Though Packer has garnered fame and his achievements were prominent, these were not attained because he wanted to be famous. His bestseller Knowing God was originally a series of articles for a small evangelical magazine. His first book Fundamentalism and the Word of God was also born out of ministering to students. Dr. Packer did not underestimate any opportunities to minister to believers or to serve God. Hence, in responding to invitations, big or small, to preach or to write; Packer is well-known to be generous. He almost always responds and is equally serious in all his preparations. His achievements today are a result of his devotion to God. Packer made use of his competency in word and speech to teach the truth, defend the truth and glorify God. God then blessed him, by making him honourable. “Those who honour me I will honour, but those who despise me will be disdained” (1 Samuel 2:30b). When the Bible’s inerrancy was being attacked from both within and outside of the church, Packer, together with other leaders, started the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy in 1977 to declare the Bible’s inerrancy; he also defended the Bible’s authority through speeches and writing books. In 2002, when the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster in Vancouver, Canada authorised pastors to bless same-sex unions, Packer and some others left the meeting resolutely to protest the decision. He believed that this meeting’s decision falsified the gospel of Christ and abandoned the authority of the scripture. He also says that the church betrayed “its God-appointed role as the bastion and bulwark of divine truth.” Dr. Packer upholds the Bible, and obeys the truth of the Bible. His attitude of defending the truth should be regarded as a model for believers now. Especially when faced with secular culture and misleading principles, the church really needs more believers like Packer. In an interview in 2015, Packer was asked with what kind of impression does he hope to leave the later generation. He replied that he hoped they would see him as a voice. A voice focused on the authority of the Bible, the glory of Jesus Christ and His miraculous redemption and atonement for our sins, and a voice that calls Christians to lead holy lives and challenge moral negligence. Packer also hopes people can realise from the disputes about different positions on truth that he is a person who treats others with courtesy, and at the same time will stand resolute and uncompromised in his stance. Lastly, he asks the later generation to be thankful for God’s guidance in him and to pray that they too can experience God’s clear guidance as he did and the strength that God provided to complete the mission entrusted him.

Packer is an outstanding contemporary theologian and scholar. His research into theology, however, does not stop at the academic and intellectual level. Instead, he takes a step further to go deeper into the soul and turns it into praise for God. He would always sing “Trinity Ode” (“Doxology” as sung by our English Service) before every lesson because he believed that the purpose of theology was to guide people into the praise of God. This spiritual senior showed us an example of letting God be the centre of our lives. His expectations for the church, “To glorify God in all ways,” is to put into practice the example he has set for us in his life. He has already fought a good fight. We who are still alive on this earth as Christians, must be faithful to the end and glorify our Saviour Jesus Christ in these last days. “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:10-11).

Translated by Davina Seet