Customer Reviews

The Saving Life of Christ

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I was tempted to drop out of seminary right before I had the opportunity to hear the author, Major W. Ian Thomas, during his book tour years ago. He was introduced as the founder and general director of the Torchbearers, the group that runs the Capernwray Hall Bible School in England. It was a challenge to make out all his words through a thick British accent and staccato delivery, but I was educated in British boarding schools and had an edge on the rest of the students. And when Major Thomas spoke and pointed a finger that had been partially cut off, I was intrigued. Now here's an interesting man, I thought, probably just because he wasn't afraid to use that finger for gesturing. But as soon as he had me hooked, his short message spoke to me. I had been so hungry for answers that I had quit wondering where they would come from. I had all but given up, but, in twenty-two minutes, Ian Thomas got through to me. His theme was "Any old bush will do, as long as God is in the bush." The essence was that it took Moses forty years in the wilderness to realize that he was nothing. Thomas said God was trying to tell Moses, "I don't need a pretty bush or an educated bush or an eloquent bush. Any old bush will do, as long as I am in the bush. If I am going to use you, I am going to use you. It will not be you doing something for Me, but Me doing something through you." Thomas said the burning bush in the desert was likely a dry bunch of ugly little sticks that had hardly developed, yet Moses had to take off his shoes. Why? Because this was holy ground. Why? Because God was in the bush! I realized I was that kind of bush: a worthless, useless bunch of dried-up old sticks. I could do nothing for God. All my reading and studying and asking questions and trying to model myself after others was worthless. Everything in my ministry was worthless, unless God was in the bush. Only He could make something happen. Only He could make it work. Thomas told of many Christian workers who failed at first because they thought they had something to offer God. He himself had once imagined that because he was an aggressive, winsome, evangelistic sort, God could use him. But God didn't use him until he came to the end of himself. I thought, "That's exactly my situation. I am at the end of myself." When Thomas closed out with Galatians 2:20, it all came together for me: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (RSV). I ran back to my room in tears and fell to my knees next to my bunk. I prayed in Spanish, "Lord, now I get it. I understand. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. The whole thing is 'not I, but Christ in me.' It's not what I'm going to do for You but rather what You're going to do through me." I stayed on my knees until lunchtime, an hour and a half later, skipping my next class to stay in communion with the Lord. I realized the reason I hated myself inside was because I wrongly loved myself outside. I asked God's forgiveness for my pride in thinking I was a step above my countrymen because I had been well-educated and was fluent in English, and because I had worked in a bank and spoken on the radio and in a tent and in churches, and because I got to come to the United States and mingle with pastors, seminary professors, and other Christian leaders. I had thought I was really something, but God was not active in the bush. I hadn't given Him a chance. Well, He still had a lot of burning to do, but God was finally in control of this bush. He wanted me to be grateful for all the small hinges He had put in my life, but He didn't want me to place my confidence in those opportunities to make me a better minister or preacher. He wanted me to depend not on myself or my breaks, but on Christ alone--the indwelling, resurrected, almighty Lord Jesus. I was thrilled to finally realize we have everything we need when we have Jesus Christ literally living in us. Our inner resource is God Himself, because of our union with Jesus Christ (see Colossians 2:9-15). It's His power that controls our dispositions, enables us to serve, and corrects and directs us (see Philippians 2:13). Out of this understanding comes a godly sense of self-worth. That day marked the intellectual turning point in my spiritual life. The practical working out of that discovery would be lengthy and painful, but at least the realization had come. It was exciting beyond words. I could relax and rest in Jesus. He was going to do the work through me. What peace there was in knowing I could quit struggling! Copyright (c) 2000 Luis Palau. Reprinted by permission of the author.

I have been a Christian for a long time, and grew up in a great Christian home...the authors home to be precise. I was taught many of the principles from the Saving Life Of Christ from a very young age, but to be honest they didn't always sink in. Through high school I went through a very rebelious stage as so many ministry kids do and wasted a lot of time and opportunity to allow Christ to live through me. In fact I became so tired of always feeling like I needed to impress Christians or those around me that I wanted to give up. It wasn't until after high school that I figured it out...that it was never about me in the first place. I needed to just let go and allow God to be God in my life through Christ. It never really connected until I picked up Grandpa's book(very reluctantly I might add) and allowed myself know Christ as he desires to be known...in full dependence. I think this book is a great resource in helping us understand who Jesus came to be for us and the life that He longs to live through us. I also appreciate it because it does not rely on insirational dialogue as the motivating factor for someone to respond but rather on the word of God. It is not just for the spiritually mature but for anyone who desires to know Christ in a more powerful way. I am in no way the cookie cutter Christian...in fact I run a skateboard outreach for youth, and have used it in my Bible studies with kids who hardly have any concept of obeying the law let alone the Savior. I highly recommend it and am grateful that the Lord has used grandpa to reach so many people through The Saving Life Of Christ!

