James Montgomery Boice - The Doctrines of Grace: Rediscovering the Evangelical Gospel

The Doctrines of Grace

The Doctrines of Grace

Copyright 2002 by Linda McNamara Boice and Philip Graham Ryken

Published by Crossway Books
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers
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 by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Cindy Kiple

First printing 2002

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture is from the Holy Bible: New InternationalVersion. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

The NIV and New International Version trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.

Scripture references marked RSV are from the Revised Standard Version. Copyright 1946, 1952, 1971, 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.

Scripture references marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Boice, James Montgomery, 19382000
The doctrines of grace : rediscovering the evangelical gospel
/ James Montgomery Boice, Philip Graham Ryken.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 13: 978-1-58134-299-4
ISBN 10: 1-58134-299-3 (HC : alk. paper)
1. Calvinism. 2. Grace (Theology) I. Ryken, Philip Graham, 1966 II. Title.
BX9422.3 B65 2002
230'.42dc21

2001007701

RRDH 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06
15 15 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5

To HIM who loved us long ago,

Before we came to be,

Who left his throne for earth below

To save a wretch like me:

To HIM who freed us from our sin

By dying on the cross,

To make us whole without, within,

Redeemed from dreadful loss:

All praise to Christ from grateful men

Forevermore. Amen.

Contents

I have often wondered how my ministry would change if I were to hear a prognosis from my physician that I had a terminal disease and only months or weeks left to live. Would I retire from active ministry to care solely for my own needs? Would I try to continue ministry with a renewed sense of urgency? Would my messages be more bold?

I dont know the answers to these questions. But I do know what Jim Boice did when the above scenario became real to him. From the day he learned he was dying of cancer to his actual demise, the span of time was a mere six weeks. Forty-two days. The last two of those weeks he was bedridden and extremely weak. While the virulent disease was sapping his strength daily, Dr. Boice called upon a reservoir of strength in his own soul, a strength quickened and sustained by the grace of God, to continue writing hymns and this present volume. He did not live long enough to see this work completed but was encouraged by the assurance that his colleague Dr. Philip Ryken would complete it for him.

As familiar as I am with Jim Boices style and content, on a first reading I could not detect where Jims writing ended and Phils began. Of one thing I was sure: Jim did not write the last chapter. Yet in an ear-lier draft of chapter 2, in the midst of a treatment of Abraham Kuyper, reference was made to Kuypers famous Stone Lectures at Princeton University in 1898. This reference was followed by the comment: We shall return to the subject of these lectures in our final chapter. When I read this comment I wondered to whom the we and our referred. Was the plural used as a result of editing that occurred after Dr. Boices death, indicating the joint project with Dr. Ryken? Or was this merely a case of Dr. Boice employing the editorial we? In the event, it was not Gods will for Jim to pen the chapter promised.

It is no surprise to me that this final work from Jim Boice, who wrote literally scores of books over the course of his ministry, should focus on the doctrines of grace. Here was a man who not only believed in the doctrines of grace but also loved those doctrines and had fire in his bones about propagating them. I knew Jim Boice for more than thirty years and never saw that fire diminish. His soul was held captive by the doctrines of grace. His ministry was an ongoing doxology to the doc-trines of grace because they so clearly manifest the God of that grace.

In this book Drs. Boice and Ryken not only provide a lucid and compelling exposition of the doctrines of grace but also provide a historical framework for their development. The book traces the historical impact of these biblical truths. It also makes bare the sad state of affairs that afflicts the church when these doctrines are denied or neglected.

In our day there remain many who still confess their belief in the doctrines of grace in particular and Reformed theology in general. Indeed, I think there are more academic institutions in America today that embrace Reformed theology than at any time in our nations history. However, there are few that have a zeal and passion to propagate that faith.

James Montgomery Boice was not merely an adherent of Reformed theology or an admirer of the magisterial Reformers; he was himself a Reformer. His ministry at Tenth Presbyterian Church; the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology; his writing ministry; his care for the inner city of Philadelphia; his statesmanship as a national Christian leaderall of these expressions of service flowed out of his love for the Reformed faith.

It is not surprising that the last literary work of James Boice would focus on his first love, the doctrines of grace. This work is not simply a tribute to Dr. Boice and his ministryit is, at its core, a tribute to the grace of God, to whom belongs all the glory for our redemption. As Dr. Boice now enjoys the felicity of his eternal rest, we are left to work for the recovery of the Reformed faith in our time.

R. C. Sproul
Lent, 2001
Orlando, Florida

James Boice liked to finish what he started, so it is not surprising that in his final months he was working to complete two major projects. One was a book of Hymns for a Modern Reformation. The other was the present volumea biblical, theological, historical, and practical presentation of the doctrines of grace.

When it became apparent that Dr. Boice would be unable to complete either of these projects himself, he entrusted them to colleagues on the staff of Philadelphias Tenth Presbyterian Church. Dr. Paul Jones had written the music for the hymns, so it was natural for him to prepare the hymnal for publication. Then, during our last staff meeting together at the church before his death in June of 2000, Dr. Boice asked me to finish writing The Doctrines of Grace.

Fortunately, the volume was already half written. Not only had Dr. Boice prepared a complete outline for the book and determined the thesis for each chapter, but he had also written a full draft of the five chapters on the Five Points of Calvinism. These chapters form the middle section of the book (chapters 3 through 7). Here my only contributions have been some light stylistic editing and several small additions that integrate this section with the rest of the book.