In Saved by Grace, Herman Bavinck discusses God's gracious work in bringing fallen sinners to new life and salvation. He gives a careful historical analysis that shows how Reformed theologians have wrestled to understand and express the Holy Spirit's work in calling and regeneration since the seventeenth century. Bavinck also brings exegetical precision and theological clarity to the discussion, carefully avoiding the errors of undervaluing and overvaluing the use of means in work of salvation. This book, therefore, takes up questions with which every new generation of Reformed writers must grapple.
Table of Contents: Part I: Introduction
The Occasion and Rise of the Controversy Part II: The Immediate Operation of the Holy Spirit
Differing Conceptions of Divine Grace
The Reformed Defense of Divine Grace against the Remonstrants Part III: The Immediate Operation of the Holy Spirit and Means of Grace
Augustine and the Reformed on the Means of Grace
Calling and Regeneration at the Synod of Dort
Calling and Regeneration in Other Reformed Theologians
The Reformed Conception of the Covenant of Grace and the Church
Diverse Views Concerning the Moment of Regeneration
A Weighty Counter-Argument
The Anabaptist versus the Reformed Understanding of the Order of Salvation
Holy Scripture on the Spiritual State of Adults in the Covenant
Calling and Regeneration and its Relation to Preaching Part IV: The Relation between the Immediate Operation of the Holy Spirit and the Means of Grace
The Means of Grace in General
The Word as Means of Grace in particular
The Work of God's Word in Regeneration, Faith, and Conversion