Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners (Union)

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In this book, Dane Ortlund points believers to Christ, making the case that sanctification does not happen by doing more or becoming better, but by going deeper into the wondrous gospel truths that washed over them when they were first united to him.

Further, the relation of justification to sanctification was handled in a way that preserved the separation of the two yet indicated that the one could not exist without the other. What I enjoyed most about this book is how practical it is, complete with questions to guide, examples of using those questions with two passages, and ideas to ponder so that you can set your mind on God, His son's redemptive plan, and the impact the Holy Spirit has in our hearts and minds when we CHOOSE to invite Him in. If we long to grow in Christ, we dare not do what comes so naturally—namely, say we believe that the verdict over our lives is decisively settled in our justified status before God but then move on to other ideas and strategies when it comes to our emotional lives and daily pressures. So according to this preface, I shouldn't even be reading this book but as a lowly lay person should have picked up the "more accessible" version.That angst in your soul for more is a part of the growing process―a gift of hunger and thirst that Jesus, the inexhaustible well, will fill.

Dane Ortlund’s Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners (Crossway, 2021) represents a measured, thoughtfully studied, patient, and kind way to address the many entangled roots of our angst without packaging the solution as a program. We could spend our whole lives learning more about Jesus and never reaches the depths of who he is—and indeed, this is what we will spend eternity doing! Seller has stated it will dispatch the item within 1 working day upon receipt of cleared payment - opens in a new window or tab . We have Dane Ortlund to thank for another thoughtfully biblical study on a critical matter, our spiritual growth. Ortlund does cover the classic practices for growth (Bible reading, prayer, relationships with other Christians) but always emphasizes these are God’s means for changing us, not ways we achieve it ourselves.

He serves as an editor for the Knowing the Bible series and the Short Studies in Biblical Theology series, and is the author of several books, including Edwards on the Christian Life .

When I began this book, I was discouraged by the depth of my sin and was despairing of my ability to change. He is the author of Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers and Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners . We need more of Jesus if we’re to find, like the subtitle says, “real change for real sinners,” rather than “surface change for theoretical sinners” (17–18).The author answers in the book’s nine chapters by supporting the single premise that growth comes through fixing our gaze on Christ. I thought I hadn’t read it before and kept finding annotations in my handwriting and realized this was my second read like 3/9 chapters in. Each of its 9 chapters encourages readers to fix their gaze on Jesus in the battle against sin, casting themselves upon his grace.

Accordingly, I do not think Ortlund is endorsing a Keswick sanctification view, but the language is close enough to have warranted further clarification and perhaps a clear rejection of the Keswick view (See Nasselli’s No Quick Fix).These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Notably, this was not their acceptance of the gospel; it was some other experience of grace that brought them to a new level of spiritual living. Ortlund offers nine meditations that push and encourage readers to a biblical model of sanctification.