For many Christians, holiness seems to be either an outdated concept with no practical application to life today or a legalistic attempt to earn favor with God through a particular lifestyle or set of religious practices. However, the biblical doctrine of holiness is much more beautiful! A holy life is a privilege promised to every child of God.A right doctrine of holiness is biblical. The Bible teaches a joyful doctrine of holiness that guides our relationship with God. To be holy is to be what God created us to be. It is not a burden; it is not legalism; it is a joyful walk with God. The Shepherd's Global Classroom course Doctrine and Practice of the Holy Life looks at the biblical terms that describe holiness.A right doctrine of holiness is practical. Any right doctrine is practical; it can be lived in daily life. Doctrine and Practice of the Holy Life looks at practical aspects of holiness. Through a look at Christians from every era of church history, you will see that God empowers His children for a holy life in every age and every nation.God is preparing a holy people to live with Him in a holy city? forever. Please join in our study of God's great plan for shaping His people in His image.

Apart from being a scholar and theologian, Rowan Williams has also demonstrated a rare gift for speaking and writing plainly and clearly about essentials of the Christian faith. In the chapters of this book he writes with profound perception about the life of holiness to which we are called. The range of Williams' frame of reference is astonishing – he brings poets and theologians to his aid, he writes about the Rule of St Benedict, the Bible, Icons, contemplation, St Teresa of Avila and even R. D. Laing. He concludes with two chapters on the injunction 'Know Thyself' in a Christian context. Throughout, Williams points out that holiness is a state of being – it is he writes 'completely undemonstrative and lacking any system of expertise. It can never be dissected and analysed.'

This introductory theology text helps students articulate basic Christian doctrines, think theologically so they can act Christianly in a diverse world, and connect Christian thought to their everyday lives of faith. Written from a solidly evangelical yet ecumenically aware perspective, this book models a way of doing theology that is generous and charitable. It attends to history and contemporary debates and features voices from the global church. Sidebars made up of illustrative quotations, key Scripture passages, classic hymn texts, and devotional poetry punctuate the chapters. The first edition of this book has been well received (over 25,000 copies sold). Updated and revised throughout, this second edition also includes a new section on gender and race as well as new end-of-chapter material connecting each doctrine to a spiritual discipline.

The Reformation put the grace of God in the right place in the salvation of man. Luther's proclamation of "justification by faith" brought the concept of grace to the fore and made it the centrality of Christian theology. But the overemphasis on the doctrine of justification in the Reformation created the imbalance between justification and sanctification in the soteriology of the Protestant church. To some people just the profession of faith without an accompanying godly life was not good enough for salvation. It seemed that "salvation by grace of God" in the doctrine of justification made man's salvation too easy, thereby opening the floodgate for nominal Christians who were no different from pagans in their hearts. Christian leaders and theologians in the modern church age have tried to "rectify" this problem by injecting the necessity of works into the Christian life. The spiritual movements such as pietism and perfectionism, and new theologies such as the New Perspective on Paul and the Federal Vision, are such endeavors that have stressed good works in the salvation of man. However, without the concept of definitive sanctification, they all lost the monergistic nature of salvation and deviated to the humanistic theology of Arminianism or Pelagianism.

Long-Awaited Systematic Theology by Well-Known Pastor, Author, and President of the Master's Seminary Doctrine isn't just for theologians—it's important for every Christian because it shows us who God is and how we should live. Systematizing the robust theology that has undergirded John MacArthur's well-known preaching ministry for decades, this overview of basic Christian doctrine covers topics such as God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, salvation, and more. Comprehensive in scope yet written to be accessible to the average reader—with non-technical vocabulary, minimal footnotes, and a helpful bibliography—this volume offers Christians a solid foundation for what they believe and why.