Glorifying God in Your Body (Albert N. Martin)

Glorifying God in Your Body

Whose Is It – Yours or His?

The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and the Parable of the Pounds (Luke 19:11-27) reveal that the Master has graciously entrusted His people with capacities for service in His Kingdom. As responsible stewards each is accountable for the faithful and productive use of what he has been given. From the broadest biblical perspective these endowments include the Christian’s physical faculties and abilities, providential opportunities for usefulness and spiritual gifts for service. These dimensions of endowment encompass what God in Christ has bestowed in His works of creation, providence and redemption.

May the small volume in your hand be an awakening and instructive instrument in cultivating the first endowment, namely, one’s physical faculties and abilities. A careful and responsive reading will direct your attention to the theological and textual warrant for being a faithful steward of one’s body. As a result may the reader come to possess and sustain sufficient strength and stamina diligently to discharge roles and duties, profitably seize providential opportunities, and expend the energy and time necessary to apply one’s spiritual gifts for the duration of the days God may allot to him.

Contents

1. Body Worship
2. Theological Strands Concerning the Body

• Good Body
• Fallen Body
• Subordinate Body
• Healthy Body
• Afflicted Body
• Chastened Body
• Misused Body

3. Biblical Pearls Concerning the Body

• Supplication: 3 John 2
• Exhortation: Romans 12:1-2
• Declaration and Application: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
• Affirmation: 1 Timothy 4:8
• Observation and Example: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
• Inescapable Implications of the Golden Rule: Matthew 7:12
• The Privilege and Responsibility to be Salt and Light to the World Around Us: Matthew 5:13-16, Philippians 2:13-14

Coming to Grips With Your Bodily Stewardship

A Final Word to Christians

Endorsements

“I have known Pastor Martin for over thirty years. His longstanding practice of the truths of this volume yields a powerful credibility to its message. He writes, not only as a competent student of the Scripture, but as a practitioner of the same. His consistent example commends and undergirds his writing upon the subject as does his solicitous heart for the well-being of the people of God.  May God’s blessing upon the pages of this book result in an awakening of obedience to the imperative, “glorify God in your body,” and thereby produce a more comprehensive validation of the gospel we profess.” — Pastor George McDearmon; Ballston Lake Baptist Church; Ballston Lake, New York

“It seems that our culture promotes either one extreme or the other—either that we worship our bodies or completely neglect them. The government tells us that obesity in our country is at an epidemic level. There is no shortage of “Christian” programs, support groups, and exercise videos aimed at weight loss.  However, there is a genuine dearth of pointed practical exhortation based on sound biblical and theological instruction to help God’s people avoid sinful extremes and glorify Him with their bodies. Glorifying God in Your Body helps to fill this void. A. N. Martin is thoroughly scriptural, practical, and evangelical—pointing to Christ as our one great motive and our only hope for strength to follow the Bible’s teaching that we should discipline our bodies for His glory. I heartily recommend this book.” — David Chanski, Senior Pastor, Trinity Baptist Church, Montville, New Jersey

About the Author

Albert N. Martin served as a pastor of Trinity Baptist Church of Montville, New Jersey for forty-six years. He now resides in western Michigan with his wife, Dorothy.