How to Succeed in the Christian Life

It is R. A. Torrey's plain guide for the young convert — a handbook of the first steps of the Christian life. Torrey takes up beginning right, the open confession of Christ, assurance of salvation, receiving the Holy Spirit, Bible study, prayer, work for Christ, and how to meet temptation, all in simple, practical terms for someone newly come to faith.

Because he looked for such a book to put into a new believer's hands and, finding none that suited, wrote one himself. It grew out of his practical concern that many converts were left without clear guidance for their first steps, and it aims to give the young Christian exactly the plain, ordered counsel he found lacking.

Reuben Archer Torrey was an American evangelist, pastor, and educator around the turn of the twentieth century, associated with D. L. Moody's work and known for clear, practical Bible teaching. He wrote many accessible books for ordinary Christians, and this one distills his pastoral experience into direct help for beginners.

The essentials a new believer needs: how to begin right and be sure of salvation; the importance of openly confessing Christ; how to receive and rely on the Holy Spirit; the daily habits of Bible study and prayer; how to work for Christ and win others; and how to overcome temptation and grow. It is a map of the early Christian road.

Because he believed that a faith kept secret soon weakens, and that publicly owning Christ — before family, friends, and the church — settles and strengthens the young believer. Torrey treats confession not as optional but as one of the surest early safeguards of a Christian life, tying assurance and growth to the courage to be known as Christ's.

Yes — its subjects are the permanent basics of discipleship, and its counsel is timeless: assurance, the Spirit, the word, prayer, witness, and victory over temptation. Written plainly for beginners, it remains a clear and practical first handbook, as useful for a new convert now as when Torrey wrote it.

That book is a fuller doctrinal treatment of the Spirit's person and work; this is a practical beginner's guide to the whole early Christian life, of which receiving the Spirit is one chapter. Where the other instructs, this one simply directs — a handbook for the first steps rather than a theology.

At the beginning and straight through — the book is ordered as a sequence of first steps, from beginning right to overcoming temptation. It is short and practical, meant to be read early in the Christian life and returned to, and is ideal to give to someone newly converted.