During my flight to the Desiring God 2011 National Conference, I finally finished reading Christ Formed in You: The Power of the Gospel for Personal Change by Brian G. Hedges. Though it took me a while to get through it (mostly because I kept getting distracted by other books), it was well worth the effort to complete.
The Overview
Christ Formed in You is a relatively short read for most readers. However, I tend to a very slow reader at about half a page a minute. So with 270 pages of content, it took some time for me to trudge through.
But this is not because Hedges has written a difficult book to read. It is actually very clear, with a logical breakdown of what Gospel-driven sanctification (can there be any other kind?) looks like. The book has three main sections:
- Part One: The Foundations of Personal Change
- Part Two: The Pattern of Personal Change
- Part Three: The Means of Personal Change
In part one, Hedges fleshes out the story of redemption, beginning with Creation. He lays out the fact that God is on a mission to restore His image in His people through the Gospel. Hedges then describes the implications of that Gospel, namely justification and sanctification.
In part two, Hedges takes the discussion a step further and lays out the pattern by which personal transformation takes place. This section is a great primer on biblical change.
Finally, in part three, Hedges practically describes three areas in which the pattern of personal change occurs: spiritual disciplines, suffering, and community. These three are the means by which God carries out sanctification in the life of a Christian.
Why I Liked It
Personal change is a hot topic in our world today. Bookstores are rife with self-help books and the Internet is full of blogs dedicated to personal change and habit formation/termination. But Hedges has taken the conversation to the Bible and written on the primary issue of personal change- we need to be conformed to the likeness of Christ by the power of the Spirit for the glory of God. It’s a helpful book.
The chapter on the spiritual disciplines was particularly helpful in providing a redemptive perspective for the pursuit of spiritual disciplines- a pursuit that is so often wrought with thoughts of condemnation and failure. This chapter is worth the price of admission.
Final Words
If you have never read a book on spiritual formation, this one is worth your time.