Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Book Review: Weakness is the Way

Weakness Is The Way. J.I. Packer. 2013. Crossway. 128 pages. [Source: Review Copy]

Weakness is the Way is a little book on 2 Corinthians. This would make a great companion to read alongside one's study of Paul's letter. The more familiar you are with 2 Corinthians, the more the book will resonate with you. But it has a message relevant to all of us no matter where we are in our lives. 
The truth, however, is that in many respects, and certainly in spiritual matters, we are all weak and inadequate, and we need to face it. Sin, which disrupts all relationships, has disabled us all across the board. We need to be aware of our limitations and to let this awareness work in us humility and self-distrust, and a realization of our helplessness on our own. Thus we may learn our need to depend on Christ, our Savior and Lord, at every turn of the road, to practice that dependence as one of the constant habits of our heart, and hereby to discover what Paul discovered before us, "when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10). (16)
Packer asserts that the reason the Bible spends so much time urging us to be brave, to be strong, to stand firm is because we are all prone to feel inadequate and weak, unable to do what we're called to. If we feel like failures perhaps the fault is that we are trying to do everything apart from Christ. To trust in one's own strength is foolish, to trust in God's strength is wise. In Christ, we are MADE strong. Apart from Christ, our weakness is revealed. The more we depend on HIM, the more we can rejoice even in our weakness.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

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