The Truth About Grace [Paperback]

Grace is a word that tends to get tossed around in Christian circles. But how many of really stop to think about what it means for believers? John MacArthur explores this issue in "The Truth About Grace", one book in a trilogy called "The Truth About" series. He takes a detailed look at what grace means, how believers receive grace into our lives, how the idea of grace gets distorted, the implications for living a grace-filled live, and the practicalities of living a life of grace. He draws on a plethora of Scripture passages to shed light on this uniquely Christian concept, as well as looking at the Hebrew and Greek meanings of certain words to further emphasize his point.

I really enjoyed this book and exploring the concept of grace and what it means for me as a believer. My favorite chapter was the last one, discussing the hallmarks of a grace-filled life. Grace is truly transformative and every aspect of our lives should be changed once we really grasp the implications of what grace means for us as believers. I also appreciated where MacArthur makes the point to say that he promotes "fidelity to Scripture". As believers we also need to know and speak the true Word of God, not just our ideas about the Word.

This is a short book, but so very rich. It would be a wonderful book for a small group or book club to go through together as there are many points that are worthy of further discussion.

(I've received this complimentary book from Thomas Nelson Publishing House through the Book Sneeze program in exchange for a review. A positive review was not required and the views expressed in my review are strictly my own.)

Over the years I've listened to dozens of messages from John MacArthur, and read a handful of his books. Generally I enjoy his messages and books due to their careful attention to scripture. This book had that same attention to detail that I've come to expect from MacArthur. That said, I left reading the book only lukewarm on it, and uninspired to read the others in this series.

The content is solid beginning to end. But it is the content that is the issue actually. MacArthur has taken the subject of grace and mostly removed the joy from it through academic minutia in assembling this book. I entered into reading this book with the expectation that it would be a lighter read (it's a small/thin book, quite different than most his other books). I thought it would be an introduction to something he may have written or preached elsewhere, but rather than that it was very dense with all the interesting parts stripped away. This doesn't remove the truth of what MacArthur is writing about, but it makes it far less enjoyable to read. Realistically the book probably should've been 2-3 times as long with some stories and examples to make it an enjoyable read. But I had to nearly force myself to keep on reading it.

It is a great resource book however. Like a mini-commentary on the subject of grace. Had I entered into it with that mindset, I might have been more interested in it. Where I think this has a place is on a pastor's shelf as a resource, or to be used as a study/discussion starter in a group setting where the human aspects could be added back in.

So would I recommend it? With qualifications yes. It's not where I'd start a new Christian on their path to understanding the concept of grace, but it is a tool that could be useful in a number of settings. Would I have paid for this book? Probably not. And it's not a book I'll be rushing to send to my pastor friends either.

I was given this copy of the book by BookSneeze to review but am under no obligation to give it a positive review.

I choose this book to review for 2 reasons: I had heard great things about John MacArthur, and I'll take any chance to read about grace. I finished this book for two reasons: I had agreed to review it, and I hoped I'd learn something about grace.

Don't get me wrong. I didn't hate this book, but there were 2 things in the first chapter that, if I hadn't agreed to review it, would have made me put it down. First, instead of quoting scripture, it gave scripture references. Now, unless you have your Bible memorized (which truly, I do not) then you either need to stop reading and look up every single reference, or you need to keep reading and think, "Well, I assume that reference meant something." Either way, you're not getting the most out of the message. Second, even though I feel solid in my basic theology and church terminology, I still felt like he was speaking academically at times. It made me wonder if this was written for a different kind of target audience?

Now, all that said, I think there's actually some great insight in this book. MacArthur is at his best with his play-by-play of Gospel stories, explaining hidden meaning and historical context. His descriptions of common grace versus salvation grace are wonderful, and I found lots of quotes and paragraphs to underline for further reference.

Would I recommend this book? I don't know, but it's a reminder that, sometimes, sticking with a book you don't love can still give great rewards.