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Instruments In The Redeemer's Hands: People In Need of Change Helping People In Need of Change

By Paul David Tripp

Book Review By Derek Perdue

What is Sanctification?  How does the gospel impact my daily life and relationships?  What is ministry?  How are we supposed to live in community?  These are some of the few questions addressed in this book.  He does this by showing our need for continuing heart transformation, and the provision provided in Christ. Throughout the book he expresses the fact that we have been called to assist one another in that growth as well.  Both our need, and our call are laid out by Paul in very practical down to earth ways.

Paul Tripp works to move us from an event or episode model of ministry, to that of a lifestyle approach.  Instead of viewing ministry as something we go and do (lead a small group, sing on a worship team, lead a prayer meeting, etc) into an understanding that the call to ministry is in all the roles and relationships of our life.  We need to be ambassadors of Christ to our parents, spouses, children, employers, coworkers, and friends.  Yet, to effectively do this we need to be growing in our understanding and application of the gospel as well.

This is what Paul deals with first in chapters one through six.  He pours out before the reader a very real picture of progressive sanctification.  It shows us not only a picture of the true location where the battle with sin rages, but also the place where changes needs to be applied; the heart.  The best way to build relationships which matter is to understand where the battle rages in your own heart, and the need to apply the provision of Christ to the struggle.  Yet, the difficulty is that the major effect of sin is that it deceives and blinds us.  That is why we need other people to speak into our lives, and why we need to speak into theirs.

Yet, how is that done?  We read passages which call us to love, encourage, exhort, and rebuke each other, but we often have a confused and distorted view of how that looks.  In chapters seven through fourteen Paul tries to map out a Biblical model.  He does that by using a Love, Know, Speak, Do model.  These are categories to help us understand the elements of our relationships.  They are not set stages or steps in a process.  Instead, this is a call to view all of our relationships as belonging first to the Lord and not to ourselves.  We are called to love people, more than that we are called to incarnate Christ’s love in our relationships.  Doing this takes time to get to know people and their struggles.  Within the context of a loving, knowing relationship Christ can use us to speak the gospel into each others lives.  Therefore, ministry is done by everyone, all of the time by building relationships which matter.

© Copyright 2005 Derek Perdue
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