Christians Great Salvation

What will be the great focus of God’s people’s praise throughout eternity in heaven? The author’s answer, based on the Book of Revelation, is that it will be God’s great salvation, which his Son Jesus Christ won for his people. It is “the overarching theme of the Bible, the jewel in the crown of the Christian faith” and ought to be at the centre of every Christian’s praise and worship on earth.

The gospel of God’s grace to sinners in Jesus Christ is simple enough for a child to believe but deep enough for an adult to swim in. Are you a Christian? Is it to you just a simple truth that you take as a given? Have you begun to plumb the depths of your great salvation? Have you become blasé about it? Here is a book to help you explore the depths and reaches of your salvation. He is a book that will remind you of its many dazzling facets.

Are you, perhaps, not yet a believer but seeking the truth? The door you are invited to go through says on it simply, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” Here is a book to open up the many wonderful rooms that lie beyond it. It’s a brief book with fewer than 100 pages of text; you could read it in an evening. If you do, you will probably want to go back and savour each chapter again.

The great emphasis of the book is that salvation is God’s doing from beginning to end and that our only part is to believe and receive it. Hence, each of the twelve short chapters (of about half a dozen pages each) carries a two-word title beginning with the word ‘Divine’. Thus, our salvation is described under such headings as Divine Redemption, Divine Remission, Divine Justification, Divine Adoption and Divine Regeneration.

The author clearly explains from a sound Biblical basis something of all that salvation for a Christian consists of and entails. Each chapter begins with a Bible quotation that encapsulates the truth it brings out. Bible quotations are from the somewhat out of fashion Revised Standard Version (which still uses ‘Thee’ and ‘Thou’ when God is addressed).

Throughout the book, the author also quotes from catechisms such as the Westminster Confession and from old hymns to explain, support and illustrate what he is saying. For some this will be both helpful and delightful. But it does not always clarify and also brings a sometimes heavy and somewhat dated tone to the book, which leaches into the writer’s own language in places. This could put off someone who is not yet a Christian or who is not yet familiar with the formal language of the Church.

The book is printed in a large, clear font, so it should be readable even by those with weaker eyesight. It’s a pity that the layout and formatting are a little awkward (see below). Nevertheless, this is a book I thoroughly recommend for anyone who wants a refresher on or an introduction to the great subject of a Christian’s salvation.

Notes for the publisher: (1) the cover annoyingly curls up for no apparent reason; (2) the sub-headings could be clearer—they are in a font that looks smaller than the body text and there is no paragraph spacing after them; (3) hymn quotations look clunky with paragraph spacing between verses but not before the first or after the last verse; (4) the headers on each double-page spread are the same left and right (the title of the book)—it would be more helpful for one of them to be the chapter number and title; (5) the end notes are awkward—to find out whether they are of interest to me, I have to leaf back to find the number of the chapter before leafing forward to the end of the book to read them.

If you are looking for a book that is doctrinally sound, and sets out clearly what is entailed in Christian conversion, so that it enables you to speak with conviction, understanding and enthusiasm to those who either are saved, or are seeking salvation, this may be the book for you.
There are twelve chapters in all – each one beginning with the word “Divine” – which further underlines its Biblical, God-centred theme. It opens with “Divine Redemption”; and moving on through issues such as “adoption”, “purification” “propitiation” and “preservation”, it concludes with “Divine Benediction”. Brief references are made throughout to the Shorter Catechism, 1648 and to the Westminster Confession of Faith. Verses of both well-known and lesser known hymns are also quoted to good effect.
One was glad to be reminded that salvation is Trinitarian (p.9), as 1 Peter 1:2 teaches. It is also notable that various doctrinal terms, such as redemption and justification, are defined and illustrated. The importance of this cannot be overstated. (In contrast, where Biblical expressions are used without explanation, members of congregations, or readers of Christian books, often find that they simply go over their heads.) Furthermore, it is of great assistance to the reader that the chapters of this book, which are fairly brief, get straight into the matter in hand, without starting with anecdotes, which are increasingly a feature of some modern writing.

Given the days in which we live, it is essential for the point to be made that Christian redemption depends solely on Christ (p.17). Since it is unique, we cannot redeem ourselves by what we do. O what a vital point this is! This reviewer has just been reading about King James II (1685-88) who, so it seems, sadly spent his life trying to obtain his salvation by his own strenuous efforts – and never more so than when he went into exile! How many are acting likewise today?
In reading books for review purposes, one makes brief notes of passages that particularly stand out. Here is just one of several such notes from page 79: “Justification takes us to the law courts. Redemption takes us to the slave market. Adoption takes us to family matters. Imputation takes us to the world of accounting and banking – debit and credit.”
Sentences such as these appealed to this reviewer; and they may well do likewise to others who buy and read this well-written, recommended book.