Reviews
Who Ya' Gonna Believe?
A Review of Believing God: Twelve Biblical Promises Christians
Struggle to Accept by R.C. Sproul, Jr.
A popular song of the 1960s lamented, "Promises, promises, I’m
all through with promises." Ironically this could be the cry of
many Christians who struggle to believe that God answers prayer
and keeps His promises. In Believing God: Twelve Biblical
Promises Christians Struggle to Accept (Reformation Trust, 2009),
R.C. Sproul, Jr. eloquently and thoroughly discusses the promises
of God and why Christians do not believe them. It is amazing how
many Christians claim to believe in the inerrancy of Scripture
and yet rationalize promises of Christ that should lead every
believer into victorious life.
Whether it is the promise that God loves us, that He will forgive
us, that children are a heritage and blessed is the man whose
quiver is full of them, that He will give us the desires of our
heart, or that He will open the windows of heaven and shower us
with blessings, Christians are hesitant to accept and trust that
these promises are really true. Dr. Sproul tells us:
Raw unbelief is not the only victory the Serpent can win when his
forked tongue spews out his lies. Even when we, especially inside
the church, do not believe his lies, we often allow those lies to
set the agenda for our thinking. Rather than moving forward in
faith, we live reacting to lies.
For example, the Holy Spirit did not inspire Moses to write the
account of Creation in order to refute the teachings of Darwin,
which would come millennia later. God’s purposes were much
higher. God calls us to believe all that the Bible teaches and
not find ways to make it more palatable. God calls us, as Sproul
often says, "to repent and believe the gospel."
R.C. Sproul, Jr. writes in a very readable manner and addresses
truths that every Christian, regardless of his theological
perspective, needs to hear and consider. These truths are exactly
what homeschooling parents will wish to convey to their children
as they disciple them.
Scott Cottrill is a homeschooling father of six, husband of
Elizabeth, and reviews material for Homeschooling Today.