Today's post features two more reviews of From Death to Life!: How Salvation Works. The first is from Pastor Wade Lentz of Beryl Baptist Church in Vilonia, AR. I asked if he wouldn't mind writing a short review of the book and also the Small Group Curriculum that is free on .pdf. His church has been going through the study on Sunday evenings.
The second review is from Twitter friend Christian Cotton. I am grateful for his kind words.
Today, October 31, 2018, you can get a copy of the book for just $7.50 or two for $12! This price includes shipping. If you're interested in that you can contact me here (scroll to bottom of the page) or you may message me on Twitter or Facebook. If you're interested in more reviews see:
here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
If you're reading this after October 31, you can grab a copy on Amazon or for multi-order discounts check out the ThingsAbove order page here.
Now for today's reviews:
Wade Lentz
As a pastor, I genuinely desire the members of our church to grow “in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” And if that is to be the case, then I know our church must be fed a steady diet of God’s Word through pastoral preaching. But this also means that I must set aside time each week for the teaching of God’s Word that aims solely on grounding our church in the essential doctrines of the faith.
One great tool that the Lord has greatly used to help teach and edify His people within our church is the book written by Pastor Allen Nelson IV entitled From Death to Life: How Salvation Works. This is a wonderful book on the most important doctrine of the church, the doctrine of salvation. If the church gets this doctrine wrong then it really doesn’t matter what other doctrines we get right.
Allen’s book focuses on this question; how does one genuinely move from being spiritually dead to being spiritually alive in Jesus Christ?
Allen’s answer to this most important subject is concise, but it is also constructive as it has served the purpose of “building up our local church in our most holy faith”.
Allen has created a study guide for a small group type atmosphere. Please understand that the book is only a tool that is used to help extract and apply what the scriptures already teach about the doctrine of salvation. Allen’s main focus in this study is to show the student just what does the Bible have to say about this all-important subject.
I cannot tell you how encouraged I have been as a pastor watching our people learn and grow in their understanding of how a person passes from death to life. I highly recommend this book and the small group participation study guide to be used as a tool for the edification of your church.
Christian Cotton
From Death to Life is an immensely helpful and timely book for our day. While many churches in America are eager to offer the assurance of salvation with the recital of a one-time prayer, Allen Nelson offers a biblical look of the true process God undertakes in bringing sinners from death to life.
Nelson grounds the book in the sobering reminder of the eternal stakes at play in the church’s idea of salvation. While acknowledging that a church’s desire to see many come to Christ should be applauded, Allen makes clear that offering and affirming it in non-biblical ways is, in fact, the antithesis of love. Nelson’s address to this end is straight-forward, truthful, and gracious. While he submits that few if any, ministers or parents seek to intentionally mislead children or unbelievers, an un-biblical approach achieves the same end. Without casting stones, and freely admitting he too has taken part in the same practices in the past, he calls on the church and its shepherds to repent and seek fidelity to the biblical definition of salvation.
With the gravity of the situation defined, Nelson systematically lays out the process of true conversion with a wealth of biblical support. At each point he states clearly and scripturally the process of salvation, using a wealth of Bible verses to fortify each point. While I believe any theologian can likewise benefit immensely from the book, Nelson’s language and careful definition for every part of the process lends itself well to those who might otherwise be intimidated to read such a book. Similarly, Nelson also buttresses his definitions of each step of the process with analogies and life situations that helpfully convey the idea.
One of the strengths of the book was Nelson’s defining the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility in salvation. He makes much of God and clearly affirms that God alone is the author, giver, and sustainer of our salvation without discounting our responsibility in responding to the gospel in faith and repentance. Nelson helpfully follows by examining the signs of genuine conversion in a believer – examining fruit, ongoing repentance, and sanctification.
I would gladly commend this book to any Christian - particularly ministers, parents of younger children, and those wrestling with the assurance of salvation. By writing a book that is theologically rich and yet imminently readable, Nelson has given the church a true gift.
The church has no higher responsibility than clearly articulating and defining the gospel and how one comes to salvation. While much of the church drifts further from the foundational truths of salvation, From Death to Life offers a useful guide on how to right the ship and truly love people well in our message of God’s saving work.
