Finally alive - Piper - IV- Chapters 5 & 6

Required reading
Finally alive by John Piper (available from Amazon or free on the internet here) - Read Chapters Five and Six.

My summary
In Chapter Five Piper finishes answering the question, 'Why is the new birth so necessary?'  To do so he looks at the necessity of the incarnation for our regeneration and how this enables our purification and justification.

Then in Chapter Six Piper begins a new section answering the question, 'How are we born again?'  Three ways are given:
(i) God ransomed us from sin and wrath by the blood of Christ and paid the debt for sinners to have eternal life;
(ii) God raised Jesus from the dead so that union with Jesus gives eternal life that never fades away;
(iii) God called us from darkness to light and from death to life through the gospel and gave us eyes to see and ears to hear.

What grabbed me
Great quote: 'Our condition before the new birth is that we treasure sin and self-exaltation supremely.  In other words, we are so rebellious at the root of our fallen human nature that we can't find it in ourselves to humbly see and savor Jesus Christ above all things.  And we are guilty for this.  This is real evil in us.'

It is not good enough to have a high view of Jesus.  He must have the highest view, the supreme view. 

Next week's reading
Chapters Seven and Eight.

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.