The Truth About Forgiveness from John MacArthur is a deep book about sin and our need as humans to be forgiven by a holy perfect God. This book is not really about humans forgiving each other, but our need for God to have mercy upon us. Every single Christian needs to read this book because this is what the gospel is about. This is what our salvation is about. It's full of deep truths about salvation and sin. MacArthur addresses society's ways of excusing sin and sweeping it away under psychology labels like "addition". He explains how people blame everyone but themselves for their sinful conditions and then they deny that these are sins by claiming they are outside of one's control as addictions. If we humans could see that our bad habits are actually sins and could fall upon Jesus Christ to save us, we could be free of those sins that we call addictions. That is what this book is about. It points out the true human condition of sin.
Quotes that summarize this book:
"These days everything wrong with humanity is likely to be explained as an illness. What we used to call sin is more easily diagnosed as a whole array of disabilities. All kinds of immorality and evil conduct are now identified as symptoms of this or that psychological illness. Criminal behavior, various perverse passions, and every imaginable addiction have all been made excusable by the crusade to label them medical afflictions. Even commonplace problems, such as emotional weakness, depression, and anxiety, are also almost universally defined as quasi-medical, rather than spiritual, afflictions."
"But assume for the moment that the problem is sin rather than sickness. The only true remedy involves humble repentance and confession (the recognition that you deserve the chastening of God because you alone are responsible for your sin)—then restitution, and growth through the spiritual disciplines of prayer, Bible study, communion with God, fellowship with other believers, and dependence on Christ. In other words, if the problem is in fact spiritual, labeling it a clinical issue will only exacerbate the problem and will offer no real deliverance from the sin. That is precisely what we see happening everywhere."
"The sad truth is that disease-model treatment is disastrously counterproductive. By casting the sinner in the role of a victim, it ignores or minimizes the personal guilt inherent in the misbehavior. “I am sick” is much easier to say than, “I have sinned.” But it doesn’t deal with the fact that one’s transgression is a serious offense against a holy, omniscient, omnipotent God."
Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge from the publisher but I am not required to give a positive review in exchange for the book. This is my critical review of the book as if I had bought the book with my hard earned money.
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