Author: Jerry Bridges

Pages: 208 pages

Publisher: NavPress

Price: 10.50

Genre: Christian Living


Quick Summary:

A pastor friend of mine once said, “We love grace, just not free grace”. In this book Jerry Bridges displays the beauty of free grace. His fundamental cry in this book is summed up nicely on the back cover: “Funny how the exceeding riches of God’s grace seem to run out the moment we’re saved. From then on, we tend to base our relationship with Him on our performance rather than on His grace.” Throughout this book the reader is consistently brought back to the sufficiency of unadulterated grace.

Practical and theological. Simple yet profound. This book would cause the greatest scholar to pause and grounds up the meat in such a way that even the newest of babes could feast on it. Grace shines in this work by Jerry Bridges.

What I Liked:

Since reading this book I have quoted it more than any other book. It is highly readable and its principles are not difficult to remember. This book is one of those rare jewels that stick with you. At least in my life it has been something the Lord has used to consistently remind me to “preach the gospel to myself”.

Here is an example of the simple yet profound statements throughout this book: “One of the best keep secrets among Christians today is this: Jesus paid it all. I mean all. He not only purchased your forgiveness of sins and your ticket to Heaven, He purchased every blessing and every answer to prayer you will ever receive. Every one of them—no exceptions.” It’s easy to understand but it takes a lifetime to chew on the truth in that statement. This book is filled with such excellent material.

A great mark of a Christian book is that it causes a deeper love for God and throughout reading it you break out into praise and awe. One of Bridge’s goals seems to have been to overwhelm us with the greatness of God and the freeness of His grace. He succeeds.

What I Disliked:

I have to dig pretty deep to find something that I do not like about this book. Perhaps one thing I could say to give some balance is that there are some places along the way that seem to drag a little—but maybe I just hadn’t drank my Mountain Dew yet. Truthfully the only thing I dislike about this book is that I’ve finished reading it.

Should You Buy It?

You would be absolutely foolish not to buy this book. Buy it, read it, give it away and then buy another. Whether you consider yourself a scholar or a simpleton you should buy this book. This book is for every type of person because God’s grace is for every type of person. If you do not buy this book you will be in dire need for grace! (Well, even if you do buy it you still need grace, but the point stands—buy the book!).