This heartfelt statement from John Stott brings into sharp focus the defining essence of evangelical truth. His masterly distillation of decades of reflection on Christian discipleship ranges over the history of the church and its formative teachings, as well as the worldwide church today.
Stott expounds the Trinitarian character of the evangelical faith: the gracious initiative of God the Father in revealing himself to us, of Jesus Christ in redeeming us through the cross and resurrection, and of the indwelling Holy Spirit in transforming us. This is why the threefold emphasis of evangelical faith is upon the Word of God, the once-for-all nature of the work of Christ and the active, continuing work of the Spirit.
'I am not so naïve as to imagine that this little book will solve the problems of our uncertain evangelical identity or our debilitating evangelical disunity, or will provide a flag under which we can all rally. Yet I do hope and pray that it will lay some misunderstandings to rest and will help us to combine a commitment to essential evangelical truth with an authentic generosity of mind and spirit' (from the Preface).