Kevin DeYoung - Grace Defined and Defended

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Though many Reformed Christians talk about TULIP, too often they neglect the rich soil from which that flower springs: the Canons of Dort. Yet this historic statement of faith abounds with biblical truth wisely designed to encourage love for the triune God and evangelism of the lost. DeYoungs brief exposition of the canons is ideal for personal study, doctrine classes, and small groups that aim to better understand the controversy over Arminianism and why the Reformed doctrine of salvation by grace alone leads us to live for the glory of God alone.

Joel R. Beeke, President and Professor of Systematic Theology and Homiletics, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary; Pastor, Heritage Reformed Congregation, Grand Rapids, Michigan; author, Reformed Preaching

Why would a finger -o n -t he -p ulse , contemporary pastor -t heologian like Kevin DeYoung take us on a journey four hundred years into the past to a place few of us could locate on a map to meet people whose names we are unable to pronounce? And why should we join him? I can think of at least three reasons. As twenty -f irst -c entury Christians we need to (1) remember that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it; (2) meet believers who thought deeply and cared passionately about the glory of God in the gospel; and (3) put roots into nourishing theological soil that will give clarity to our thinking, create stability in our living, and put doxology into our serving. Grace Defined and Defended helps us to do all three.

Sinclair B. Ferguson, Chancellors Professor of Systematic Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary; Teaching Fellow, Ligonier Ministries

DeYoung manages to bring an event from four hundred years ago right back into the present needs of the church and of theology, with clear style, solid theological insights, pastoral tone, and helpful clarification of difficult but biblical notions. This is a book that helps us understand that Dort certainly is not just history and we must keep working with its message.

Herman Selderhuis, Professor of Church History, Theological University Apeldoorn; Director, Refo500

I am so encouraged to see a book on the Canons of Dortnot only because it explores the finely tuned confession of Reformed thinking but also because it highlights the precision of biblical fidelity. DeYoungs concise summary of this catechisms emphasis on the doctrines of grace is so vitally needed in our late -m odern culture, which tends to prioritize emotional reasoning over thoughtful reflection. This book is a clarion call for all Christians to avoid cognitive distortions and to root their lives in a historic, confessional faith that is both biblically and theologically faithful to the Scriptures.

Stephen T. Um, Senior Minister, Citylife Presbyterian Church of Boston; author, Micah For You

Grace Defined and Defended

Other Crossway Books by Kevin DeYoung

Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem (2013)

Dont Call It a Comeback (2011)

The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness (2012)

Taking God at His Word: Why the Bible Is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What That Means for You and Me (2014)

The Ten Commandments: What They Mean, Why They Matter, and Why We Should Obey Them (2018)

What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? (2015)

What Is the Mission of the Church?: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission (coauthor, 2011)

Childrens Books

The Biggest Story: How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden (2015)

The Biggest Story ABC (2017)

Grace Defined and Defended

What a -Y ear -O ld Confession Teaches Us about Sin, Salvation, and the Sovereignty of God

Kevin DeYoung

Grace Defined and Defended: What a 400-Year-Old Confession Teaches Us about Sin, Salvation, and the Sovereignty of God

Copyright 2019 by Kevin DeYoung

Published by Crossway
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Published in association with the literary agency of Wolgemuth & Associates, Inc.

The text for the Canons of Dort, including the Rejection of Errors and the Rejection of False Accusations, is the translation approved by the Christian Reformed Church and used with permission. ( 2011, Faith Alive Christian Resources, Grand Rapids MI. www .Faith Alive Resources .org . Reprinted with permission.)

Cover design: Jordan Singer

Cover image: wikimedia commons

First printing 2019

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Hardcover ISBN: --4-6-0
ePub ISBN: --4-6-0
PDF ISBN: --4-6-6
Mobipocket ISBN: --4-6-3

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

2019-03-25 02:55:40 PM

To my home church,

Hager Park Reformed Church (Jenison, MI),

where I first learned TULIP and the doctrines of grace

Contents

Introduction

In Praise of Precision

The first car I owned was a 1995 Dodge Neon, and it was a lemon. Besides being a girly car (as my eventual wife told me when I picked her up for one of our first dates), the cute little white powder puff (the car, not my wife!) never worked properly. It had alignment problems and electrical problems and transmission problems, of the problems I can remember.

The worst problem was that it would sometimes, for no discernible reason, just stop. Like at a traffic light, or turning a corner, or when sneezed upon by hummingbirds. The car would shut down completely. The dashboard would go dark and the vehicle would slow to a halt.

Being an auto repair genius, I learned that the only thing to do in this situation was to pop the hood (if I could find that lever), walk around to the front, locate a silver -l ooking thingy, and bang on it five or six times with a ratchet. Sure enough, the car revved up again. Once married, I was able to pass along this valuable expertise to Trisha. She too would know the joys of hammering away at a deceased car while motioning a line of cars to pass by our Neon roadkill.

It wasnt long before my wife found this method of dealing with the problem to be less than satisfactory. Calling into question my mechanical acumen, she had the gall to suggest that a trip to a certified auto mechanic was in order. The mechanic was able to ascertain that the silver thingy we kept banging was actually the alternator, the invaluable piece of machinery that supplies power to the electrical system while the engine is running. It turns out that the whack - a -m ole approach to auto repair is neither a long -t erm solution nor a particularly sophisticated diagnosis. Hitting things with a ratchet can work for a time, but after a while you need to take care of your car with a little more precision.