Do You Believe? Twelve Historic Doctrines to Change Your Everyday Life. Paul David Tripp. 2021. [October] 400 pages. [Source: Review copy]
First sentence: Writing this book has been one of the greatest privileges of my life.
One of the book's greatest strengths is the layout. Tripp first introduces a historic doctrine--twelve in all--in the next chapter, he then illustrates how a firm belief in that doctrine will impact/effect your everyday life. Each of the twelve doctrines has two chapters devoted to it. One looking at the doctrine up, close, and personal. These chapters tend to have a good, solid structure of biblical support. The other looking at practical application. These chapters tend to be a blend of FICTIONAL composite stories--think of it as equivalent to WORD PROBLEMS in math--and thought provoking prose.
The twelve doctrines are as follows:
The Doctrine of Scripture
The Doctrine of God
The Doctrine of the Holiness of God
The Doctrine of God's Sovereignty
The Doctrine of God's Omnipotence
The Doctrine of Creation
The Doctrine of the Image of God in Man
The Doctrine of Sin
The Doctrine of Justification
The Doctrine of Sanctification
The Doctrine of Perseverance and Glorification of the Saints
The Doctrine of Eternity
All twelve doctrines are important. They are not the only doctrines that are important, mind you. But they are not frivolous or secondary either. And the book never claims to be comprehensive and exhaustive. The book is four hundred pages as is. I think having more than twelve doctrines would have made it a more intimidating read.
The book stresses the need for believers--all believers--to live out their faith. It is not enough to assert belief in a doctrine if that doctrine doesn't really have a deeper connection to how you actually live your life. If your doctrine isn't informing, transforming, reforming, shaping, molding your life, then you may be more influenced by the world than you'd like to think. Doctrines aren't just for a couple of hours on Sunday.
Tripp writes, "The enemy of your soul will gladly give you your formal theology, if in your real daily life he can control the thoughts and motives of your heart and, in so doing, control the way you act, react, and respond."
Read that paragraph enough times, it will have a sobering effect.
The book is good at getting you to think and think carefully. In one of the early chapters of the books, he writes, "If I could listen in on and watch a month of your life, what would I conclude about the place of God's Word in your life? Other than our salvation and his presence now living inside us as his children, our Bible is God's most precious and valuable gift to us. The question is, in our everyday lives, do we act like it is?" and, "There is not a day in any of our lives that we don't need the ministry of the Holy Spirit to bring God's Word to us in convicting, grief-producing, and confession-resulting power."
But I think my favorite section is this one:
"I am afraid that many of us live God-forgetful lives. What I mean is that other than when we are participating in something that is obviously spiritual, like a public worship service, prayer, or our times of personal devotions, we live in a state of functional spiritual amnesia. In so doing, we fail to live with a consciousness of the incredible identity that is ours as children of God, the amazing reality that God actually lives inside of us, the storehouse of blessings that is ours, and the profoundly important redemptive process that is ongoing in our hearts and lives. Because we don't carry around with us a consciousness of God and his work on the ordinary day, we don't make his purpose our purpose and his work our work."
A few paragraphs later,
"I am convinced that spending time each day in spiritual meditation and worshipful prayer is a powerful tool of sanctifying grace in the hands of our faithful and loving Redeemer. Permit me to list how the regular habit of personal worship contributes to God's ongoing work of personal heart and life transformation. Daily study of God's word, worship, and prayer will result in the following:
A deeper knowledge of the nature and character of God.A clearer understanding of how God works.An ever-deepening love for and trust in him.A deeper willingness and commitment to surrender your life to him.A deeper knowledge of yourself as a sinner, sufferer, and saint.A deeper understanding of the life you have been called to as a child of GodA deeper and more practical grasp of the truths of God's Word.A clearer and more practical understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ.A deeper awareness of the nature of sin and temptation.More regular patterns of conviction of sin, confession, and repentance.Being better prepared for spiritual warfare and Satan's attacks.Becoming more and more thankful for God's presence, power, and promises and the blessings of being loved by Him."
The book has many, many strengths. It is easy to recommend this one.
I personally didn't love the fictional "word-problems" in the practical chapters. I found them distracting. Other readers may relate to them more???
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