A Look at a Book
by Meryl Langley

BOOK REVIEW:

“Undiscovered Self” from The Law of Faith

by Norman Grubb

When I was asked to write a chapter review from one of Norman’s books, I knew immediately which one I would choose—“Undiscovered Self” from The Law of Faith. At this time in my life, this chapter was of particular importance to me as it lays the very foundation of our personal walk in the full gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Norman’s opening sentence gets right to the heart of the matter: “Sin lies deeper than sins, which are the outward form it takes; deeper than world attachments, which are the golden chain of its subtle enslavement.” We know the salvation that is ours through Jesus Christ is complete at the time of conversion. By that I mean when we accept Jesus Christ as Saviour, our sins are forgiven, we are reconciled to God our Father, we are assured of our place in heaven, and we have Jesus Christ in us to live His life through us. (2 Cor. 4:7).

Many of us would testify that we know Jesus Christ lives His life by us (Gal. 2:20), but as time passes, all too often some of our lives give evidence to the contrary. Norman, in his own inimitable way with the English language, lists many of the ways in which such evidence surfaces in us: selfishness, pride, lust, wrath, hatred and so on. And at times our lives can even appear as all goodness and kindness.

So even though we say Jesus Christ is living His life through us, it becomes obvious, but only to “God-enlightened eyes,” Norman says, that we have never really fully surrendered our own independent view of ourselves (really Satan). It would seem that God has to take some of us through a very drastic process of self-exposure (so willful and determined are we to hang on to the view—and Satan’s lie—of there being an independent self) and often over an extremely long period of time, before we finally, in our complete and utter desperation, bow the knee and yield to the God of the Universe, confess our sins, turn from them once and for all and acknowledge the truth that Jesus Christ has been joined to our human spirits all along and at long last trust Him to keep us and live His life through our vessels.

The latter part of the chapter I found extremely encouraging as Norman sites three biblical characters—Abraham, Jacob and Joseph—with whom God went to a great deal of trouble to bring home this truth. Norman continues by addressing each of these lives in detail, thus providing evidence of “the undiscovered self.” I could identify with different aspects of each of these men of God and therefore rejoiced that although I did not have to travel the sin path I chose, God certainly worked it for my good and His glory. Similarly, this chapter is followed by “Undiscovered Self (2),” where again, to illustrate his point, Norman covers the lives of Moses, Joshua and Elisha, and also Paul and Peter from the New Testament.

I know that facing ourselves and the sins we have committed is painful, but when we are finally desperate enough and genuinely broken and contrite over what we have done and the effects our sin has had on others, we can look back and be glad for the trouble God took to make sure that we learned the truth of there being no such thing as an independent self. I wholeheartedly recommend you read chapter 5 in “The Law of Faith,” since Norman puts it this way: “having self exposed to its root and through failure, humiliation and despair, we are then ripe for that inner leap of faith: the dying of the old, the rising of the new, the full and final enthronement of its proper Lord.” This is indeed “the key to a God-lit” life when we are really free to be for others.