God Saves Sinners
The Doctrine of Grace
I think what the Reformation did in relation to God's sovereignty and the doctrines of grace is it showed us that God was still on his throne. He hadn't ever left it in relation to saving his people.
I think of J. I. Packer's wonderful essay in the beginning of the Banner of Truth edition of John Owen's classic work, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ where Packer reduces five points to one point in three words: God saves sinners.
God is still on his throne. He's still saving people.
And that's what the doctrines of grace are really about: the sovereignty of God being restored to how they relate to his grace. It's what Jonah, in the belly of the big fish, had to learn: salvation is of the Lord.
From Heaven He Came and Sought Her
David Gibson, Jonathan Gibson
With contributions from a number of well-respected Reformed theologians and church leaders, this volume offers a comprehensive defense for the doctrine of limited atonement from historical, biblical, theological, and pastoral perspectives.
It's what we will sing on the last day as we gather with people from every tribe, language, and nation. And we will stand before the throne and sing salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb who sits on his throne.
What the doctrines of grace do is they show us that God is still on his throne. He's still saving people. He's still giving his salvation to whomever he so pleases.
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Why did Jesus send his disciples into that storm? He did it for the same reason he sometimes sends you into storms—because he knows that sometimes you need the storm in order to be able to see the glory.
