Christian spirituality. When believers hear these words, they can often react with nervousness at best or suspicion at worst. Isn’t spirituality the stuff of Eastern mysticism? Not according to Michael Haykin. His latest book, The God Who Draws Near, persuasively argues that what God has joined together no man should separate. As he states in his foreword, a robust Christian spirituality, in full dependence on the Holy Spirit, will seek to wed scriptural knowledge and heartfelt piety (p. x).

To make his case, Haykin lays out nine marks of the Spirit’s work in the life of the believer. Skilfully drawing on the voices and experiences of Christians who have gone before us, he explores how the Spirit seeks to draw us into a deeper knowledge of both ourselves and the triune God who saved us. He writes, ‘In the face of this mystery, logic and human reason can only go so far. But thanks be to God, faith and love can go where reason cannot’ (p. 36). The mystery is great indeed, but the invitation to enter into it more deeply is greater still. It is this invitation that the book seeks to extend.

Leaning on the opening section of Calvin’s Institutes, in the book’s second chapter, Haykin helpfully summarises how it is only by coming to know God that we increasingly come to know ourselves. That truth is as timeless as it is timely. Indeed, in our world today, as is the case for so many things, we often try to persuade ourselves that it is the other way around. The insight that the presence of the Spirit in the life of the believer is the cause of the battle with the flesh was a perceptive one. Truly this is a battle with no neutral ground.

In chapters 3–4, the author continues by offering some poignant reflections on the person and work of Christ. In particular, he reflects on how the Spirit moves us to a deeper and richer understanding of the cross and everything Christ achieved for us there. ‘And the Spirit, true to his Christocentric bent, points men and women to the unique sacrifice of the Son at the cross as the supreme place of cleansing from the pollution of sin and the strong resource in the face of sin’s power’ (p. 48). For this reason, transformed believers will want to glorify and treasure the Christ of the gospel they once found repulsive.

Perhaps at this stage in the book, Haykin’s argument would have benefited from an excursus on the believer’s union with Christ. While there is little doubt that the doctrine was in the author’s mind, it was assumed more than it was articulated. There was certainly scope for a brief exploration of the way in which the Spirit seeks to bring the believer into both a fuller knowledge and assurance of what it is to be ‘in Christ’ (Eph 1:3).

Nevertheless, in chapter 5, Haykin offers a moving treatment of the trustworthiness and excellency of the Christian Scriptures, highlighting Evangelicalism’s long-standing commitment to the supreme authority of God’s Word written. Indeed, the author stresses the wisdom in seeking to cultivate a spirituality that has firmly anchored itself in the Word. The exploration of the common but unbiblical separation of Word and Spirit, particularly as this manifested in the practice of the Quakers, was particularly helpful here.

After a moving treatment of prayer in the life of the believer, Haykin offers a clarifying chapter on Christian meditation. He helpfully sees meditation as being more about the truth being meditated upon than the technique employed, while not shying away from helpful advice to establish best practice. The goal is to plant Scripture deep within the human soul so that it can begin to re-shape and transform the human mind. As busyness is the enemy of this practice, one acutely feels the challenge in Haykin’s words:

There is, however, a major problem for Christians in the West. Our entire system of education ‘has trained us almost solely to read for information and skills acquisition’. We need to re-form our habit of reading so that we know how to read slowly, savouring every word, mulling it over. (p. 115, citing Simon Chan)

The book’s penultimate chapter, ‘Spiritual Friendship as a Means of Grace’, was especially interesting. One might not automatically regard friendship in such terms. However, the claim that friendship is vital to the Christian life was compelling. The author effectively drew on the examples of particular friendships from church history (e.g., the friendship that blossomed between John Ryland Jr. and Andrew Fuller). The one thing that would have perhaps been beneficial in this chapter was for Haykin to expand the parameters of the thesis to include the local church family. It strikes me that one of the most gracious gifts that the Lord has given his people is each other. A local church family that carries each other’s burdens and speaks the truth into each other’s lives is a wonderful means of grace to encourage and strengthen weary believer.

The final chapter on mission offered a stimulating conclusion to the book. It was clear upon entering this chapter that, in many ways, the entire book had been leading up to it. The challenge to consider not just evangelism but the larger task of forming disciples was a poignant way to bring together the themes that had been woven throughout the book. The triune God of the Bible is a sending God. The Father sends the Son. The ascended Son and the Father send the Spirit. The Spirit sends the church into the world. Therefore, as the Spirit forms us more and more into the likeness of Christ, bringing us to a deeper understanding of the heart of God, it makes logical sense that we come increasingly to reflect God’s heart in our own lives.

In our world that chases bigger, faster, and newer, here is a timely invitation to see that the Christian life is about going deeper. The triune God of the Bible longs to draw near to his ransomed people. That is the great purpose for which the Spirit of his Son has come to dwell in us. So, having been richly blessed by Haykin’s The God Who Draws Near, let me encourage you to set aside your suspicions and nervousness and instead grab your reading glasses. This book is as stretching as it is edifying.

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