Contending for Our All: Defending Truth and Treasuring by John Piper

By John Piper

Just like the others during this sequence of biographical books, this one includes sketches of the lives of 3 historic christian leaders besides dialogue of classes the reader can study from every one. the lads whose lifestyles tales are featured during this quantity are Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen, who each one defended fact within the Christian controversies in their day.
The creation of Contending for Our All is a security of these who struggle for "the fact and that means of the gospel" whilst the reality of the gospel is at stake. the explanation this safety needs to be made is that "[i]n all ages there's a type of one that attempts to reduce the significance of truth-dening and truth-defending controversy via announcing that prayer, worship, evangelism, missions, and dependence at the Holy Spirit are extra important...."
Of path, this stuff are very important, yet all of them depend upon transparent instructing of foundational truths. As Piper explains,
"I love the fervour for religion and prayer and evangelism and worship at the back of these statements. but if they're used to belittle gospel-defining, gospel-defending controversy they chew the hand that feeds them. Christ-exalting prayer won't continue to exist in an environment the place the maintenance and rationalization and vindication of the educating of the Bible in regards to the prayer-hearing God are devalued. Evangelism and international missions needs to feed at the strong meals of well-grounded, unambiguous, wealthy gospel fact with a purpose to maintain braveness and self belief within the face of afflictions and fake religions. and company worship might be diluted with cultural substitutes the place the deep, transparent, biblical contours of God's glory are usually not visible and protected from ever-encroaching error."
Athanasius, Owen and Machen all understood how excessive the stakes have been within the controversies in their occasions. they didn't love controversy for controversy's sake, yet all of them understood how very important definite truths are to the health and wellbeing of the church, so that they contended for the reality out of love--"love to Christ, his church, and his world."
Athansius defended the deity of Christ opposed to the Arians long ago within the fourth century. now and then, such a lot of Christendom stood opposed to him. For greater than 40 years--all of his grownup life--Athanasius fought for the reality of Christ's deity, even supposing for far of that point, these in strength have been operating to eliminate him, exiling him 5 instances. finally, although, the orthodoxy Athanasius fought for received out, even though he didn't reside to determine the winning end result of his work.
John Owen, a Puritan pastor of the 1600s, wrote to safeguard opposed to blunders that decreased the gospel. He labored difficult to uphold the reality all through his entire existence, regardless of the heartbreak that got here from burying all 11 of his little ones. His writings contain, between different issues, defenses of the doctrines of perseverance of the saints and convinced atonement.
J. Gresham Machen did his contending within the first half the final century, status opposed to the blunders of liberal Christianity. His most crucial paintings used to be Christianity and Liberalism. My favourite tale approximately Machen is that this one. As he lay loss of life, he despatched a telegram to his pal John Murry that stated, "I am so grateful for [the] lively obedience of Christ. No wish with out it." you should love a guy who reveals his convenience in dying within the doctrine of the imputation of Christ's righteousness.
John Piper attracts out many classes for us from the lives of those 3 males who contended for the reality opposed to fake instructing, yet his significant lesson is this:
"Faithful Christians don't love controversy; they love peace. They love their brothers and sisters who disagree with them. They lengthy for a typical brain for the reason for Christ. yet they're certain through their sense of right and wrong and through the be aware of God, for this very cause, to aim to cajole the church in regards to the fullness of the reality and sweetness of God's word."
I love biographies and that i love church background, so I enjoyed Contending for Our All. even though, while you are trying to find special lifestyles tales such as you may locate in such a lot biographies, you can be dissatisfied. but when you need to examine classes from the lives of those ancient figures of the church, classes so you might observe on your existence now in our instances, this ebook will fit you good.