Finally Alive

Have I been born again? is not a question to be answered hastily. In this book, Piper strips away our complacency, arguing that many people falsely believe they are Christians. By examining the Bibles teaching on the new birth, he shows us how to be certain our faith is genuine. Because no issue could be more critical, I believe this is the most important book Piper has written.¯ Adrian Warnock

A Cautionary Note The souls regeneration, or being born again,¯ is inextricably linked to predestination. I believe that this doctrine is a two edged sword. I grew up being taught to pray for a new heart¯ so that I could believe and be saved. Implied was that regeneration was primary and something felt/ experienced so that one would know that he/ she was elect and could then confidently respond to the gospel offer. I suffered under this depressing delusion for many years and suffered major long-term depression because of it. I would recommend Matt Rogers Losing God (Intervarsity, 2008) as a similar case, and a study of what can happen. I am pleading for great care and gentleness in reviving this doctrine. Pastors and well-meaning brothers and sisters may well conclude that they or many of their fellow Christians are self-deceived, and this must be treated with the utmost delicacy. The doctrine of predestination, and the fact that we could never have acted faith without God working in us, are what JI Packer has called the family secret. It is also what Spurgeon described as what we learn when we enter the gate of salvation under the banner, Whosoever will, may come,only to look back at the gate through which we came and see, Predestined from before the foundation of the world.¯ When one is appreciative of the one thing needful, the enormity of this being cast into doubt can lead to serious clinical depression, causing needless suffering. Many have suffered on this road.