"Augustine on the Christian Life" by Gerald Bray

Through February 19th 2016, Crossway is giving away a free eBook, "Augustine on the Christian Life" by Gerald Bray, from their Theologians of the Christian Life series. In a guest post for Crossway, Bray offered 8 ideas from Augustine that demonstrate his importance for Christians today:

1. The Importance of Real Relationship with God

2. The Necessity of the Church

3. The Helplessness of Humanity

4. The Supreme Authority of the Bible

5. The Trinity of Love

6. The Purpose of the Universe

7. The Christian Life as a Journey of Faith

8. The Christian Life as Mission

Augustine died in the knowledge that a few days later the barbarians would enter Hippo—which they were besieging at the time—and he must have feared that his life’s work would go up in flames. Things did not turn out quite as badly as that, but there was to be no lasting legacy of his labors in Hippo. No great basilica with his name carved into it. No academic chair dedicated to his memory. Not even a park bench with a plaque saying that his estate had paid for it.

To the naked eye, there was nothing. Yet as we know, what must have appeared then as a fairly insignificant ministry in a provincial town became the backdrop for the most productive life any theologian in the Western world has ever lived. Generations of Christians who would never go anywhere near Hippo would read what Augustine wrote in the hot and dusty chambers that were his earthly dwelling place, and would marvel at his gifts and intellect.

More than that, they would be moved—as we still are—by his passion for Christ, and would go away from his writings more determined than ever to walk in the way mapped out for them by God.

Read the whole article here: 8 Things We Can Learn from Augustine