Recently my 18 year-old daughter ask me for a summary of what we call the doctrines of grace. I love the summary below because it is pastoral, practical, God exalting, man humbling, and, most of all, true to Scripture.

Total Depravity: “We all struggle with our total depravity that reminds us that we are not just bad people, but people who are blind to real beauty (Jesus) and, left to ourselves, are dead to the only source of real joy (Jesus alone).

Unconditional Election: In spite of ourselves, the completeness of our joy in Jesus was planned for us before we ever existed.

Limited Atonement/Particular Redemption: What’s even better is that we have the assurance that our indestructible joy in Jesus Christ is absolutely secured for us by the sacrificial death of our Lord.

Irresistible Grace: Furthermore, God is radically committed to making sure that we don’t hold on to suicidal pleasures and will surely set us free by the irresistible power of a superior delight in Him.

Perseverance of the Saints: Lastly, God, by His almighty power, will keep us through times of affliction and suffering for the inheritance of pleasures at God’s right hand forever.”

– John Piper, The Legacy of Sovereign Joy: God’s Triumphant Grace in the Lives of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin.