The Puritans have helped many believers know God and His Word, enjoy Christ, walk in the power of the Spirit, preach the gospel, pray with light and heat, and feel the love of Christ as they behold His glory.

Here’s a simple encouragement for your spiritual life that I hope you will take to heart:

Read the Puritans.

You will not find authors who are more saturated with Scripture, overflowing with biblical connections and insights. Their writings (books and sermons) relentlessly unpack God’s word, aiming it at the soul—mind, heart, and life. They were masters of spiritual, affectionate theology.

When J. I. Packer wrote that the Puritans shaped him in at least seven ways, I took note.¹ Packer said the Puritans helped him:

1. Understand the reality of the Christian life.

It is an ongoing battle to kill sin and cultivate holiness. We should not overly despair our weaknesses, or “get bogged down in mystical fanaticism.”² The Christian life isn’t overly complicated.

2. Understand the sovereign grace of God and the redeeming love of Christ.

For the Puritans, the sovereign love of God is a sweet subject. As Packer put it, “Biblical religion is God-centered, not man-centered. To get the love of Christ in focus changes one’s whole existence.”³

3. See intentional meditation on Scripture as vital for spiritual health.

The mental mulling on God’s word, as stressed by the Puritans, helps us learn, know, recall, love, and respond to God and his word—which is to praise God.

Read More