A Guide to Investing in Eternity

January 15, 2021
A wide-ranging and biblically grounded examination of Christian salvation. Right at the start of this book, Kaufman, who was most recently the president of the Foundation for Christian Stewardship, has stern words for fans of "prosperity gospel" who may have misconstrued his book's title. The Bible, he insists, does not promise material rewards for adhering to one's faith. Rather, the brand of soteriology he explains in these pages is concerned with the intangibles of faith and faithfulness and the reciprocal relationship he sees as being at the heart of the Christian experience: "To seek honor from God is to seek to glorify God," he writes. "Our eternal reward of praise from God will produce eternal praise of God." Kaufman pulls together his arguments about the nature of the Christian afterlife reward from an exhaustive reading of Scripture; indeed, the book concludes with an extensive set of appendices detailing text references for readers to pursue on their own. He also interweaves this scholarship with a broad spectrum of Christian interpretations, some of which may strike his readers as counterintuitive, as when he tells readers to rejoice if they "are experiencing the joy of suffering with Christ!" For the most part, however, Kaufman's prose is strong and clear, and his biblical analysis and faith-related insights are fluidly readable. In addition, the faith scenario he describes, with Christians on a battlefield between the forces of good and evil, often makes for dramatic reading. At one point he assures readers that "God doesn't need our prayers to accomplish His work: He invites us to participate in His work through prayer." Many Christian readers will find Kaufman's book to be a help in that participation. A powerfully written analysis of the "treasures in Heaven" that await the Christian faithful.

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