BOOK REVIEWS
This week we look at two new book releases from R.C. Sproul:
Holy Week: The Week That Changed the World by R.C. Sproul. Ligonier Ministries. 88 pages. 2025
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R.C. Sproul went to be with the Lord in December, 2017. Fortunately, he left a tremendous amount of teaching material for Ligonier Ministries to release in book form in the years after his death. Ligonier edited and adapted Dr. Sproul’s original material to create this volume, with the assistance of Sproul’s wife Vesta.
This short book looks at one week, from the time in the upper room when Jesus established the new covenant with his disciples through the time Jesus appeared to Thomas after His resurrection.
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BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review and a review of The Great Rescue: Understanding the Saving Work of Christ by R.C. Sproul
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ Truths We Confess by R.C. Sproul
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Sproul begins by going over the well-known events that took place in the upper room. After that was finished, they left the upper room to go to the garden of Gethsemane. Judas kissed Jesus with the kiss of death, identifying Him for the soldiers, that they might arrest Him.
Sproul tells us that Jesus knew what Judas was going to do. It had been ordained from the beginning of time. Judas was carrying out his own will and, at the same time, the sovereign will of the Father. Sproul tells us that the one thing we know for sure is that the One who was betrayed that night has never betrayed, and will never betray, His own.
Sproul tells us that it was inappropriate, improper, and illegal for a capital trial to be carried out at night. The Jewish leaders had to get their decision finalized because they could not execute a criminal on the Sabbath, which would begin at dusk the next day. But he tells us that all of the workings by the Pharisees, scribes, priests, and Roman government would have amounted to nothing were it not for the divine purpose that the One who sent Jesus to the cross was God Himself.
Sproul tells us that not only are our sins imputed to Jesus on the cross, but His righteousness is imputed to us. There is a double transfer, without which there can be no salvation before a just and holy God.
Sproul then looks briefly each of the seven words of Jesus while He was on the cross, compiled from various accounts in the Gospels.
Jesus was crucified on Good Friday and was buried that same day. He was then raised from the dead on Easter Sunday. Sproul looks at what took place between those two events.
Sproul then looks at the account of Jesus’ meeting His disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. We are told that in verse 27:
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Sproul finishes the book with the account of Thomas, who said that unless he saw the imprint of the nails in His hands and the hole in His side where the soldier had thrust his spear, he would not believe.
This book is another example of Sproul’s ability to communicate theological truths in an easy-to-understand manner.
The Great Rescue: Understanding the Saving Work of Christ by R.C. Sproul. Ligonier Ministries. 63 pages. 2024
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This is book is an abridgement of R.C. Sproul’s 2002 book Saved from What? It is a short book, but one filled with excellent theological content.
Sproul tells us that the question “Are you saved?” is the most important issue any person will ever face. He writes that though the Bible refers to various types of salvation, when it speaks about salvation in the ultimate sense, it’s speaking of the ultimate escape from the ultimate dire human condition. He tells us that the ultimate salvation that any human being can ever experience is rescue from the wrath that is to come.
Sproul believes that the greatest point of unbelief in our culture and in our church today is an unbelief in the wrath of God and in His certain promise of judgment for the human race. He tells us that what every human being needs to be saved from is God, and that the grand paradox or supreme irony of the Christian faith is that we are saved both by God and from God.
Sproul writes that when we use the word atonement, we’re speaking of the fact that God pays the price that He requires for us to be in a right relationship with Him, and He does that through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Sproul writes that in our justification, a double transfer takes place. First the weight of our guilt is transferred to Christ. Christ willingly takes upon Himself all of our sin. Not only is the sin of mankind imputed to Christ, but His righteousness is transferred to our account.
Sproul writes that the Bible tells us that the only way we can have the righteousness and the merit of Christ transferred to our account is by faith. We cannot earn it. We cannot deserve it. We cannot merit it. We can only trust in it and cling to it.
Sproul tells us that we are saved by God, from God, for God. That is the full irony of the drama of salvation. It is a salvation that is by God, from God, and for God, to whom belongs all glory.
This helpful book addresses subjects including salvation, atonement, sin, justification, sanctification, imputation, adoption and glorification.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
- We sin because we are sinners. We are not sinners because we sin.
- We are sinners who cannot overcome our sin by ourselves.
- It is because of sin and its severity that we need a Savior.
- From a biblical perspective, to do a good deed in the fullest sense of the word requires not only that the deed conform outwardly to the standards of God’s law but that it proceed from a heart that loves Him and wants to honor Him.
- Justification by faith alone means very simply this. Justification is by Christ alone.
- The Bible tells us that the end of our sanctification will be our glorification, when all vestigial remnants of sin will be removed from our character.
- Here’s What You Need to Know About Religion in America. Michael Graham writes “In The American Religious Landscape: Facts, Trends, and the Future, Ryan Burge, associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, provides an excellent, high-altitude view of the American religious landscape through the lens of the currently available data sets.”
- Reading the Puritans. Enjoy this panel discussion featuring John Piper, Joel Beeke, Kevin DeYoung and Sinclair Ferguson.
- Study, Savor and Share Scripture: Becoming What We Behold. My wife Tammy has published a book about HOW to study the Bible. The book is available on Amazon in both a Kindle and paperback edition. She writes “Maybe you have read the Bible but want to dig deeper and know God and know yourself better. Throughout the book I use the analogy of making a quilt to show how the Bible is telling one big story about what God is doing in the world through Christ. Quilting takes much patience and precision, just like studying the Bible, but the end result is well worth it.”
Won’t you read along with us?
We are reading through Truths We Confess: A Systematic Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith by R.C. Sproul. From the Ligonier description:
“The Westminster Confession of Faith is one of the most precise and comprehensive statements of biblical Christianity, and it is treasured by believers around the world. R.C. Sproul has called it one of the most important confessions of faith ever penned, and it has helped generations of Christians understand and defend what they believe.
In Truths We Confess, Dr. Sproul introduces readers to this remarkable confession, explaining its insights and applying them to modern life. In his signature easy-to-understand style and with his conviction that everyone’s a theologian, he provides valuable commentary that will serve churches and individual Christians as they strive to better understand the eternal truths of Scripture. As he walks through the confession line by line, Dr. Sproul shows how the doctrines of the Bible—from creation to covenant, sin to salvation—fit together to the glory of God. This accessible volume is designed to help you deepen your knowledge of God’s Word and answer the question, What do you believe?”
This week we look at the second half of WCF 27: Of the Sacraments. Here are a few helpful quotes from this section of the chapter:
- The vast majority of Protestant bodies have held that there are two sacraments. The Roman Catholic Church, however, has seven sacraments.
- The traditional Protestant view is that when a person has saving faith, he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
- Protestantism historically teaches that a sacrament has to be directly and immediately instituted by Jesus in the New Testament.
- The confession, following the church practice through the ages, says that the sacraments are to be administered by those who are in positions of ordained authority, the lawfully ordained ministers of the Word.
- The substance and essence of what was foreshadowed in the Passover carries over into the New Testament celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
- There is obviously a physical difference between the rite of circumcision and the rite of baptism, but there is also continuity. Both of them signify God’s promise to separate people for eternal salvation, and the promise is given to the elect who are justified by faith.
