Friday, January 14, 2011

Slave by John MacArthur

We've been duped... duped into thinking that Jesus called us to be servants when all along he called us slave. John MacArthur presents a compelling argument about our true status in Christ. A position that doesn't allow us to call the shots... that doesn't give us the choice to obey or disobey, at least not without paying a terrible price. One can't help but be convinced of how we've been led down the wrong path by generations of well-meaning translators and Bible teachers.

So it surprised me to find that John MacArthur seems to fall into much the same trap even after alerting us its existence. In this case, his affinity for Calvinism seems to color his every thought. For example, he explains how our subsequent adoption by Christ proves "preservation of the saints" since it is a permanent condition, but he is evidently blinded by the obvious fact that if the biological parent can be superseded by the adoptive parent, then adoption can be no more permanent. Similar attempts to prove other of his strongly held beliefs detract from what could have been an excellent discourse on our standing before God. 

Although I recommended this book to my pastor as a useful reference, I can not recommend it to someone more interested in reading for pleasure or to someone young in faith. In fact, this was the first of John MacArthur's books that I have read and based on this experience, I probably won't read another for some time.

Disclosure of Material Connection: As a blogger, I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

No comments: