Book Review -- By: Anonymous

Journal: Chafer Theological Seminary Journal
Volume: CTSJ 05:3 (Jul 1999)
Article: Book Review
Author: Anonymous


Book Review

Confident in Christ: Living by Faith Really Works, by Robert N. Wilkin (Irving, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, P.O. Box 167128, 75016–7128, 1–972-257–1160), 1999. 287 pages. Reviewed by John Niemelä, Professor of Hebrew and Greek, Chafer Theological Seminary.

Dr. Bob Wilkin’s latest work, Confident in Christ: Living by Faith Really Works, accomplishes all that its subtitle implies. The book proclaims the grace gospel to those who have not yet believed. It also edifies believers, by clarifying how to share graciously God’s truth—even with those mired in Puritanism.

Have you witnessed to someone who is lost in a faith-plus gospel, yet claims to be a Christian? People like this, who often seek proof of their election by “persevering to the end,” do not understand Free Grace. Why? The Westminster Confession’s jigsaw puzzle theology leads them to the notion that ‘head faith,’ ‘heart faith,’ ‘spurious faith,’ and ‘temporary (unsaving) faith’ are somehow biblical. They do not see any contradiction in the idea of ‘costly grace’. They disparage ‘Free Grace’ as ‘cheap grace’ (Grace is neither costly nor cheap; anything that is not free is not grace). It is so hard to witness to those who speak a foreign language. That is, it is foreign to the biblical concept of eternal salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Confident in Christ clarifies these and related issues.

It also assists with an even greater difficulty: How can we explain grace to people graciously? Persons holding a faith-plus gospel tend to respond with indignation upon hearing that it cannot give anyone eternal life. They become defensive. As volume rises, communication (and ministry) ceases. Believers must learn to communicate grace in a gracious manner (Ephesians 4:29).

With regard to the first difficulty in witnessing to religious people, many books critiquing false gospels and expounding the true message already exist. Dr. Wilkin does not greatly expand the inventory of Free Grace counter-arguments that one can use. Neither does he examine every problem passage. What he does

offer is a wide range of Scripture-based Free Grace answers to common objections, showing that concepts, which many pastors all ‘gospel truth,’ in reality are false.

The second difficulty, how to communicate graciously, is where the book shines. It captures Bob’s gracious answers to objections hurled at him in conferences, debates, and on the radio. Confident in Christ avoids rebuking the reader with, “You are wrong!” Rather, Bob shows the...

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