Texts that Transform: Life

Terry Johnson

Reviewed by: J. Scott Creel

Texts that Transform: Life, by Terry Johnson. Banner of Truth, 2023. Paperback, 216 pages, $13.00. Reviewed by OP pastor J. Scott Creel.

On his death bed, John Knox is said to have asked his wife to “go to where I cast my first anchor.” His dear wife turned in her Bible to a text that had been pivotal to Knox as a young Christian and was so again as a dying Christian. That text was John 17, Jesus’s High Priestly Prayer. This is something of what Terry Johnson does in Texts that Transform: Life—he takes the reader through pivotal passages of Scripture, passages where one could cast his or her first anchor. The book is in part autobiographical. Johnson writes, “The Holy Spirit has used a number of key verses to transform my outlook and later the course of my life. . . . Mine has been a text driven life” (2–3). Johnson takes the reader through several key verses pertaining to the new life that the believer has in Christ.

While the book is not divided into sections, it is composed of fourteen chapters that have a movement, taking the reader from the beginning of new life in Christ (conversion) to living out that new life (sanctification). Each chapter is composed of a brief exposition of a key text of Scripture and a description of how that text was used by God in Johnson’s life. The first four chapters begin with the good news for sinners, which includes the sober reality of our fallen condition and need of redemption, how God justifies sinners, and the great invitation of the Savior to sin-weary men and women. Chapters 5–7 set before the reader the beauty and glory of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Then flowing out of the glory and sufficiency of the Savior, chapters 8–14 address how to live for him. These seven chapters examine the relation of faith and works, the inner struggle that every believer experiences, and the resources we have in Christ.

Texts that Transform is not a thorough study of the rich doctrines of grace, but a short experiential reflection on the Christian life: how one comes to new life in Christ, how one is convicted of his miserable estate of sin and misery and need of Christ, how Jesus Christ is the believer’s justifying righteousness, and how with eyes set upon Christ, the believer lives for Christ. This book would be a helpful starting point for new or young believers to get their anchors set. It would also serve as a wonderful devotional to read, reflect, and pray upon. Further, it would be beneficial for readers to commit to memory the fourteen passages of Scripture that are exposited and carry them with them all their days. Here are passages of Scripture to anchor the soul in the tumult of life in a fallen world. Indeed, these are texts that transform life.