The Undivided Life

No one ever says, ‘When I grow up I want to be a hypocrite.’ Yet most of us would have to admit that there are areas in our lives that simply don’t line up with what we say we believe. In The Undivided Life, David Gibson ably applies the straight-talk wisdom of the book of James to the areas of our lives that need to become conformed to the gospel we believe and the Savior we love.

If Martin Luther had been granted a future look at the pages of David Gibson’s The Undivided Life so that he could glimpse the overarching theme of the book of James and its symmetries (its ‘melodic line’), he would not have voiced his infamous conclusion that it was ‘a right strawy epistle’ but would have recognized James as a profoundly substantial letter consonant with the gospel of grace. Gibson’s penetrating exposition reveals that the grand unifying theme and purpose of James’s letter is the perfection—the singular wholeness—of God’s people. The book’s nine chapters are laced with gripping theological insights and life-giving applications that lead toward biblical wholeness. Gibson is a devoted, hands-on pastor, so The Undivided Life sparkles with memorable analogies and aphorisms that help the reader understand and put to work its truths. And, in doing this, it focuses us on Jesus, the only man in history who not only knew God’s word but did it. This is a marvelous book, one that will be read, reread, underlined, and taken to heart—with enduring benefits.

This excellent book gets right to the heart of James’s message and his method. It is beautifully written, and David’s exegetical skill and pastoral wisdom make it not only a compelling exposition of the letter but also a searching examination of the heart. I recommend it thoroughly for anyone who wants to understand James better, and to benefit spiritually in the process.

The purpose of your consultation at the James clinic is to help you toward full spiritual health. You already know that you will first meet a different physician, a Dr. Gibson, who has studied under Dr. James for many years. He is a somewhat younger man, but his familiarity with Dr. James’s inspired insights is impressive, as is the way he seems able to express the spirit and atmosphere of his teaching, as well as the central truth that Jesus Christ makes you whole. It is an idea that will recur in different ways as Dr. Gibson leads you, gently but firmly, through a comprehensive assessment process. And it begins with the first pages of The Undivided Life. In its series of enriching consultations, David Gibson surefootedly provides the diagnosis, prescriptions, and prognosis we all need if we are to be made whole in Jesus Christ.