Book Review: Revolution Within

I first heard of Revolution Within: A Fresh Look at Supernatural Living (2002) in a Larry Crabb lecture (the author of the forward to the book). Indeed, the influences upon one another are evident in Crabb's lectures and in Edwards' book. Considering my fondness (some would say excessive fondness) for Dr Crabb, it is unsurprising that I deeply enjoyed this book.

In essence, Revolution Within deals with New Covenant living. Too often, Christians continue to live Old Covenant lifestyles even though the Bible tells them that they are New Covenant believers. Edwards tells the reader that the New Covenant has given believers a new purity, a new identity, a new disposition, and a new power. Apprehending each of those realities that already exist helps the believer to live more fully to the glory of God and for the love of others.

The influences of many of my favorite authors found their way into the pages of this book: John Piper, Chuck Colson, Eugene Peterson, Francis Schaeffer, CS Lewis, not to mention Crabb. In fact, there were a couple of occasions where his books were so closely reminescent of books I love that I assumed Edwards and I had the same books on our shelves. For example, on page 77, Edwards writes about Luke 15 being a story about a prodigal father who "gives to the undeserving with outrageous generosity and irrational kindness", which is the essential message of Tim Keller's excellent book, Prodigal God. Much to my surprise, Edwards' book predated Keller's by 9 years. Second, in chapter 12, he asks the question whether it is better to have Christ physically at your side or the Spirit inside you, a question well-explored with JD Greear's recent book Jesus Continued...

I would like to get this book into the hands of most believers. There is so much food for thought here about the realities of the Christian life that, unfortunately, many believers rarely explore.