Our Sufficiency in Christ

What one word would describe this book? Solid, nourishing, meaty..I have no idea, but it was excellent. I cannot think of a better book to read if you want to be exposed to the problems facing the church today and their biblical answers. This book is amazing. I finished it on the flight home from Kentucky and I have to say that it made me long to be in a church somewhere and see to it that the Christ is preeminent through biblical preaching, teaching, counseling and study (not psychology or psychotherapy or any other psycho- word). J-Mac really hits the nail on the head with this one.

The thrust of the book is this; Christ is sufficient, stop settling for all the worldly gimmicks such as psychology, legalism, asceticism, exorcisms, pragmatism, quietism vs. pietism, and the like. I mean, you name a problem in the church and it is dealt with in one way or another in this book. That's the beauty of Christ, He sufficiently meets every need we will ever face! That is precisely what MacArthur is probing us towards. Be satisfied in Christ! Please, don't let me exalt this book over the bible, the scripture index is only eight pages long. In every chapter Johnny is expositing LARGE chunks of scripture to refute or expose the problems he is mentioning. After reading each chapter you will have a greater understanding of key scriptural texts necessary for the resisting of these sinful tendencies in the church as well as outright heresies that are creeping in unnoticed.

Probably the most entertaining chapter of the book (not that the book is meant to entertain) was chapter 3, "Does God Need a Psychiatrist?" Now you talk about scary. Macarthur exposes some problems and contradictions that exist within psychiatry. He discusses the professionalism of it all and questions whether or not it is a science at all. Here are some quotes from Time magazine in their article called, "Psychiatry on the Couch" pulled from chapter three.

"Psychiatrists themselves acknowledge that their profession often smacks of modern alchemy--full of jargon, obfuscation and mystification, but precious little real knowledge..."

"Scottish psychiatrist and poet R.D. Lang is sure that schizophrenia is real--and that it is good for you. Explains Lang: it is a kind of psychedelic epiphany, far superior to normal experience."

"The article went on to chronicle the failures of psychiatry, noting that, 'of all patients, one-third are eventually "cured," one-third are helped somewhat, and one-third are not helped at all.'"

Are you kidding me? Schizophrenia may be a good thing? Only one-third are actually cured (and that according to the psychiatrists standards)? Wow, that should make you thankful for Christ. The whole book is not an assault on psychiatry. I only chose to mention those quotes because they were extremely interesting to me.

This book is a must read for all Christians. Entire chapters are devoted to the sufficiency of Christ and His word as well as sanctification and obedience. To this date, this was probably the most insightful and encouraging book I have read, save God's Holy Word. I'll leave you with a few more quotes. If these do not make you love Christ more, read them again:

"We must hold fast to Christ's sufficiency -- never adding to it or taking from it. In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3). In Him dwells all the fullness of deity in bodily form (2:9). We have been made complete in Him (2:10). And nothing can ever separate us from Him (Rom. 8:35-39). What more do we need?"

MacArthur closes the book with this:

"My prayer is that you won't exchange the fountain of life from which flow rivers of living water for the broken pots being sold today-which hold no water." Jeremiah 2:13