Most of us are familiar with the term “means of grace.” Means of grace are the ways in which the Holy Spirit works in our lives to lead us into holiness. You might think of them as the “channels” through which sanctifying grace flows from God to his people. Most prominently he does this through Scripture, prayer, and the ordinances of baptism and Lord’s Supper (or, more broadly, through the unique ministry of the local church). But did you know that historically some people also understood Christian friendship to be a means of grace? They did not mean that friendship actually bestows grace, but that it is a means through which God accomplishes his work of sanctification. Whether or not friendship can rightly be categorized as a means of grace, these believers certainly understood the importance and benefits of close, brother-to-brother, iron-sharpening-iron relationships.
Such friendships are the theme of Michael Haykin’s new book Iron Sharpens Iron: Friendship and the Grace of God. His purpose in the book is not to provide a theology or philosophy of friendship as much as it is to provide historical examples of friendships—examples that focus on a pair of fascinating eighteenth-century characters:
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