Gregory Balzer

Justified by Faith Alone

Revisado: 09-05-22

Others here have written much better reviews than I would ever have the time or gifts to write, so let me just say that this was a very entertaining Audible "read". I read this book to get a better understanding of the history of the church, but what I found most meaningful about this book is its central theme of justification through faith alone. Again and again, we are introduced to historical characters like Luther and Calvin whose consciences would not let them rest in their good deeds alone. They were unable to suppress the truth with unrighteousness. God's Spirit was at work in their hearts and their minds, and they could not rest until they found a basis for true reconciliation, and peace with God.

We throw around the term "the gospel" often without thinking these days. The gospel can mean many things, but if it does not at its core mean a foreign righteousness granted to us by nothing else than faith in Christ's perfect completed works, then everything else is meaningless.

This book is a great read if you want to get a better understanding of the history of the church. As well, this book is a fantastic read if your Christian walk has begun to meander, if you feel that you may have become lost somewhere along the way. In short - this book is a great "read" if you desire to once again, understand how the abstract theological concept of justification changed the world during the Reformation, and how this abstract concept can still transform your life, and the topsy-turvy world around us even today.

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Personal Paradigm Shift

Revisado: 09-05-22

I've been a nondenominational or reformed Baptist for over three decades. I thought I understood baptism. But faced with tough questions like - exactly who should be baptized (infants?) or when ( 12, 16, or 18 years of age), or how does baptism align with the new and old covenant - I realized my understanding of baptism was cursory at best. If you are in a position of leadership at your church - if you are expected to provide biblically based answers to questions about what baptism symbolizes, how baptism ties to covenant theology, who should be baptized, and when - you will find this concise, yet scripturally rich book to be very helpful - and perhaps even transformational. Bobby Jamieson's approach to describing baptism turns what could be a dry, theological topic into a rich study. Rather than just looking a few individual "proof texts", Jamieson describes baptism within the greater narrative arc of the biblical story of salvation - how the act of baptism testifies God's grace in the new covenant - testifies that a person has been born again, has received a new self, has been inwardly renewed by the Spirit of God. Baptism points to the promise of new life fulfilled in Christ in the life of a believer. Baptism says that heart consecration has happened in Christ.

Kudos to Bobby Jamieson for distilling so much relevant material in such a short audiobook. Kudos as well to Daniel Peterson, the narrator who delivers the content with a voice smoother than Perry Como or Frank Sinatra. Out of all the books I have read or listened to this year, "Understanding Baptism" on Audible has been the most significant. Highly recommended.

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Transformational Book

Revisado: 07-17-22

Poetic. Covenantal. Filled with a rich, thematic, type and anti typical (fulfillment) understanding of how God has redeemed Judah, the church, and his people past, present and future. If the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s supper have become rote exercises in your Christian walk, listen to the careful insight Bobby Jamieson has to share from the scriptures regarding the meaning and purpose of these graces. Perhaps this audio book will transform your understanding of the overarching narrative of scripture as it has for this pilgrim.

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