“What you think of Jesus Christ will thoroughly color how you think about everything else,” writes John MacArthur. Before ever opening the book, the reader is confronted with Truth. As Christians, it is crucial to have a biblical understanding of who Jesus Christ is.
In a post-modern world with the growth of the Emergent movement, people are urged to “talk” about their differences when it comes to world religions; to be non-confrontational. The less offensive we can be, the better. Too many churches today are preaching a message of Jesus being meek and mild. While our Savior was compassionate and humble, He preached a message that was confrontational, offensive and full of passion and conviction. When faced with the false teachings of the Pharisees, Jesus spoke with such force that by today’s standard would be considered mean and off-putting. His goal wasn’t to win favor and create the largest following. His goal was to spread the Truth, the very Gospel that He was sent here to fulfill. He was concerned with souls that were at stake that were listening to the hypocritical messages of religious leaders of the day.
This is a call to Christians today to stand for Truth. When the Gospel is being proclaimed as false, we need to speak of it as Truth; even if it causes conflict. However, MacArthur warns that we aren’t to get involved with small, ignorant disputes. Also, since we can’t know the heart of man, we can’t judge their motives like Christ was able to. But instead of trying to be agreeable or finding common ground with those who preach false messages, we need to defend the Gospel with a biblical understanding. “We cannot be men-pleasers and servants of Christ at the same time.”
This book is a definite read for every believer. It’s a refreshing reminder to us that Christ is always who the ones He encountered needed Him to be. He was merciful and gracious to the repentant sinner. He was gentle to the children. He was fierce and convicting to the false teachers of the day. He was the perfect lamb for the sacrifice for all mankind-our Savior.
MacArthur has written this book very well. It is easy to follow and is full of Scripture to cross-reference. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and cannot wait to pass it along to others.
