Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace?

Rediscovering the Doctrines That Shook the World

By: James Montgomery Boice

Narrated by: Matthew McAuliffe

Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

This audiobook combines a serious examination of the state of today's church and a powerful solution: reclaiming the gospel of grace found in the confessional truths of the Reformation.

Though the Christian church has achieved a worldly sort of success - big numbers, big budgets, big outreaches - these are not good days for evangelicalism. Attendance is down, and it is increasingly difficult to distinguish so-called "believers" from their non-Christian neighbors - all because the gospel of grace has been neglected.

In this work, the late James Montgomery Boice identifies what's happened within Evangelicalism and suggests how the confessional statements of the Reformation - scripture alone, Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, and glory to God alone - can ignite full-scale revival. 

"A church without these convictions has ceased to be a true church, whatever else it may be," he wrote, but "if we hold to these doctrines, our churches and those we influence will grow strong."

©2001 Linda McNamara Boice (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

A Timely Word

Boice’s book was on point when it was written but I think it should be circulated again among evangelical Christians. We need to be reminded of the Doctrines of Grace that shook the world in 1517. Maybe we would see a Renaissance of the Reformation in America’s churches in 2021. Highly recommend this book!

That’s a Great Question!

Boice writes an extensive and thoughtful treatment of the 5 Solas of the Reformation and their importance to the church. He also gives a fair historical perspective of the assault on them over the last 100+ years in the world and the American church. I though his observations were balanced and fair, so I heartily recommend this volume to all.

Excellent book - loved it!

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book.It glorifies and magnifies God and Christ; and exhort the saints.

True Calling

I loved this book. This is the view of what being a true follower (deciple) of Yeshua (Jesus) is.

It's a great book. Definitely one view.

I loved the theological content. Logical explanations, examples, etc. I did not agree with all of it, but that's OK.
I did feel the author went a little hard on modern chirches in the last couple of chapters. Yes, old hymns are not used a lot anymore. I don't especially like it either, but I realize "the church" is a social institution and, as such, changes to be relevant to society (note..relevant to, not conformed with..). There actually is some great modern Christian music, while also being aware that some of the chorus today are just a word salad of modern thinking.
Christians would be well advised to listen to the rest of the chapters though, I found a lot of great material here, excellent job.

The Title Should Just Be Called Complaining About Non-Calvinists

I found Boice’s book to be intellectually dishonest and lazy. Because, like Thomas Sowell hypocritically revisions economics, Boice just spends the bulk of his time complaining that the church isn’t what the Reformation said it should be with quips about things seen in pop culture. If Boice were forbidden from referencing the Reformation, from quoting Luther and Calvin, or from saying, “Christians these days don’t like…” he would finally be left with his honest opinion: “I thank you, Lord, that I am not like other men…” By reading this book, one would think that only the Reformed tradition is biblical or Christian. So, Boice spends 8 hours contradicting himself with pithy Christian sayings.

Good material, but why quote MacArthur?

I enjoyed the book, but wondered why there were references to John MacArthur. Isn’t he a dispensationalist? Also I don’t agree there will be a rush again from praise music. Even though I agree hymns are preferable. Some praise music may stand the test of time. The author neglected to point out how there are some bad hymns. But his explanation of repentance in the last chapter makes up for the lack in other area.

Great book

I was my sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a great read. I would listen to this again.

Watch for loops and twists of logic

Boice really knows his scripture and reform doctrine. I get confused when he teaches that God requires us to worship or believe correctly in order for Him to act or cause a revival. I would love the outpouring and revival of the Spirit he’s advocating for. But I can’t get my head around Boice saying God is all powerful, unless man does something incorrectly. Seems like a works based approach while preaching against works based approaches. He strongly advocates for various man made groups or doctrines, while openly calling out other groups or doctrines that are active and alive in the church and Spirit. This comes off as divisive and dilutes what otherwise could have been a useful admonition.

Tread carefully. If you align fully with this tome, you may have a spirit of division and be proud that you’re ‘doing’ Christianity the correct way, thus lacking grace.

Still Relevant To Today!

Although written some 20 years ago, this book is highly relevant to today! The author carefully and systematically lays out the dangers of modern/progressive “Christianity”. At the same time, he does an exceptional job explaining

Brilliant teaching on the doctrines of grace

Made the doctrines easy to understand, and cleared up any questions I still had

Superb

This book, by Boice is a masterclass in scriptual evaluation and suggested application of the word of God. Aside from The Word itself, it gets to the heart of each topic directly and succinctly. Thank you James, we will see you again!