Reforming Joy: A Conversation Between Paul, the Reformers, and the Church Today

“We live in a world that tells us to look within ourselves to find joy and lasting happiness. The problem is, looking within leaves us empty-handed, hopeless under the weight of our own unrighteousness. But Tim Chester has a message of remarkable hope. True joy is found in Christ and Christ alone. With help from the apostle Paul and the Protestant Reformers, Chester challenges the church today to return to the Scriptures, for they are the swaddling cloths of Christ. There we will hear the call from Christ himself to put aside our worthless merit and trust in him alone for a righteousness he alone can provide. Only then will we rediscover joy that will not disappoint.”

“Tim Chester brings the core truths of the Reformationby grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ aloneto life. This is not a dry tour of history (were invited to jump on a time machine), but rather an invitation to rediscover the joy that Paul unpacks in Galatians and that brought Luther to lead a gospel revolution 1,500 years later. If joy is not the first word that comes to your mind when you think about the Reformation, you need to read this book! You could read it in a day, but its impact will last much longer.”

“Charles Spurgeon once told his congregation, It is a great privilege to meet a truly happy man, a graciously happy man. Let it never be said that Reformed and joy are uneasy coinhabitants in the heart of a Christian. Tim Chesters work is a much-needed reminder for Reformed Christians that, because we have been saved by grace alone, we of all people have reason to live out our days with deep exuberance over such a great salvation. In this volume, you will meet some truly happy men from the pasthappy because they recovered a glorious gospel, and happy because, in so doing, they restored to the church deep and lasting joy in Jesus. Read, remember, and rejoice! People of grace should be a graciously happy people.”

“I am thrilled that Tim Chester has addressed this neglected fruit of the Spirit. When the Reformation happened, it was, among other things, a rediscovery of true Christian joy. This joy had suffused the Christian world of the New Testament, but throughout the medieval era had been largely forgotten as being central to the Christian life. Thus it is no wonder that when, in the eighteenth century, the Reformed author Andrew Fuller was seeking a revival amongst his fellow Baptists in England, he asked the ever-pertinent query: Why is it that Christians in the present day come so far short of the primitive Christians in the possession of joy? He knew, as did the Reformers, and Paul before them all, that whenever a renewal or revival of the Christian faith takes place, joy will abound!”

“This concise and vigorous book commends gospel joy. It is also, fittingly, a joy to read. Each hard-hitting chapter engages our cultural moment, opens the biblical text, references Reformation wisdom, and points to God in Christ. This energetic manifesto will be of value for personal study, small-group discussion, and classroom reading at a beginning college level.”