Grace Defined and Defended: What a 400-Year-Old Confession Teaches Us about Sin, Salvation, and the Sovereignty of God
Overview
Grace—a doctrine central to the gospel—ought to be clearly defined so it can be celebrated, relished, and consistently defended. In this book, Kevin DeYoung leads us back to the Canons of Dort, a seventeenth-century document originally written to precisely and faithfully define this precious doctrine.
The Canons of Dort stand as a faithful witness to the precise nature of God’s supernatural, sovereign, redeeming, resurrecting grace—when so many people settle for vague generalities that water down the truth.
In three concise sections—covering history, theology, and practical application— DeYoung explores what led to the Canons and why they were needed, the five important doctrines that they explain, and Dort’s place in the Christian faith today.
- Explores what led to the Canons of Dort and why they were needed
- Examines the history, theology, and practical application
- Provides a summary of the catechism’s emphasis on the doctrines of grace
- God’s Purpose and Good Pleasure in Predestination: The First Main Point of Doctrine
- Redemption Accomplished and Applied: The Second Main Point of Doctrine
- Human Corruption, Divine Conversion: The Third and Fourth Main Points of Doctrine
- He Who Began a Good Work Will Bring It to Completion: The Fifth Main Point of Doctrine
- Appendix 1: Rejection of the Errors by Which the Dutch Churches Have for Some Time Been Disturbed
- Appendix 2: Conclusion: Rejection of False Accusations
- Appendix 3: The Opinions of the Remonstrants (1618)
- Appendix 4: Scripture Proofs in the Canons of Dort
Top Highlights
“Supralapsarianism—supra meaning ‘above’ or ‘before’ and lapsum meaning ‘fall’—is the position that holds that God’s decree to save is logically prior to his decree to create the world and permit the fall. Infralapsarianism, on the other hand, insists that God’s decree to save is logically after his decrees related to creation and fall (infra meaning ‘below’ or ‘after’).” (Page 37)
“Did God choose the elect because they would believe, or did God choose the elect so that they might believe? Or to put it another way, is divine election based on foreseen faith or according to sheer grace and God’s free good pleasure?” (Page 28)
“At the heart of the disagreement was whether predestination is based solely on the will of God (traditional Calvinism) or on foreseen knowledge of belief.” (Page 18)
“Thus, the merchants saw Arminianism as favorable to their desire for improved relations with Spain, while the clergy and lower class sided with Gomarus.” (Page 21)
“We live in an age where passion is often considered an adequate substitute for precision.” (Page 13)
Though many Reformed Christians talk about TULIP, too often they neglect the rich soil from which that flower springs: the Canons of Dort. Yet this historic statement of faith abounds with biblical truth wisely designed to encourage love for the triune God and evangelism of the lost. DeYoung’s brief exposition of the canons is ideal for personal study, doctrine classes, and small groups that aim to better understand the controversy over Arminianism and why the Reformed doctrine of salvation by grace alone leads us to live for the glory of God alone.
—Joel R. Beeke, President and Professor of Systematic Theology and Homiletics, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary; Pastor, Heritage Reformed Congregation, Grand Rapids, Michigan; author, Reformed Preaching
Why would a finger-on-the-pulse, contemporary pastor-theologian like Kevin DeYoung take us on a journey four hundred years into the past to a place few of us could locate on a map to meet people whose names we are unable to pronounce? And why should we join him? I can think of at least three reasons. As twenty-first-century Christians we need to (1) remember that ‘those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it’; (2) meet believers who thought deeply and cared passionately about the glory of God in the gospel; and (3) put roots into nourishing theological soil that will give clarity to our thinking, create stability in our living, and put doxology into our serving. Grace Defined and Defended helps us to do all three.
—Sinclair B. Ferguson, Chancellor’s Professor of Systematic Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary; Teaching Fellow, Ligonier Ministries
DeYoung manages to bring an event from four hundred years ago right back into the present needs of the church and of theology, with clear style, solid theological insights, pastoral tone, and helpful clarification of difficult but biblical notions. This is a book that helps us understand that Dort certainly is not just history and we must keep working with its message.
—Herman Selderhuis, Professor of Church History, Theological University Apeldoorn; Director, Refo500
- Title: Grace Defined and Defended: What a 400-Year-Old Confession Teaches Us about Sin, Salvation, and the Sovereignty of God
- Author: Kevin DeYoung
- Publisher: Crossway
- Print Publication Date: 2019
- Logos Release Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subject: Synod of Dort (1618-1619: Dordrecht, Netherlands). Canones Synodi Dordrechtanae
- ISBNs: 9781433564420, 9781433564390, 9781433564406, 9781433564413, 1433564424, 1433564394, 1433564408, 1433564416
- Resource ID: LLS:GRCDFNDDFNDD
- Resource Type: Commentary
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T00:21:12Z
Kevin DeYoung is an American Christian Reformed Evangelical theologian and author. DeYoung is senior pastor at University Reformed Church (RCA) in East Lansing, Michigan and a member of and blogger for The Gospel Coalition. DeYoung is the author or coauthor of more than a dozen books including the 2009 and 2010 Christianity Today Book Award winners Why We’re Not Emergent, and Why We Love the Church. His most recent work, Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem, is the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association 2014 Christian Book of the Year.
