Believing in grace is one thing. Living it is another.
The subtitle to this very competent work sums up exactly what this book is about. Chuck Swindoll takes grace, God’s unconditional favour, and proves it to be a theological truth. From there he goes on to explain the many ways in which it can and must be applied in the everyday life of the believer. Swindoll’s focus, on the freedom of the believer, under grace, and the various implications that this has, has challenged me on many aspects of my understanding of grace. He manages to break grace down into practical, real-life situations and explain its workings in the average Christian.
Chapters such as Isn’t grace risky? Guiding other to Freedom and The Grace to Let Others Be, are just some of the challenging topics we encounter when we live out a life of grace. Chuck is real about these difficulties and makes no bones about the role that legalistic people play in making grace that much more of a priority in the lives of believers.
Chuck does, however, only focus on grace in the form of receiving it and extending it, made clear by the quote, “… grace received but not extended is dead grace …” He makes very little mention of grace being the great enabler for the believer. This makes it a bit one-sided in terms of a full picture of grace, but that which he does present on the topic, he presents very clearly and very insightfully.
On my journey of grace there have been a few diamonds which I have found to propel me into a deeper understanding of His love and grace for me, Grace Awakening is one of them. It may be a classic, which I have only recently discovered, but if you haven’t read it, as a New Testament believer, I highly recommend it. Read it, enjoy it and feel free, because you are!
StartLiving rating: 7/10
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