Dane Ortlund. Gentle and Lowly. Crossway, 2020.

I have never read a book like Gentle and Lowly, and, believe me, I am glad I have read it. I pray that I can take what it has to say to heart.

One point the author makes is that there have been other books like this. They tend to be a lot longer and written in the seventeenth century. Ortlund has digested the devotional writings and sermons of numerous Puritan-era writers to illustrate the heart of God. What does God really think of us. How does he look at us?

The key is the verse which gives the book its title:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

This is Jesus’ self-description, and numerous stories and passages in the Bible support this. Yes, God is the Creator. He is all powerful. But He is also loving. He hates sin and injustice more than we do. He came in the flesh to solve that sin problem for us, and He has for those who follow Him.

The chapter titles indicate other verses that highlight this love and compassion towards people. Because Jesus came to earth as a man, He is able to sympathize with us. “He knows we are dust” (cf. Psalm 103:14). At the same time, He has great plans for us. Just as we might have great plans for some project we have done or some person we love, so He has great plans for His people.

Many times we do not really think about God as an emotional being. But that is part of His nature. And if we do think of God’s emotions, we often think of anger. Yes, He hates sin. But so do many people. Unlike most people, he has had a plan to take care of sin. He does it because He loves us.

Not only is Jesus a savior, but He is an advocate. He is our defense attorney who has come alongside us. By His grace we can be declared not guilty—not because we are innocent but because He took our sins on Himself.

All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

There is more than just this. This book has a sense of Irresistible Grace—not because the author is Calvinist, though he clearly is, but because the author presents the heart of God in such an attractive way, that He becomes irresistibly beautiful. Why would anyone turn Him down?

One chapter is cleverly entitled “Our Law-ish Hearts, His Lavish Heart.” We are reminded that when God revealed Himself to Moses—the lawgiver, the guy with the thou-shalt-nots:

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”(Exodus 34:6-7 alt.)

There seems to be a theme running through some of the things the Lord is trying to tell His people in these times. As the hostility to Him seems to be increasing around the world, He is reminding us that the Gospel is Good News. The solution to sin is not a cover-up or pretending there is nothing wrong; the solution is His love as shown through the Cross of Christ.

One of the passages Ortlund addresses is Hebrews 7:25:

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Jesus lives today to speak on behalf of us. And He can save to the greatest degree. There is no word like the Greek word pantelès (παντελὲς), which is translated “uttermost” in many translations. In the last year most of us have learned what the prefix pan- means: “all, total.” Pandemic literally means “all the people.” (The root -dem- is like the root for democracy or demographics, it means “people.”)

The root -tele- we have in many words like telescope, telephone, teleology, and so on. It means “far” or “distant.” It can refer to a physical distance as it does in telescope, literally “far seer.” But it can also refer to distant future time as in teleology, “the study of the distant future.” So pantelès is really uttermost—in the sense of both distance and time. He can save us covering all distance and for all time. It is hard to imagine something more absolute than that!

One saying of Jesus that is especially reassuring is John 6:37: “…whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” And that never is doubly emphatic in the Greek. It is really more like “never ever” or “no way.” We note that the last command in the Bible is “Come” (cf. Revelation 22:17). The Christian book store where I used to work sold a poster that said, “God’s favorite word is come.”

He quotes about two pages of John Bunyan to emphasize this. If we come, He will take us in and not send us away. Calvinist Ortlund says this can prove the “once saved always saved” dogma. Ironically, Bunyan himself was not a Calvinist and did not believe that teaching. However, that does not means he did not have assurance. The problem is, as the parable of the sower tells us, some who come may later walk away. Still, that is a minor point because even a non-Calvinist like Bunyan can write a whole book on the subject entitled Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ. It emphasizes how honest and reliable God is. And how good He is to us. As one who was raised in a church that said it was presumptuous to assume you are saved, it is comforting to know assurance apart from dogma.

The only real quibble I have with the author is the in a couple of places he calls Monophysites heretics. I would prefer the term that he uses for some other believers, namely, having a “defective Christology.” This was one early interpretation of the nature of Christ in an attempt to understand the Trinity. Today we mostly find it in the Coptic and some other Near Eastern churches. When we consider how the Copts have endured centuries of Islamic rule and in recent decades have been able to present Christ effectively to Muslim compatriots, I believe we have to consider them brothers in the Lord. Many historic Christian churches do, even if they differ on some doctrinal points. Man looks on the outward appearance, God looks on the heart. (See I Samuel 16:7)

When I first received this book, I wondered if the author was related to two other well known Christian authors Anne and Roy Ortlund. They are his grandparents. Praise God. It it a sign that God does honor that promise that He will bless those that fear Him, even to the third and fourth generation.

This is a short book with short chapters on small pages, not small print. Most people could probably read it in an hour, but it has so much to share that most readers will want to take it slowly and let it sink in.

Read this book. You will be blessed.