Awaiting a Savior: The Gospel, The New Creation and the End of Poverty (Awaiting a Savior: The Gospel, the New Creation and the End of Poverty
) is written by Aaron Armstrong, preacher, blogger, author, and writer for an international Christian ministry focused on caring for the needs of the poor. Out of his experience caring for the needs of the poor through writing, and ministering to them; he has written a book that gets to the heart of the matter on poverty by focusing on the Gospel and its implications.
As I read through this book, I was struck by how Aaron continually brought me back to the Gospel. The real problem as Aaron rightly describes in this book is that most discussions on poverty miss any mention of sin. Sin is the problem, and its effects are felt whether one is rich or poor. Having previous served the poor on the streets and in homeless shelters; I can tell you that the real problem is as Aaron describes in this book, sin. The solution to the problem of poverty isn’t more programs while they can be helpful at times; the solution is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
As Aaron walks through the biblical teaching on poverty he does so in a way that is convincing and challenging. It would all too easy to point fingers on an issue like poverty and say, “The government or charity organizations aren’t doing their jobs,” but Aaron never succumbs to this; instead he points his readers towards the Bible, and grounds them in the Gospel of God.
There were several statements scattered throughout the book that stood out to me. At the end of chapter three, Aaron states, “The ultimate answer to poverty is circumcised hearts, hearts that know the God who forms and keeps covenant with poor, undeserving sinners.” In chapter six Aaron makes two observations, “We cannot separate what we believe from what we do” and “we are called to care for the poor because God is glorified in our doing so.” The Lord God takes what is dead and makes it new; giving the believer new desires and new affections for Himself, for the purpose of advancing His kingdom with the Gospel. As a result of being saved the believer will care for the poor, the sick, the widow, the broken and the least of these. These desires flow from the new birth, which is to say God gives His people the desire to obey Him, and live on mission for Him because of the new birth.
Awaiting a Savior: The Gospel, The New Creation and the End of Poverty is a very well-written, thoughtful and Gospel-saturated explanation on poverty. It is not often that I read a book in under twenty-four hours, but I could not put this book down, once I picked it up because Aaron writes in such a way as to draw the reader into what he is saying by engaging them with the Gospel. I encourage you to pick up Awaiting a Savior by Aaron Armstrong because it will teach you not only to have a biblical worldview on the topic of poverty, but also to minister to the poor because of the Gospel.
Title: http://cruciformpress.com/our-books/awaiting-a-savior/
Author: Aaron Armstrong
Publisher: Cruciform (2011)
Dave Jenkins is happily married to his wife, Sarah. He is a writer, editor, and speaker living in beautiful Southern Oregon. Dave is a lover of Christ, His people, the Church, and sound theology. He serves as the Executive Director of Servants of Grace Ministries, the Executive Editor of Theology for Life Magazine, the Host and Producer of Equipping You in Grace Podcast, and is a contributor to and producer of Contending for the Word. He is the author of The Word Explored: The Problem of Biblical Illiteracy and What To Do About It (House to House, 2021), The Word Matters: Defending Biblical Authority Against the Spirit of the Age (G3 Press, 2022), and Contentment: The Journey of a Lifetime (Theology for Life, 2024). You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, or read his newsletter. Dave loves to spend time with his wife, going to movies, eating at a nice restaurant, or going out for a round of golf with a good friend. He is also a voracious reader, in particular of Reformed theology, and the Puritans. You will often find him when he’s not busy with ministry reading a pile of the latest books from a wide variety of Christian publishers. Dave received his M.A.R. and M.Div through Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.
