I love the doctrines of grace. I love them as doctrines, that is, as biblical teachings that are sublime and wonderful beyond all human expectation. There can hardly be thrills greater to the mind than those produced by the central doctrines of the Reformed faith. But I especially love these doctrines because of their marvelous theme: the sovereign grace of God for unworthy sinners. For even greater than their enlightening effect on the mind, the doctrines of God are utterly transforming to the believing heart. To love the doctrines of grace is to love God as He has revealed Himself in His Word. He is "the God of all grace" (1 Peter 5:10), and unless we anchor our faith in the fullness of grace taught in Scripture, we will never glorify God for our salvation as He so richly deserves.

This book has two purposes. The first is to explain the doctrines of grace, also known as the "Five Points of Calvinism," through the exposition of Scripture. In this, my aim is not to exhaust the biblical data or to engage in heavy biblical polemics with differing theological views. Instead, I seek to exposit definitive passages as they pertain to the respective doctrines. My approach is to present and explain the doctrines as plainly as possible by drawing out both the clear teaching of the Bible's text and the necessary implications thereof. The second purpose is one that I find often neglected in treatments of distinctive Reformed doctrines, though to my mind it is equally important. This purpose is to help believers feel the power of these precious truths in their lives. In other words, I aim not merely to teach the doctrines of grace, but to show what is so great about them. And how great they are! If we really believe the Bible's teaching on the sovereign, mighty, and effectual grace of God, these doctrines not only will be dearly beloved, they will exercise a radical influence on our entire attitude toward God, ourselves, the present life, and the life to come.

I have written this book with an intended audience of those interested in (or alarmed by!) the Reformed view of salvation. There are other books that provide more detailed and extensive treatment of the doctrines of grace, and I would recommend them for the reader's study. But the aim of this book is to present these gracious truths briefly and directly, fortified only by the persuasive power of the plain truth of God's Word. My hope is that Reformed believers will find this book to be a helpful resource to place in the hands of inquiring friends, and that those who already believe the doctrines of grace will drink more deeply of their saving significance. At the heart of my desire, and my prayer to God in offering this book, is that Christians will come to see the grace of God as so great that it transforms their entire spiritual experience. What's so great about the doctrines of grace? It is a fair and important question. May God bless to the readers of this book the Bible's answers, and may God cause more and more of His people to receive the grace revealed in these doctrines to the praise of His wonderful name.