On the importance on perseverance . . .

Jonathan R. Pratt. My Sheep Follow Me: A Study of Perseverance and the Threat of Antinomianism. 176p., $22.99, Kregel Academic.

Christian teaching is often clear about justification—how God saves his people—but murky about sanctification, or perseverance—how believers grow in closeness to God over time. Jonathan R. Pratt explores what progress toward holiness looks like and how it takes place.

My Sheep Follow Me begins with an investigation of the New Testament’s teaching on perseverance:

• Jesus’s metaphors, including the “fruit” of belief, obedience, and love;
• Paul’s demonstration of believers’ righteous responses to the Holy Spirit
• belief as evidence in the letters of Paul and others;
• promises of God’s help in perseverance; and
• God’s use of his Word, suffering, the church, and prayer to assure his people’s perseverance in faith.

Pratt then surveys how antinomianism, common Protestant Christianity both historically and today, threatens biblical teaching. He shows how a biblical doctrine of perseverance squelches the devastating effects of ignoring God’s spiritual gifts to believers. My Sheep Follow Me offers important cautions of distorted teaching and valuable encouragement in the process of Christian growth.