The Grace of God: The Gift We Don't Deserve. The Love WE Can't Believe.
In order to be a people of grace, we have to understand the story of grace...and how grace transforms us.
Grace is more story than doctrine. It's more than forgiveness or compassion. It's undeserved by definition, essential to salvation. And it turns out that God's grace—though it's the only thing we stand on and the only thing we should stand for—is the very thing that we consistently distort and hesitate to extend to others.
Why is that?
Even now, as we think about the simple and unconditional nature of grace, our instincts cling to complexity and conditions. We wonder: "What does grace have to do with justice or judgement?" "How does grace overcome repeated misbehavior or bad habits?"
To understand the story of grace—what it means and how it's misunderstood, why we need it and how it was given to us—we have to begin at the beginning...
Follow Andy Stanley as he traces the story of grace through the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, peering into the lives of biblical characters to discover how each story reveals grace to be God's preeminent characteristic from the very beginning.
See the narrative of Scripture in light of this grace as Pastor Andy reveals:
- Why creation itself was an act of grace.
- Why grace is inviting to the unrighteous and threatening to the self-righteous.
- Why grace is so predictably unpredictable.
- Why no effort of ours can add to God's grace.
Combining biblical study, personal story, and an urgent message to today's Christians and churches—The Grace of God is Andy Stanley's clearest, most powerful message on the thing that defines our relationship with our God and with one another.
Top Highlights
“Whereas God’s expressions of grace were innumerable, his requirements were minimal.” (source)
“The church is most appealing when the message of grace is most apparent. Yet grace is often an early casualty in the world of organized religion. The gravitational pull is always toward graceless religion. Instead of defining itself in terms of what it stands for, the church often takes the less imaginative and easier path of defining itself in terms of what it is against.” (source)
“Jonah was so distraught over God’s grace toward Nineveh that he was ready to throw himself back into the sea (Jonah 4:1–4). He wanted justice. God insisted on mercy. He wanted judgment. God opted for compassion. Jonah’s theology was impeccable, but his application was completely one-sided.” (source)
“Even here, we find the grace of God within the law of God. For the Law didn’t simply condemn sin; it included instructions for making amends.” (source)
“When God initiated his relationship with Abram he began with a promise—a promise Abram did not deserve or ask for. This was all God’s idea. The LORD didn’t issue Abram a set of behaviors to adhere to. The Ten Commandments wouldn’t appear for several generations. He simply asked Abram to receive promises. This invitation for Abram to trust him was how God initiated their relationship. As we will discover throughout the remainder of this book, that’s exactly how God has been initiating relationships ever since.” (source)
Product Details
- Title : The Grace of God: The Gift We Don't Derserve. The Live WE Can't Believe.
- Author: Stanley, Andy
- Publisher: Thomas Nelson
- Publication Date: 2011
- ISBN: 9780849949128