Book Review: The Faith Given Once, For All

1. The Faith Given Once, For All by Charles Colson and Harold Fickett is a must read for every Christian living in the 21st century. As Christians, we are in a spiritual warfare with our fallen nature, the age in which we live, and with Satan himself (Eph. 2:1-3). The liberal society in which we live is increasingly anti-Christian. The gods of materialism, social tolerance and humanism are assaulting Christianity every day and the casualty count among Christians is alarming. How can this be?
   
   More and more Christians are being overrun by the age in which we live because they are poorly prepared to give a strong defense for the faith that was handed down to them. Too many pastors have bought into the secular progressive idea that we don’t want to offend anyone with the Gospel. We dare not speak with a tone that projects authority: “Thus saith the Lord” – that would be narrow-minded! Truth and doctrine must be jettisoned and in their place, we must preach acceptance of others and the value of self. Wrap the love of God in a gospel of prosperity and health – this is what people want to hear today. You can preach Jesus without preaching doctrine. Anyway, there are many ways to get to heaven – right?
   
   Colson answers such foolish notions with a resounding “No!” He goes on to explain:
   
   “To present Jesus without doctrine is to present a disembodied savior, a moral teacher perhaps, but with no more authority than Confucius. This is why I believe that the question of truth and its knowability is the most important single issue for the Church and perhaps for the culture today (p64).”
   
   It is for this reason that Colson and Fickett wrote The Faith Given Once, For All. In the book the following three questions are addressed:

What Christians Believe - Why They Believe It - Why It Matters

It is not being narrow-minded when a Christian says that Christ is the only way to heaven – Jesus said it (John 14:6). Yes, a Christian is supposed to be accepting of people (Rom. 14:1), but that does not mean that we are to be accepting of sinful behavior.

And who defines what sinful behavior is? God does in His Word! Too many Christians are disengaging from the truth of the Gospel for the sake of peace with their fellow man. Subjective sentimentality is a poor replacement for objective truth.

I highly recommend Colson’s book. Get it, read it – it will prepare you for the end times in which we live (Hebrews 1:1-3).