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"The basic point of this book is that change is a matter of going deeper." "Growing in Christ is not centrally improving or adding or experiencing but deepening. Implicit in the notion of deepening is wthat you already have what you need. Christian growth is bringing what you do and say and even feel into line with what, in fact, you already are."
In the next nine chapters, Ortlund looks at facets of growth, to include:
1. Jesus. We need clarity on who Jesus is. Here, Ortlund looks at the "ruling, saving, befriending, persevering, interceding, returning, and tenderness" aspects of Jesus. And know that "you will spend the rest of your life wading into the unsearchable riches of the real Christ."
2. Despair. We are evil to the root, and so "fallen human beings enter into joy only through the door of despair." We are "impoverished and powerless" in our own strength. We need to look our evil straight in the face. We need "the healthy necessity of despairing of ourselves time and again if we are to get growing in our walk with Christ."
3. Union. Believers are in Christ; God is in us. "Your Christian growth is a matter of divine grace. You cannot crowbar yourself into growth. You must be lifted into growth. But the divine grace that brings about change is a divine grace that fuels and fills our own efforts. For we are in the Son."
4. Embrace. "We grow in Christ no further than we enjoy his embrace of us." God loves us. And "the love of Christ is his settled, unflappable heart of affection for sinners and sufferers—and only sinners and sufferers."
5. Acquittal. "We grow in Christ as we go deeper into . . . the verdict of acquittal that got us into Christ in the first place." We need to keep returning to the doctrine of justification—that we have been "given a right standing that comes to us from wholly outside us." And "we grow in Christ by placing our sanctification in the light of our justification." Put simply, God made us okay. Our actions, status, successes, or skills do not (and never could). To love God and conform to His image is a response, and not what justifies us.
6. Honesty. Christians are called to walk in the light, which means (among other things) "honesty with other Christians." And it is important: "You are restricting your growth if you do not move through life doing the painful, liberating work of cheerfully bringing your failures out from the darkness of secrecy into the light of acknowledgement before a Christian brother or sister."
7. Pain. "pain is a means, not an obstacle, to deepening in Christian maturity. The anguish, disappointments, and futility that afflict us are themselves vital building blocks to our growth."
8. Breathing. There are many important tools for growth, but there are two vital ones that need special mention: "Bible reading and prayer. And the way to think about these two practices is by the metaphor of breathing. Reading the Bible is inhaling. Praying is exhaling."
9. Supernaturalized. "The Father ordains salvation, the Son accomplishes salvation, and the Spirit applies salvation. In other words, there is no Christian life without the Spirit." And "the Spirit changes us by making Christ wonderful to us."
"The final conclusion, the deepest secret, to growing in Christ is this: look to him. Set your gaze upon him. Abide in him, hour by hour. Draw strength from his love. He is a person, not a concept."
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As with Ortlund's other book, Gentle and Lowly, this book is a treasure. Encouraging, hopeful, powerful, insightful, humbling, helpful, Christ-centered, amazing. Read it.
Rating: A
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