Sunday, February 24, 2013

Book Review: Convert: From Adam to Christ

Convert: From Adam to Christ. Emilio Ramos. 2012. Bridge-Logos Foundation. 183 pages.

From chapter one: Many Christians have not thought hard and long about the implications of being in another person. Whether we think of ourselves as in Adam or in Christ, the reality that controls the universe (or at least is essential to how it runs) is this relationship of ourselves to another. (13)

Do you know what it means to be "in Adam" or what it means to be "in Christ"? In the first few chapters of Convert, Ramos examines the doctrine of salvation, focusing, in part, on the doctrine of imputation and federalism. He then details what the Christian life should look like. If God makes us new creations, if we're given new hearts and minds, what does that look like in reality? How will being "in Christ" change us in our daily lives, how will it impact our lifestyles? Our decisions and priorities? What are we supposed to be doing with our lives? How are we supposed to be reaching the world with the good news? The chapter titles may help clarify: "In Adam all die," "In Christ all will be made alive," "The New Man," "The New Birth," "The Mind of the New Man," "The Mission of the New Man," "The World and the New Man," "The Church and the New Man," and "An Explanation of the Great Commission." It isn't just a book about essential doctrines. And it isn't just a book about evangelism, missions, and church life.
The book "stresses the need for a merging of theology and evangelism, for thinking and doing, taking in and reaching out." (11) The second half of the book focuses on Paul as an example of a believer--an apostle--who was both strong as a theologian and an evangelist.

I really liked this one. It's a good book on the essentials of the faith. Every chapter is rich in Scripture, illustrating each of his points with the Word of God. I would definitely recommend Emilio Ramos' Convert: From Adam to Christ.

Favorite quotes:
The amazing thing about the Bible is that it accounts for everything, either explicitly or implicitly. Scripture has amazed me time and again for its capacity to relay deep and relevant information, instruction, wisdom, correction, and knowledge about practically everything in life. In fact, this self-absorbed attitude that now inundates our society is well accounted for in Scripture: The self as we know it today is to be understood 'in Adam.'  (14)
Adam radically affects every person around you who does not possess salvation. They are "in Adam."...This doctrine is one of the most foundational and at times perplexing teachings in Scripture. Still, it is essential to understand federalism in our task of evangelism because it teaches us that man has a legal representative before God: either Adam, or Christ. (15)
Man's only hope lies in a second Adam, another representative who could succeed where the first Adam failed, who could recover what the first Adam lost, and who could obey where the first Adam transgressed. (23)
There will never be enough sermons or volumes written on the person and work of Christ to exhaust His work or His person. (24)
Just as in Adam we were counted guilty, so in Christ we are counted righteous as His sinless life, atoning death, and righteous obedience was reckoned to our own account. The doctrine of imputation is vital for our understanding of how God comes to accept us in Christ. This doctrine is indispensable, for without imputation we are without a gospel. (32)
Sanctification is all about life in Christ. Life in Christ is lived out in the Spirit. It is through the ongoing work of the Spirit that Christ, who lives in us and lives His life through us, that these New Covenant realities can be appropriated by faith. (45)

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

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