Roger Nicole’s name is no stranger to those of us who read and study theology. He is a teacher, preacher, and writer par excellence. Those who have heard or read Nicole agree that God has gifted him with amazing communication skills. Now is the opportunity to benefit from his unusual ability to communicate biblical truth clearly. He can take the great doctrines of grace and bless your life as you read. We commend Christian Focus for making this book available.

I am frequently asked to recommend a book on the Reformed faith, either for personal study or for group study. The Apostle Paul encouraged the young pastor Titus to “teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.” This book will help with that discipline process.

As you read through the book, you will have a hard time putting it down until you are finished. Afterwards, you will refer back to some of the nuggets you starred or underlined. Titles such as: the Meaning of the Trinity, Predestination and the Great Commission, Calvinism: The Five Points, Reconciliation and Propitiation, Justification, Sanctification, Prayer: the Prelude to Revival, and the Final Judgment reflect the content of the 14 chapters.

In the chapter dealing with the five points of Calvinism, (known by the acronym TULIP-- total depravity, unconditional election, limited design of the atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints) Nicole suggests that they would be better cast as GOSPEL—grace, obligatory, sovereign, provision-making, effectual, and lasting. In Nicole’s excellent summary on prayer and the sovereignty of God, he brings out God’s intention for prayer as a means of grace.

Nicole writes in a winsome way to make his point. For instance, in the chapter on prayer and revival, he refers to the motto that  “You ought to pray like a Calvinist and preach like an Arminian. That is, pray as if everything depended upon God and preach as if everything depended on men. I would like to suggest a change in this formula which will improve it by fifty percent: ‘You ought to pray like a Calvinist and preach like a Calvinist.’ Do not pray as if everything depended on God. Pray because everything depends on God.”

I have heard the questions raised “why evangelize?” or “why send missionaries if God is sovereign and has predestined some to eternal life? If he has done that, they will not be lost.” Nicole’s chapter on Predestination and the Great Commission reminds us that God ordains both the means and the end of one’s salvation. Those two must be kept together.

One reader called this book “popular theology at its best.” The author’s ability to set forth what we call the doctrines of grace within our Calvinistic framework make it a valuable book for study personally and corporately. Buy it! Read it! Study it! Teach and preach it! It will help you and others become better disciples of Jesus Christ.

- Charles Dunahoo, CEP Coordinator