Tullian Tchividjian notes that Miller summed up the gospel in this way: "Cheer up; you're a lot worse off than you think you are, but in Jesus you're far more loved than you could have ever imagined.
[4] E. Calvin Beisner notes that this phrase "is far more commonly associated with pietist, quietist, Wesleyan Holiness, or Keswick thought than with Reformed thought," but advocates of Sonship theology reject these ideas and see their approach as consistent with Reformed theology.
[6] Chad Van Dixhoorn argues that Sonship theology presents a distorted teaching on adoption, a truncated view of the Holy Spirit's work in sanctification, and a confused doctrine of revival.
[7][8] Van Dixhoorn examines Sonship: Discovering Liberty in the Gospel as Sons and Daughters of God,[9] the course material produced by the organization which Miller founded, World Harvest Mission, now known as Serge.
[10] Van Dixhoorn concedes that "Sonship has succeeded admirably in emphasizing the sovereignty of God's grace,"[11] that it "is not skittish about sinfulness and depravity," and that it stresses "the close association between faith and repentance in the life of the believer.