Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview


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Two Crucial Questions Book Reviews from R.C. Sproul

With the release of these books in R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series, there are now 35 books in the series, all of which are free in the Kindle edition.

What is Predestination? by R.C. Sproul. (Crucial Questions) Reformation Trust. 76 pages. 2019

In this book R.C. Sproul writes that no doctrine in the Christian faith engenders more debate than the doctrine of predestination. He also tells us that no other doctrine more clearly demonstrates our utter dependence on divine grace and mercy than the doctrine of predestination. He writes that much is at stake in how we understand predestination, and we must be extraordinarily sensitive and careful in how we handle this doctrine. Studying predestination forces us to ask and answer hard questions, and if nothing else, it forces us to look more closely at the character of God and at our own sinfulness. Continue reading


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Reviews of Two Crucial Questions Books from R.C. Sproul

With the release of these books in R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series, there are now 32 books in the series, all of which are free in the Kindle edition.

What is Predestination? by R.C. Sproul. (Crucial Questions) Reformation Trust. 76 pages. 2019

In this new book in his Crucial Questions series (free in the Kindle edition), R.C. Sproul writes that no doctrine in the Christian faith engenders more debate than the doctrine of predestination. He also tells us that no other doctrine more clearly demonstrates our utter dependence on divine grace and mercy than the doctrine of predestination. He writes that much is at stake in how we understand predestination, and we must be extraordinarily sensitive and careful in how we handle this doctrine. Studying predestination forces us to ask and answer hard questions, and if nothing else, it forces us to look more closely at the character of God and at our own sinfulness.
The doctrine of predestination is not limited to only Reformed churches. Sproul writes that every church and every Christian has some doctrine of predestination because the Bible has a doctrine of predestination. He tells us that if we are to grow in maturity in Christ, we must understand the biblical teaching on predestination. And though we may not like it at first, he tells us that with careful study and attention to the witness of Scripture, we can come to see the doctrine’s sweetness and its excellence and to experience it as a great comfort to our souls. Continue reading


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Two New Crucial Questions Books from R.C. Sproul (Free in the Kindle Edition)

Reformation Trust Publishing recently released two new books in R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series. Here is the complete listing of all 30 books in the series.

Below are reviews of the two new books in the series – How Does God’s Law Apply to Me? and Does God Exist? Continue reading


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3 Free E-Books from R.C. Sproul

Here are the last three Crucial Questions booklets from R.C. Sproul that were published before his death in December.

How Can I Be Right with God? (Crucial Questions No. 26) by R.C. Sproul. Reformation Trust Publishing. 69 pages. 2017
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The late Dr. R.C. Sproul writes that the gospel tells us how we can be right with God. In this short book looking at the doctrine of justification. That doctrine explains how we, as unjust people, can be reconciled to a just and holy God. Justification takes place when God declares a person to be just in His sight.
The author tells us that the good news of the gospel is that we don’t have to wait until we become perfectly righteous before God will consider us and declare us righteous. We are made and declared righteous by virtue of God’s imputing to us the righteousness of Christ. Christ’s righteousness and merit are attributed to us while we are still sinners.
God declares us just, not because He looks at us and sees our righteousness, but because He sees the righteousness of Christ. God counts the righteousness of Christ for us, and does not count our own sins against us.
The author compares the Reformed view and the Roman Catholic views. In the Reformed view, the righteousness of Christ is imputed by faith to the believer. In the Roman Catholic view, the righteousness of Christ is infused into someone via the sacraments. That person must then cooperate with this infusion of grace in order to become truly righteous.
We are told that faith is the instrument by which we are linked to the righteousness of Christ. Faith is the conduit through which His righteousness is given to us. The instant someone has true faith, God declares them justified and imputes to them all of the merit of Christ, so that all that Christ is and all that He has accomplished becomes his.
The author tells us that throughout, the Bible describes the relationship between a holy God and unholy people as a relationship of estrangement. However, when we are justified, we have peace with God that is forever.

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