The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship

by Thabiti M. Anyabwile

In this transformational book, trusted pastor Thabiti Anyabwile repositions our thinking about spiritual fellowship. Extending the concept of Divine life presented in Henry Scougal's classic The Life of God in the Soul of Man , Anyabwile contends that union with Christ is not individualistic, but is discerned in the soul of the local church. This vision of spiritual fellowship is not centred on external activities and programs, but on our shared life in Christ, as we share one another's sufferings, use our spiritual gifts for the good of the body, partner in spreading the gospel and grow spiritually together.
The Life of God in the Soul of the Church is experienced personally by believing the truth and shared relationally in the church which leads to great joy and holiness.

Genres: Church, Christian, Ecclesiology, Christianity, Theology, Christian Living, Spirituality

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2012

About the author

Thabiti Anyabwile (MS, North Carolina State University) is a pastor at Anacostia River Church in southeast Washington, DC. He serves as a council member of the Gospel Coalition, is a lead writer for 9Marks Ministries, and regularly blogs at The Front Porch and Pure Church. He and his wife, Kristie, have three children.

Reviews

[Ryan Linkous · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, clear exposition of what every church ought to be for God and for one another. Thabiti doesn't get into distinct "9 Marks" ecclesiology although there is some reflected in the book. I think this is a great book for a Christian or a church to read to understand their self identity as God's people together. It is comprised of sermons preached by a pastor. It's pretty plainly biblical without a lot of dressing up, which as a preacher was helpful to see how another preaches/writes sermons.

[Craig Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Christians, on of the central beliefs we have that distinguishes us from all other religions is the belief in conversion. Conversion is that moment when a person transfers from the darkness into the light. We are God’s child and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit God resides within us. The life giving power of God to raise Christ from the grave has risen us from the grave of death and life of God is in the soul of man.

This idea of the life of God in the soul of man was the title of a Christian classic by Henry Scougal and became very influential in the lives of men like George Whitfield and John Piper. The basic premise of the book is that “to be Christian is to have ‘Divine life’ resident and reigning in a human being.” (p. 7) While reading the book himself, Thabiti Anyabwile grabbed the essential truth that affected so many others but felt there was more to say. The result was a series of messages to his church in the Caymen Islands that took the idea of the life of God within man and fleshed it out within the church. Thus, Anyabwile’s book is titled The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship.

The premise of the book is simple: though the life of God is present within the individual believer, it is also present within the corporate church. The foundation for this corporate indwelling of God is found in 1 John 1. It is here (borrowing from Scougal) that we find union with Christ as expressed through fellowship as the foundation for the the life of God in the soul of the church. “The essence and foundation of all true spiritual and biblical fellowship is the life of God in the soul of man experienced personally by believing the truth and shared relationally in the church.” (p. 18) So while the life of God resides with the individual believer, this life is shared and expressed relationally within the church. As believers we are not just joined to Christ but we are joined to a body of believers – the church, the bride of Christ.

Moving from shard fellowship with Christ, Anyabwile shows us from 1 Cor. 12 how Christians are all given a gift to use for the edification of the fellowship they share within the church. Healthy Christian fellowship is dependent upon healthy Christians identifying and using their gifts for the body of Christ. Central to his point, Anyabwile rightly stresses that one cannot claim to be joined to Christ spiritually and be removed from Christ’s body, the church, physically. Anyabwile warns, “The most dangerous place to be in the world, then, is outside the body of Christ.” (p. 39) Once cannot be obedient and faithful in using their gifts if they are not joined to a local gathering of the body of Christ.

Now that the foundation for the life of God in the soul of the church has been established in the fellowship of the body and the exercising of ones gifts, the rest of the book explores various passages in which the life of God is expressed within the church. These chapters touch on areas like loving one another, giving for the needs of others, forgiving one another and even singing to one another. Since the content was first preached, each chapter has the warmth and encouragement of a pastors heart and perspective. Through exegesis, explanation and solid application, your heart will be encouraged and uplifted as you are challenged to allow the life of God within you to overflow into your life within the body of Christ. These truths are familiar but they are presented in a fresh and invigorating way that will have lingering affects on your heart and mind.

