow the biblical trajectories forward, unpacking the Son of God themes as we go, until we reach their climax in Jesus the Son of God—the true man, the true Israel, the true Davidic King, the one who comes as David’s Son and yet as the mighty God.

Adapted from Jesus the Son of God: A Christological Title Often Overlooked, Sometimes Misunderstood, and Currently Disputed by D.A. Carson

Book Review: Jesus's Sermon On The Mount and His Confrontation With The World by D.A. Carson

The sermon of the mount is perhaps one of the most preached places in the Bible and the most quoted. Some people take the Beatitudes and make it self-centered while ignoring some of the other things Jesus said. Some would even twist what Jesus said and make it seem He meant something different such as Matthew 7:1 where we do not judge lest we be judged.

D.A. Carson has a collection of sermons that look into the sermon on the mount as well as the three chapters following it in the gospel of the Matthew. The collection on the sermon on the mount took place in 1975 while the other sermons were collected sometime after the year 2000. The book is titled, Jesus's Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World.

The first half of the book is on the sermon on the mount which Carson deals with each passage expositionally. As you read the chapters in the book, you will begin to think that you are listen to Carson whether in person or on the Internet. Carson addresses everything in the sermon on the mount from the Beatitudes to the putting the words of Jesus into practice.

The second of the book deals with Jesus confronting the world. Carson addresses Jesus authority to heal people and cause a storm to be quiet. How Jesus's mission was to preach the gospel and send out His disciples while giving them authority. Carson even talks about how Jesus can be divisive because He came not to bring peace but a sword. Many will be, and still are, divided over who Jesus is.

This book is not a commentary on the whole book of Matthew, but a good helpful aid in studying it.

Thanks Baker Books for letting me review this book.

Book Review: Basics For Believers by D.A. Carson

I am sure you have heard the phrase, "Let get back to basics." What that means is simply lets get back to the beginning and move forward as if we are beginning something new for the first time. For Christians, there are times where we have to get back to basics as a reminder of what Christ has done for us and how we are to live as believers in a fallen world.

D.A. Carson has a book out titled, Basics For Believers, which helps new and mature Christians to go back to basics in regards to the Christian life. Carson goes through the entire book of Philippians to teach his readers 5 principles that every Christian must live out. These chapters were originally sermons that were preached during the Word Alive conference at Skegness, England in 1994.

First, Christians are to keep the gospel first, which means keep it in the center of your life. Keep the gospel in the center of your prayer life, fellowship with other believers, and even our own aspirations. Second, we are to focus on the cross. Carson goes through the theology surrounding the cross. I love that he made the case on why "propitiation" is a word that best describes Jesus's sacrifice on the cross, which is not included in some translations of the Bible (Carson was using the NIV in this book).

Third, we are to adopt Jesus's death as a test for our outlook on life. As Christ suffered for us, we must suffer for Him and exhort those who are suffering as well while we workout our salvation with fear and trembling. Fourth, we are to emulate worthy Christian leaders, meaning we are to follow their example as they follow Jesus just as Paul told the Corinthian church (1 Cor. 11:1). Finally, we should never give up on the Christian walk. We should never give up and be people of prayer. Be people who fix our minds on things that are praiseworthy and be content in whatever situation we are facing.

This book is not a commentary on the book of Philippians but I do recommend it for anyone reading or studying Paul's letter to the church at Philippi.

Thanks Baker Books for letting me review this book.

Book Review: The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus by D.A. Carson

John 14-17 is the account of Jesus teaching and being with His disciples before He was crucified. He taught many things to them including praying for them and future believers. These passages have been preached from years. Some have been preached expositionally while others topically.

D.A. Carson is one that preached these verses faithfully through expositional preaching. These sermons are record in a book, which was first published in 1980, called, The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus. Carson begins with the background of where we are in the gospel of John. Jesus just washed His disciples' feet, predicted that someone would betray him, told his disciples to love one another, and predicted that Peter would deny Him three times.

From there, we get into the meat of the book. Carson takes us Jesus final time with the disciples before His crucifixion. Most would think this book is a commentary which can be taken that way, but it is not a commentary. This book is a recording of sermons from a gifted pastor and teacher for the church. The way the chapters are written is as if you are looking at Carson's manuscript for these sermons.

Carson does a marvelous job in faithful exposing the text to the reader. You can tell some of them have been rewritten in a 21st century context. This may not be a commentary to the gospel of John, but this is an excellent resource to use for Bible Study or sermon reference.

Thanks Baker Books for letting me review this book.

D.A. Carson's Sermon On Galatians 4 From TGC 2017

Staying the Course in a Changing Culture

The Gospel Coalition:

The Ground of All Human Assurance Before God

This short video has been moving around in social media for the past few days. I pray as you hear these words from D.A. Carson, it will cause you to worship God.



This clip is from the sermon, How Long, O Lord? Steadying Our Soul in the Midst of the Storm from the Bethlehem 2016 Conference for Pastors.

Books by D.A. Carson:

Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus

Introducing the New Testament: A Short Guide to Its History and Message

Christ and Culture Revisited

The Cross and Christian Ministry

From The Resurrection to His Return: Living Faithfully in the Last Days

Around the Web-November 13, 2015

Collin Hansen talks with D.A. Carson about an old questions, does God love the sinner but hate the sin?

We Need a Hero by Chris Gensheer

Dave Jenkins talks with Jason Helopoulos about his book, The New Pastor's Handbook: Help and Encouragement for the First Years of Ministry

The guys over at Gotham Central discuss Comics, Gender, Race, and the Practical Application of Godwin's Law

Starbucks' Plain Red Cups Spark Controversy

3 Lessons on Holiness from John Owen by Sean Nolan

Elevation Church – The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Christian comedian, Mark Lowry was at the most recent Dove Awards, which is the Grammy's for Christian music, to give a nice "theological" talk.

Is the Reformation Still Important Today?

The Gospel Coalition:

Thriving Christian Church in a Hostile Culture

This past Sunday, our church went through John 15:18-16:4, which Jesus warns the disciples the world will hate you because it hated me first. In the past few years, we have seen our culture becoming more hostile towards Christianity. The question that D.A. Carson, Tim Keller, and John Piper address in this roundtable discussion is can a church thrive in a culture that is hostile towards the gospel

What Is Encouraging About Rising Leaders in the Church?

Tim Keller, D.A. Carson, and John Piper talk about what encourages them from their interactions with upcoming church leaders

Did Jesus Preach The Gospel?

Discussion with D.A. Carson, John Piper, and Tim Keller on The Trinity

D.A. Carson on Why We Need To Read The Bible