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Am I Too Easily Impressed?

What impresses you? Some people are really easy to impress and some people are hard to impress. The interesting thing about our world is how they think about spiritual things and how they think about what satisfies in life and how to fulfill that satisfaction. People are far too easily impressed with the things of the world. What our world does is look at things like sex, drink, and party and deem such things as awesome, amazing, and fulfilling. "This is what life is about. If I could just have more of that on the weekends. That is where life is." [epq-quote align="align-left"]Our world looks at things like sex, drink, and party and deem them as awesome, amazing, and fulfilling.[/epq-quote] The book of Hebrews is going to come to that person and say, "You are a little too easily impressed with the things of the world. If you look at the things of the world and think that is where life is, then there is someone you have not met. You have really not met the Lord Jesus Christ in all of his fulness. If you met him, then what you have been feeding on is going to look like mac 'n' cheese and chicken nuggets compared to what you could have been eating." This is not just true for the world, but it's also true for us. We're always out there searching for something that's more satisfying. We, too, are too easily impressed. Right? We think that if we have more relationships, more financial security, or if our spouse was just x, y, and z, then life would be what it needs to be; that's where satisfaction is found. What we see in the book of Hebrews is that we haven't fully gotten to know Jesus yet, because if you have gotten to know Jesus, then you would be impressed with him and not thinking that these other places are the places to go to be satisfied. When I think about that theme, I can't help but think about a quote from C.S. Lewis, which you've probably heard a thousand times, but I've got to read it because it's so good. It really does capture what we're going to do today. [epq-quote align="align-right"]We're too easily satisfied because we don't actually understand the greatness of Christ that's offered to us.[/epq-quote] Lewis captured this idea of how we really are too easily satisfied. We're too easily satisfied because we don't actually understand the greatness of Christ that's offered to us. Remember that's the theme of Hebrews: Jesus is better than all these other things. Listen to this quote by Lewis and let these words sink in: "It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at the sea, we are far too easily pleased." That is the theme, arguably, of the book of Hebrews. Don't be so easily pleased by the things of the world. Be ultimately pleased in the most pleasing thing: Christ.

Allen delivers a work of classical Reformed theology. He ironically differentiates the Reformed position on sanctification from some Lutheran positions, through careful biblical exegesis and retrieval of Calvin, Augustine, Berkouwer, and others. From a more traditionally Reformed perspective, Allen here inherits the mantle of John Webster. As a Catholic, I am deeply grateful for Michael Allen's vision, with the ecumenical conjunctions that it reveals

Matthew Levering, James N. and Mary D. Perry, Jr. Chair of Theology

Here is learned and extensive dogmatic exposition in the grand old European academic style. Weaving together both biblical and systematic theological perspectives, Professor Michael Allen leads us, his students,in a genuine theological discussion rooted in wide reading and mature reflection. Sanctification thus points us beyond a bare textbook-style accumulation of information to the higher goal of a genuine knowledge of God and transformation into the image of Christ. A very worthy addition to what already promises to be an impressive series.

Sinclair B. Ferguson, Chancellor’s Professor of Systematic Theology

Michael Allen believes that the gospel is large enough to cover not only the guilt but the dominion of sin. This volume gives further evidence of the author's reliability as a faithful steward of the mysteries of God. Learn, mark and inwardly digest this rich feast.

Michael Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics

In Sanctification, Michael Allen presents a lucid dogmatic portrait of the glorious mystery of new life in Christ. Allen's book offers a feast for readers to feed upon this truth. Framed in conversation with the best of contemporary scholarship, Allen brings together scriptural exegesis, patristic and Protestant commentary, and wide-ranging theological exposition. Sanctification is a model of biblical, Reformed catholicity, which both breaks new ground and retrieves insights from the past. Highly recommended for students, scholars, and others who hunger for a theological account of sanctification in Christ!

J. Todd Billings, Gordon H. Girod Research Professor of Reformed Theology

Holiness is good news, Allen reminds us, for sanctification is all about God sharing his own holiness with us in Christ. As he unpacks this gospel of holiness, Allen presents a marvelous 'minor dogmatics,'ranging through a variety of doctrines, and grounding our holiness in the one and only place where it must originate--the eternal being of God himself. Steeped within Reformed catholicity, Allen's biblical retrieval draws from a wide range of sources: patristic, medieval,and modern. The result is an irenic and deeply thoughtful book.

Hans Boersma, J. I. Packer Professor of Theology

One of the great strengths of Michael Allen's work is that he resists the temptation of treating sanctification in isolation; instead, he calls attention to how this vital doctrine draws upon and informs a multitude of other doctrines. Consequently, Allen provides a rich and distinctive account of holiness that certainly deserves our attention and thanks.

Kelly Kapic, Professor of Theological Studies
Dr. Michael J
Dr. Michael J Kruger

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