Spiritual Boot Camp

by John F. MacArthur Jr.

There’s a reason soldiers go through boot camp before they’re deployed into combat. Thorough training in the basics helps protect them in battle, builds stamina to stay in the fight, and gives them the necessary tools to achieve victory over the enemy.

John MacArthur’s time-tested study Spiritual Boot Camp takes you through four lessons in the Christian disciplines necessary for spiritual growth—essentials that can mean the difference between victory and defeat. In this booklet, you’ll find practical instruction for studying your Bible, communicating the gospel to others, praying more effectively, and using your spiritual gifts. This volume also includes questions at the end of each section to help facilitate deeper study, discussion, and application—making it an ideal resource for either your personal or group study. It’s also the perfect companion to the Spiritual Boot Camp audio series.

Whether you’re a new believer or a seasoned veteran, Spiritual Boot Camp will help fortify your foundation in the biblical basics, equipping you to be a good soldier of Christ.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Christian Living

101 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

John F. MacArthur, Jr. was a United States Calvinistic evangelical writer and minister, noted for his radio program entitled Grace to You and as the editor of the Gold Medallion Book Award-winning MacArthur Study Bible. MacArthur was a fifth-generation pastor, a popular author and conference speaker, and served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California beginning in 1969, as well as President of The Master’s College (and the related Master’s Seminary) in Santa Clarita, California.

Reviews

[Miguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

quick back-to-basics book.

[Madeline Cooke]

This was good! It’s very concise with Bible verses to offer support.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearly and concisely covers briefly how to practically live the Christian life and engage in spiritual disciplines in obedience to the Lord.

I love the outline format of this work. The work is broken into 4 parts - how to study Scripture, how to pray, how to function in the church body, and how to witness. Within those 4 parts, MacArthur defines each discipline of grace, explains why they're necessary for Christian living, shows us how we are equipped by God to live it out, and explains how we can live it out practically. It's clearly organized and simple in sentence structure. Some of the Scripture references he references are printed in their entirety (nice to have directly on the page!), which makes it easy for the reader to directly see how God's word applies to the discipline of grace. There is an introduction, a short lesson section with Scripture, a quick reflection question within the lesson, a Q&A section with common questions related to the topic, a study guide question section based on the facts of the lesson to do and review, and a short reflection/application section (1-3 questions) where you ponder how to take action in your own life based on what you learned from Scripture about these means of grace.

Added bonus that there's a QR code to scan at the beginning if you want to follow along with the audio series of this work!

Summary of book:

The Bible is God’s revelation - His authoritative standard for living. Studying the Bible is necessary for spiritual growth (1 Peter 2:2),  spiritual victory (Ephesians 6:13, 17), spiritual service (Joshua 1:8-9), spiritual blessing (Psalm 1:1-2), and spiritual counseling (2 Timothy 2:2). You prepare to study the Bible by putting off sin (James 1:21) and then you read the Bible, study the Bible, teach the Bible, follow a godly example, and hear the Bible taught. 

Praying in the spiritual life is as important as breathing because it is talking to God. We must pray because it is commanded (Luke 18:1), it glorifies God (John 14:13), it brings blessing, and it brings results (James 5:16). We should pray in Jesus’s name, in faith, in God’s will, with a pure heart (Psalm 66:18), and with earnestness. We should pray for ourselves and others. Hindrances to prayer include sin, selfishness, marital problems, doubt, lack of concern, lack of forgiveness, and idolatry. 

When you are saved, the Holy Spirit made you a member of the body of Christ. We must understand our salvation - that we are reconciled to God (Ephesians 2:11-16), transformed by God (Ephesians 4:17-19), and regenerated/given new life (Ephesians 2:1-5). We are now in Christ, which means that God never views us apart from His Son. We have so many blessings in Christ! Spiritual gifts are God-given capacities through which the Holy Spirit ministers to others, so spiritual gifts are designed to edify the church. Within the church body, fellowship is the interchange of mutual concern and care for each other that includes ministering our spiritual gifts and living out God's "one another" commands. Love is the key to effective ministry - we must imitate Christ's humble example of loving others.

A Christian witness is someone who tells about his experience with Christ. How you live affects how others view Christ. We must witness because it is commanded (Matthew 28:19-20) and we are competent to witness (we have the Holy Spirit and our testimony). Both the individual witness and the corporate witness as a whole local church can be used to show others who Christ is. Our testimony should include our former sinfulness, our conversion and repentance, the results of our conversion, the gospel message clearly stated, and an appeal to respond. We should support our testimony with Scriptures and depend on the Holy Spirit. After witnessing, we should grow in our discipleship relationships which include demonstrating love, setting an example, teaching the word, focusing on new habits, dealing with sin, and connecting with others.

[Nathan Wilder · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to some basic Christian disciplines. Some items like prayer, I would say MacArthur is too particular: for example, he says we shouldn't pray for mercy, grace, or peace when we already have them, but we can find prayers like that in the Bible (especially Psalms). Weird witnessing examples, but not wrong.
He promotes 17 other books and resources he's written. I received this book for free, so I consider this a form of advertising. He does promote other Bible study resources along side, from which he would receive no benefit. This book was easy to read, nothing earth shattering, but all good to contemplate.

[Anthony Vance · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise and practical handbook addressing four Christian life essentials - Bible Study, Praying, Church Life, and Witnessing. Each topic is outlined and supplied with many Scripture references. There’s also a beneficial Question and Answers section at the end of each chapter. Easy to read, nicely outlined, and suited both for individual and group studies.

[Emma R. Pilcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. While there was plenty of biblically grounded advice in this book, there were certain aspects of worship and prayer(posture, for instance) he seemed to dismiss as insignificant. Really did not like how he completely dismissed Sabbath observance and gave very weak Scriptural support for the idea of no longer observing the Sabbath.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish this could be presented to every new believer. It’s concise but thorough with tons of scripture references. I found it to be a very helpful read.

[Damon Hawkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise little book that provides a basic overview of what it means to be a Christian. Each short section has questions at the end and a challenge to adopt the principles taught. Very effective.

[James Neidhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific read for new believers and seasoned saints alike.

[Joshua Libassi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great summary of basics.