A great man of faith who encourages me to cling to the inerrant promises of God’s Word and faithfully seek Him through difficult times is J.I. Packer.
James Innell Packer was born in Twyning, Gloucester, England on July 22, 1926. He was raised in a nominal Anglican family. At the age of seven, he was struck by a van and received a serious head injury. Packer recovered but carried a visible dent in the side of his head for the rest of his life. This injury left him unable to do some things but he developed an avid interest in reading and writing and became an excellent student. At age 18, he won a scholarship to Oxford where he studied at Corpus Christi College.
Packer committed his life to Christ on October 1944, while attending an evangelistic service sponsored by the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (OICCU). It was later during his studies at Oxford that Packer discovered Puritan writings. One of the most significant things he learned through his study of Puritan theologians was a deep affection for Christ, which permeated his ministry. Packer received a doctorate from Oxford for his dissertation on the soteriology of Puritan theologian Richard Baxter. He was later ordained in the Anglican Church and he became a prominent leader in the Evangelical movement within the Church of England.
Packer is best known as an author and wrote over 300 books. His first book, Fundamentalism and the Word of God, began as a talk to a group of students and was a defense of the authority of Scripture. Packer continued to defend the doctrine of inerrancy throughout his life and said, “Think of theologians as the church’s sewage specialists. Their role is to detect and eliminate intellectual pollution, and to ensure, so far as man can, that God’s life-giving truth flows pure and unpoisoned into Christian hearts.”1
In 2016, Packer's eyesight deteriorated due to macular degeneration to a point where he could no longer read or write. When asked about the loss of his eyesight he said, “God knows what he’s up to.... And I’ve had enough experiences of his goodness in all sorts of ways not to have any doubt about the present circumstances.”2 This is a timely reminder of God’s sovereignty no matter what.
Packer went into the presence of the Lord on July 17, 2020. He was a man of uncompromising integrity who fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith. When asked late in life what his final words to the church would be, he replied, “I think I can boil it down to four words: Glorify Christ every way.”3 Let us, like J.I. Packer, seek to glorify Christ in every way.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV)
Bill Gemaehlich is the EVP/COO operations at Insight for Living Ministries
1 Packer, J. I. 1987. Hot Tub Religion. Cambridge, England: Tyndale House.
2 Mesa, Ivan. The Gospel Coalition. January 14, 2016. thegospelcoalition.org/article/j-i-packer-89-on-losing-sight-but-seeing-christ/
3 Mesa, Ivan. The Gospel Coalition. January 14, 2016. thegospelcoalition.org/article/j-i-packer-89-on-losing-sight-but-seeing-christ/
