Book Reviews -- By: Anonymous
Journal: Puritan Reformed Journal
Volume: PRJ 05:2 (Jul 2013)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous
PRJ 5:2 (July 2013) p. 263
Book Reviews
Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley, Prepared by Grace, for Grace: The Puritans on God’s Ordinary Way of Leading Sinners to Christ (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2013). 297 pages, paperback.
That God “prepares” people to be saved probably isn’t on most people’s theological radar screen. But, as Beeke and Smalley ably contend, it bears a profound effect upon your approach to evangelism, preaching, and the role of the law in Christian conversion. If you are a Christian reading this, you probably have spoken about your conversion as being either a specific event or a gradual process. Which was it? The doctrine of preparation has been a thoroughly Reformed answer to this often-confusing issue.
Joel Beeke is president and professor of systematic theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and pastor of the Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Paul Smalley is Dr. Beeke’s teacher’s assistant. Beeke is the author of numerous books on the subject of Puritanism; most notably his recent tome, A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life (2012), co-authored with Mark Jones.
Prepared by Grace, For Grace is a historical-theological investigation into the thought of various Continental, English, and early New England Puritans in how God prepares sinners for conversion. The book takes a semi-critical approach as the authors weigh various scholars’ assessments against the primary-source documents. They graciously disagree at a number of places and thus this book presents groundbreaking, historical-theological, and analytical thought.
As Beeke and Smalley consistently point out, in no way does the doctrine of preparation (not preparationism!) contradict a robust Reformed orthodoxy. Rather, it dovetails with God’s absolute sovereignty over salvation. God uses various means by which He saves and
PRJ 5:2 (July 2013) p. 264
sanctifies His people. He alone is sovereign and He saves His elect when and how He sees fit.
The law of God plays a central element in this book’s presentation because it is the law—as the Puritans argued—that God uses to convict people of sin. This is one of the reasons why the Puritans stressed the law of God in their sermons and treatises. Beeke and Smalley meticulously labor to show that the Puritans understood that God’s law convicts both the reprobate and the elect of sin. While such conviction is but a “miscarriage” for the reprobate (as the Puritans put it), it bears to full fruition and “complete delivery” for the elect. Thus, some of God’s operations with regard to the law are common to all men, not just to the elect. Furt...
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