Amazing grace Tony Reinke’s insight into Newton on the Christian life

In the recent issue of Credo Magazine, “Luther at 500,” Richard Hutto has reviewed Tony Reinke’s Newton on the Christian Life (Crossway, 2015) called “Amazing grace: Tony Reinke’s insight into Newton on the Christian life.” Richard Hutto is pastor of King’s Church in Conroe, TX. Here is the start:

As a pastor, I am often discouraged by the self-help and motivational nature of the majority of Christian Living books. A topic as important as the Christian life deserves deep, biblically-driven contemplation, yet what the church is often offered, and all-too-agreeably consumes, amounts to nothing more than books promising a newer and better you. But we must not despair; hidden amongst the fluff there is the occasional book of such weight and depth that it will draw your heart to the Savior, and inevitably transform your view of the Christian life itself. Tony Reinke’s Newton on the Christian Life (Crossway, 2015) is one such treasure.

Synthesizing the very personal and biblical council found within the infamous John Newton’s pastoral letters and hymns to form one cohesive book is no easy task. Newton didn’t set out to write a theology of the Christian life. Instead, he wrote as a pastor to individual members of his flock, encouraging them toward greater Christ-likeness in all areas of life. Despite the difficulties present in bringing such a vast array of content into one theology on the Christian life, Reinke succeeds and offers to us a 14 chapter exposition of John Newton’s teachings on the Christian’s pilgrimage from new birth to future glory.

The spiritual council we receive from this eighteenth century pastor is surprisingly and delightfully Christ-centered. Newton was primarily interested in seeing Christian growth begin with a realization of the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ. It is only then, in beholding the glory of Jesus, that the Christian will experience progressive victory over sin on their way to glory. For the purposes of this review, we will focus on three central elements of Newton’s theology on the Christian life. …

Finish reading this review at “Luther at 500.”