Ryan Matherly
Pastor of Youth & College • Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church
- This Book Was Incredible. I cannot believe how much hope and joy I found in this view of Romans 7. It will impact not only my preaching, but my entire Christian life. Every pastor and every follower of Christ should definitely read this book!
- Could you share more... Perhaps highlight some of the points made in the book, and why you found the incredible?
- Sure! So for me the book was really eye opening in that Romans 7 never really clicked for me until now. It seemed to be very defeatist. Like an embracing of how sin continues to dominate and overpower us. But this book helped me better understand that this is who we are before we get the aid of the Holy Spirit. We no longer have to accept that sin is going to continue to dominate. We have a way out through the Holy Spirit and Christ has secured an actual freedom from sin rather than a metaphorical one that we can begin to walk in. There is an actual concrete possibility of success in our fight against sin. I also appreciated the insight that it is totally possible for a non-Christian to hate their sin but be unable to break away from it. That was such a clarifier for me. I also appreciated the author’s insight into history with people such as Augustine and Calvin. The book felt well-researched and clearly written. A succinct and helpful explanation of a big topic. Hope this was helpful!