In His Strength,

Ben Thomas
~Pastor of Skatechurch~
Portland, OR
www.skatechurch.net

I work in a Christian bookstore, and I would gladly stack the FIRST chapter of Major Thomas' book up against my ENTIRE 'Christian' psychology, self-esteem and self-help section.

If you are a Christian and have not read "Saving Life of Christ," READ IT!

Thomas' wonderful title is an excellent encouragement to live a life of victory instead of defeat.

Among the important points Thomas covers include:

1. Having a new life in Christ saves us from the futility of self-effort.
2. To be a true disciple, we must realize our own bankruptcy.
3. We are called to commit to Christ, not a cause.
4. What is not of faith is sin.
5. Do not panic and let God be God!
6. The sufficiency of Christ.
7. Remember the sin of Moses that kept him out of the Promised Land.
8. God does not intend to satisfy us in the wilderness.

Read and be encouraged to stop trying to live life in your own strength and instead let Christ's life flow through you!

The main theme of this book is that Christ can live through us. After we commit to Christ we receive the Holy Spirit and are reborn. Christ will then live in us if we offer Him child-like acceptance.

Like the Jews who longed for Egypt while travelling in the wilderness, there are carnal Christians who still live in the flesh even though they have been redeemed by faith in Christ. Without the fullness of Christ in us we cannot celebrate completely.

Thomas makes his case with readable prose and his arguments are backed up by original thinking.

I read the book after hearing the author speak at a local church and found both experiences to be inspirational.

It is disputed in the Christian world whether Christ is behaving in the surrendered Christian or whether Christ has enabled the Christian to walk. This difference between behaving and enabling has been a hard struggle for many to understand.

Major Ian Thomas, in THE SAVING LIFE OF CHRIST, is of the former. He believes, and I quite agree with him, that we have a life hid with Christ in God, and that, when we are practicing God's presence, we will see that life manifesting itself in our words and actions.

Though I believe Thomas doesn't go far enough on the self-discipline aspect of the Christian walk, he certainly makes a beautiful, reasonable, and readable case for the essential life of sanctification.

The sequel to this book, THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS, is a wonderful followup. In that book, Thomas explores the example of Christ who allowed his Father to behave through him.

Every Christian should read these books, that is, if he/she desires his/her own feet to pad beside the great Lion of Judah.

Thomas has a unique view of how Christ will live in us if we only give Him an invitation. If we do this without reservation, Christ will then take over our lives while we are allowed to go on vacation. Anytime I read a book by Thomas, I invariably feel inspired.

What does it mean to be in Christ? What does it mean for Christ to be in you? Major Ian Thomas explores the issues and the implications of Christ's life and death in his book The Saving Life of Christ. In it he covers such topics as The Saving Life of Christ-The Exchanged Life, To Be In Christ-Total Dependency on God, Christ In You-Victorious Christian Living and much more. It is a probing evaluation of the deeper meanings of the Christian life. Thomas offers key Scripture passages for study and meditation, questions for discussion and response, quotations from classic Christian writers, and personal reflections from his own life. He takes you on a journey through familiar biblical passages and brings new life and application to them that encourage you, teach you and deepen your faith. This book is a great addition to anyone's library.

Also recommended: Bone of His Bone, F.J. Huegel, Designed To Be Like Him, J. Dwight Pentecost, The Left Behind Series, LaHaye/Jenkins

This book changed my life

Major W. Ian Thomas' book The Saving Life of Christ contains a wealth of insight for living a victorious Christian life. Thomas is right on target with the doctrine of justification, but he is weak in the area of sanctification. He seems to hold a passive view of a Christian's faith as he states, "I sit back in the rest of faith." This is contrary to the teachings of 1 Cor 15.58, Phil 2.12, and Jas 2.14-26. Furthermore, Thomas holds to the concept of a carnal Christian. He states, "If you are a carnal Christian, it means that you have been redeemed by faith ... but you live ... under the subtle influence of a defeated foe, the flesh."p.37. This theory contradicts the teaching of Rom 8.1-9. A Christian does carnal things (1 John 1.8, 10), but the bondage to a carnal way of life has been broken by God's power (1 John 3.9).

Although Thomas gets a lot of mileage out of the false doctrine of the carnal Christian, he offers practical theology relating to the Christian life. Thomas also sites a few well-developed concepts from Biblical characters, including King Saul, Moses, Jacob, and Esau. Although Jacob was a scoundrel, God worked in his life and, in time, transformed him into Israel, the prince of God.These edifying examples make this book well worth reading, but because the other theology noted in the book I can only give it 3 stars.