I encourage every Christian to read The Life of God in the Soul of the Church. Every pastor needs to preach these truths and every Christian needs to be familiar with them. This book would serve as a great Bible study guide and be the catalyst for further study on how the life of God is expressed within the body of Christ. Read, be challenged and get to work!

NOTE: I received this book for review from Christian Focus Publications through Cross Focused Reviews. I was under no obligation to provide a favorable review and the words, thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry Scougal, the 17th Century Scottish theologian penned a book called The Life of God in the Soul of Man. That book was instrumental in George Whitefield’s conversion and influential on the Methodist revival in Great Britain and the First Great Awakening in America. Scougal took union with God seriously and urged his readers to pursue union with God and forsake false notions of religion; nevertheless Scougal’s vision of union with Christ in an explicitly Christ centered way (J.I. Packer’s critique) and his vision of union with Christ was individualistic.

In The Life of God in the Soul of the Church, Thabiti Anyabwile expands on Scougal’s theme by examining the corporate, public character of union with Christ through the lens of involvement with a local church. Anyabwile is the pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman (Cayman Islands). He is passionate about communicating both the nature of the church as a spiritual fellowship and what the practical implications of our shared union with Christ and one another. The book is a collection of sermons Anyabwile preached at First Baptist which explore this theme (expository sermons, mostly from Paul’s letters but two are based in texts from 1 John).

Anyabwile’s sermons are organized into two sections. In Part 1, Anyabwile describes our union with Christ and spiritual fellowship. Like Scougal he stresses the vital necessity of union with Christ in the Christian life, but he takes great care to make sure that the Christian life is not conceived in privatized, individualistic terms. Rather our growing up in the image of Christ necessarily takes place within the context of the Body of Christ, his church.

In part two, Anyabwile explores what this looks through sermons about how we ‘apply’ our union with one another. Loving one another forms an inclusio of all his material here. He also has sermons on fellowship and the nature of Spiritual gifts, what it means to partner in the gospel, the ministry of restoration and encouragement, suffering with one another and offering comfort, forgiving one another, singing to one another, giving and mutual acceptance.

I appreciate Anyabwile’s treatment of his theme and the careful exposition he offers. Anyabwile’s ecclesiology is biblically rooted and these sermons are meaty. There is a lot to chew on here. Anyabwile does not simply describe what your church should be (but probably isn’t), but gives sound, biblical advice to his readers/hearers on what it means to be the church. It is impossible to grasp the message that Anyabwile is saying here and be a passive observer. In Christ we have fellowship with God and with one another. In Christ we have been invited into a whole way of life which is characterized by mutual sharing, love and sacrificial care for the church and for the world. This book may enlarge your vision about what it means to be ‘in Christ’ and what it means to be in the church.

My biggest criticism of this book is that it should have been edited to reflect the print medium. Sermons are meant to be heard, and at times this book reads like a transcript of a Sunday sermon (I don’t know if these sermons come from Anyabwile’s manuscripts or are transcribed from his delivery). Occasionally a sermon refers to ‘this morning’ or describes what we do ‘here at First Baptist.’ I found these rhetoric devices a little distracting. But my critique is more for its style rather than it’s substance. I can appreciate that these sermons came out of a context, and do like that Anyabwile isn’t just spouting timeless truth but presenting the gospel with in a context.

I recommend this book to anyone who is seeking to deepen their fellowship with other believers and to those who wonder why church matters. This is a short accessible treatment on the theme.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews and Christian Focus Publications for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for this review.

[Justin Lonas · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK; a little less readable than most of his books.

Still, a worthwhile discussion of the purpose and practice of God's Church on earth.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very rich. Really liked this one, and benefited from it a lot. I have a longer review over at my blog: http://bit.ly/SDeDpV

[Don Henrikson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book on the basics of life together in the church.

[Mary]

It's an amazing book but taking me much longer to read than normal it is not a easy read!

[Justin D. Braun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Redundant, but beautifully so.

[Alasdair Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply excellent!