What's So Amazing About Grace

I have read a few books written by Yancey and have enjoyed every one of them. He seems to write as he is rolling thoughts and ideas around in his mind. It is as though he is wrestling with these issues and ideas just as we do when we read them.

Grace. What an out of times word it is for our society today but what a gift from God. This book is a wonderful look at this gift and also what un-grace looks like. Unfortunately we see more un-grace than we do grace around us.

This book will make you ask: How are we doing at showing God’s grace to the world? Does the world recognize God’s grace in Christians and come to it?

One of my favorite quotes states: “the many uses of the word in English convince me that grace is indeed amazing —- truly our last best word. It contains the essence of the gospel as a drop of water can contain the image of the sun. The world thirsts for grace in ways it does not even recognize… For a society that seems adrift, without moorings, I know of no better place to drop an anchor of faith.”

Another quote comes from chapter 15. “Jesus proclaimed unmistakably that God’s law is so perfect and absolute that no one can achieve righteousness. Yet God’s grace is so great that we do not have to. By striving to prove how much they deserve God’s love, legalists miss the whole point of the gospel, that it is a gift from God to people who don’t deserve it. The solution to sin is not to impose an ever-stricter code of behavior. It is to know God.”

Another interesting comment from the book is about C.S. Lewis and his statement that grace is the only difference between Christianity and the other major religions. We cannot earn God’s love and acceptance. We just need to accept it. None of the other religions have this freely given redemption for those who believe.

This is a very good book to read and I highly recommend it. Be ready to search your soul and think about your actions towards others.

A little more grace in this world would go a long way.

The chapters in What’s So Amazing About Grace include:

The Last Best Word
Babette’s Feast: A Story
Lovesick Father
The New Math of Grace
Unbroken Chain: A Story
An Unnatural Act
Why Forgive?
Getting Even
The Arsenal of Grace
A Home for Bastards: A Story
No Oddballs Allowed
Grace-Healed Eyes
Loopholes
Grace Avoidance
Big Harold: A Story
Mixed Aroma
Serpent Wisdom
Patches of Green
Gravity and Grace