By Charlie Bing
Grace is always refreshing. A book about grace is a refreshing hook. Swindoll has probably written his best work and made his most important contribution to modern Christianity with the writing of this book.
The Grace Awakening (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1990., 311 pp.) is appropriately titled. If you are not already aware of man’s natural aversion to grace and experiencing it in your contact with others, then Chuck Swindoll will convince you of this perpetual problem that plagues the church. Legalism (from cultic to Christian forms) and a judgmental spirit show the great need for a grace awakening in modern Christianity. Understandably, natural man does not know grace, but it is tragic indeed that Christians also have such a misshapen idea of this concept.
Swindoll meets the enemies of grace head on without wavering and, of course, with grace. While attacking legalism, he retreats enough to deal with objections against the liberty (which opponents call license) that grace brings. His applications of grace to how we see ourselves and others, to our marriages, and to our ministries are expertly done and valuable.
It is the nature of grace that it changes and transforms. This book will awaken you to God’s amazing grace, which will, in turn, shape your life and ministry. I highly recommend that you read it.
Charlie Bing is the Associate Editor of The GES News, Pastor of Burleson Bible Church, and a Th.D. candidate at Dallas Theological Seminary.
