It All Makes Sense - Now
“Christ’s purpose in coming to earth in human form was to pay the price for human sin and to give each one of us the ability to place Him into our lives in order to have an intimate relationship with God” the author writes. Finding that relationship with God through faith is the theme of It All Makes Sense Now by G. Rowland Carey. A question asked of Billy Graham about how to find Christ was the impetus for this book and consequently Carey considers the steps involved in salvation of great importance.
The steps to salvation provide the major part of the book’s outline. These steps are known to theologians as the ordo salutis. The steps and the order in which they come vary according to who you ask. They are not necessarily chronological in order. Some steps occur simultaneously and some logically come prior to others. Carey gives his version of the ordo salutis evidently molding it to his emphasis on relationship with God. This emphasis results in some oddities such as listing love as the first step which is not even normally on the list.
Carey does well in pointing readers toward an intimate relationship with God but also declares that one “must understand this entire reconciliation process” in order to know God deeply. It is unusual for a Christian to claim that knowledge of theology is necessary for a relationship with God but this is just a part of Carey’s unclear theological stand. He contradicts himself in reference to grace (step two) writing “only with grace will the process of salvation begin” but a moment later he declares “grace is open to all men but only when we desire God will he give us this gift.” This seems to say that grace is necessary to begin the process but can only be given conditionally if the process is begun.
To love God with all our hearts is worth more than anything else we can offer Him. It All Makes Sense…Now is a sincere expression from a deep heartfelt awareness of the truth that a relationship with God is essential. It is also the exuberant outpouring of an immature theological understanding. Readers might use it to catch the urgency and importance of finding God but building an understanding of principles and issues concerning God or salvation based on the information presented here will lead readers into labyrinthine confusion.
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