Reformed Reading Guide · 14 books
The Best Books on Salvation and the Order of Salvation
Soteriology is the study of how God saves sinners: the redemption accomplished by Christ and then applied to the believer by the Holy Spirit. The Reformed tradition traces this application through the order of salvation (ordo salutis), including effectual calling, regeneration, faith and repentance, justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance, and glorification. At its center stands union with Christ, the truth that every saving benefit is received only by being joined to Christ himself.
Few doctrines reward careful study like salvation, where the whole work of Christ meets the actual life of the believer. This guide gathers the best in-print Reformed and confessional evangelical books on redemption applied, regeneration, union with Christ, and the order of salvation. The titles are sorted into basic, intermediate, and advanced tiers so you can start where you are and grow from there. Every recommendation is a book still in print and widely available today.
Basic
4 books
Chosen by God
R. C. Sproul · 1994
Sproul makes the doctrine of election warm, clear, and pastoral, giving new readers the theological foundation on which the rest of salvation is built.
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Putting Amazing Back into Grace: Embracing the Heart of the Gospel
Michael Horton · 2011
A lively, accessible tour of Reformed soteriology that walks the reader step by step through grace, election, atonement, and the benefits of salvation.
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The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance
Sinclair B. Ferguson · 2016
Ferguson uses a historic Scottish controversy to show that assurance and holiness flow not from rules but from receiving the whole Christ himself.
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Grace Alone: Salvation as a Gift of God
Carl R. Trueman · 2017
Trueman traces sola gratia through Scripture and church history, giving beginners a firm grasp of why salvation is entirely God's gift from first to last.
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5 books
Redemption Accomplished and Applied
John Murray · 2015
The classic modern treatment of the order of salvation, moving carefully from Christ's atonement to calling, regeneration, faith, justification, and glorification.
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Saved by Grace
Anthony A. Hoekema · 1994
Hoekema offers a comprehensive yet readable survey of the application of salvation, anchoring each step in union with Christ and the Spirit's work.
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Union with Christ: In Scripture, History, and Theology
Robert Letham · 2011
Letham presents union with Christ as the central truth of salvation and traces it across the biblical storyline and the history of theology.
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Faith Alone: The Doctrine of Justification
Thomas R. Schreiner · 2015
A biblical scholar defends justification by faith alone, surveying its history and answering modern challenges with careful exegesis.
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One with Christ: An Evangelical Theology of Salvation
Marcus Peter Johnson · 2013
Johnson argues that union with the living Christ is the organizing center of salvation and reads every other benefit through that lens.
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5 books
By Faith, Not by Sight: Paul and the Order of Salvation
Richard B. Gaffin Jr. · 2013
Gaffin reworks Paul's ordo salutis around the death and resurrection of Christ, a demanding but rewarding recasting of the whole doctrine.
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Paul and Union with Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study
Constantine R. Campbell · 2012
Campbell exhaustively examines every Pauline union phrase, producing the definitive scholarly study of union with Christ in Paul.
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Covenant and Salvation: Union with Christ
Michael S. Horton · 2007
Horton develops union with Christ and justification within a covenantal framework, engaging classical and contemporary theology at a scholarly level.
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Justification: Understanding the Classic Reformed Doctrine
J. V. Fesko · 2008
Fesko gives a thorough restatement of justification in terms of both the historia and ordo salutis, answering recent revisions in detail.
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Reformed Dogmatics, Volume 4: Holy Spirit, Church, and New Creation
Herman Bavinck · 2008
Bavinck's classic dogmatics treats calling, regeneration, faith, justification, and sanctification with unmatched depth and historical range.
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