Loved this book. Definitely something we can aspire to try and live in grace!

Wow! I usually don't like when people use the term "life-changing" while describing a book, speech, conference, or film because it is usually only "life-changing" for a day or two after the experience before the feelings finally fade. However, The Grace Awakening was life-changing for me. I would urge the reader of this book to also spend the extra money and purchase the companion radio broadcast series with the same title by Charles Swindoll from the Insight for Living Ministry. I actually listened to each broadcast after reading each chapter.

I love Swindoll's down-to-earth humble style of teaching, coupled with his infectious joy and GRACE! This book was a renewing fresh breath of air! Read it... You won't be disappointed!

This is a somewhat updated edition with a 31 day devotional at the back, and this is a reread, so I'm not sure if this link it the one showing here or not, but I'll shelve the one I added to GR for the reread since it would only let me switch existing editions since someone has put them altogether, even though that is wrong due to added material, new introduction and updated examples, etc.

This is the best book I've ever read on the sometimes elusive Grace preached in the Bible. So many people want to take that and turn it into a strict set of extra rules (legalism) or use it as a license to do whatever they feel like it, regardless (license to sin). But grace is neither; on the one hand it comes freely and with forgiveness, but on the other it's not to be abused.

Swindoll examines what grace is and how accepting and showing it leads to healthier lives, relationships and impact. Given my very busy week, I have had to read over half of this deep book in the past 24 hours among sleeping and life's tasks, so it's hard to write an elaborate review as my brain needs time to rest. Nevertheless, it was worth the reread.

I love this book and have reread it multiple times. What a freeing description of the grace and liberty that is bestowed on believers through Christ! Swindoll combines straightforward explanations and real-life examples with a thorough exegesis of the amazing truths of Galatians and Romans. My only wish is that it could have used the KJV, but all of the points are thoroughly scripture-based nonetheless. What an amazing God we serve, and what a relief to know we are free to serve Him as He leads us and not as others dictate.

This book gave me a lot of new ways to think about grace and how it impacts every area of our lives. It reminded me of how much grace is extended to me daily, by God and by people, and how much I am in a position to give others. I enjoyed it.

Chuck Swindoll's The Grace Awakening is a book that I highly recommend to any Christian. But even more than that, I think it would be an interesting read for non-Christians, too. The reason I say that is that Swindoll presents an excellent picture of what the Christian life should look like. It cuts through the muddle of doctrinal and behavioral disputes and focuses simply on the life of grace and freedom that ought to characterize Christianity wherever it's found. Christians should be known to be people full of joy and grace, not people who argue with each other, who generate long lists of prohibited activities, who look scornfully at the rest of the world. When I read Swindoll, in this book and others by him, I think, "What a fantastic example of how attractive and joyful a Christian should be!"

I think a lot of evangelical Christian pastors are uncomfortable with ambiguity and mystery. Swindoll gives a different approach that I really appreciate:

Someone on our staff at our Insight for Living office informed me several months ago that a woman had called the ministry office to find out what my "official position" was on a certain gray area. When she was told that it's not my policy to make "official" public statements on such issues, she was bewildered . . . actually, a little irritated. She asked, "How are we to know what to decide on this issue if Chuck doesn't tell us?" Some may find her question amusing. Frankly, I find it a little frightening. I thought, Have we created that kind of Christian, where the minister must make statements in areas that are a matter of personal preference? There is a fine line between responsible leadership and dogmatic control. All risks notwithstanding, people need to be informed and then released to come to their own convictions. Why must a minister continually issue public edicts and decrees? . . . Have we wandered that far from grace?

You will never grow up as long as you must get your lists and form most of your opinions from me or some Christian leader. (44)

In a time when, in my opinion, Christian ministers sometimes overstep their sphere of influence in making comments about politics, I find this attitude very trusting and refreshing.

As this book points out, a lot of our problems in living out a life of grace come down to our desire to compare ourselves with others, and our desire to control others. This fearful life is hardly what Jesus meant when he said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10). But it's where a lot of us stall out, and the lesser kind of life we end up living then becomes the rest of the world's impression of what it means to follow Jesus. The Grace Awakening suggests another way to live, and it's a kind of life that I yearn for. Swindoll covers tough questions, such as disagreements with other Christians, strife within marriage, worries about finances, and other everyday challenges to grace. Our goal is clear, but our habits and fears hinder us. May we all find the freedom that Swindoll writes about!

I'm grateful for this clear, winsome reminder of how I should be seeing life. Books like this help jolt me out of my own obsessively analytical mind and skewed perspective. I need that—pretty regularly, actually.

I appreciate the thought-provoking nature of this book. I really like some aspects of "Grace Awakening", but had some disagreements with Swindoll as well. First of all, I enjoy Swindoll's writing style. His books are always simple and easy to understand, I'm sure even for a new Christian. I think it's great to dwell on the truths of grace. Where Swindoll shines is his explanation of grace as it relates to our relationship with God. There is nothing we can do to deserve salvation or to please God through our own abilities and actions. Everything we have, from our salvation to victory in Christian living, is a gift of God's grace. This book is a needed reminder that the Christian life isn't a checklist, it's a relationship with Christ.

Where I disagree with Swindoll is in his definition and explanation of what I would call interpersonal grace, grace as seen in relationships between believers. First, he uses the term "legalism" in describing those who believe that Christian should follow a checklist in order to please God and try to push their moral code onto others. Legalism, strictly speaking, refers to those who believe that good works are necessary for salvation. A better term might be "self-righteousness"; thinking that you are better than others because of the good things that you do. This is certainly a problem in many churches today. More concerning to me is this: Swindoll seems to say that grace in regards to other believers means letting them do whatever they want without even trying to advise or help them, that grace means that other people's actions are only between them and God and that we have no business judging OR trying to help them grow. He implies that grace means that we have to let people just grow at their own pace, and that it's not our business to be concerned with the actions of others at all. I agree that we should be very careful about judging others or comparing ourselves to others in our actions, but I believe that grace involves seeking the highest good of others. Sometimes this may involve rebuking or correcting, sometimes encouraging others. I think that grace is practical love, love at work. Treating others with grace means wanting what is best for others and helping them to grow closer to God.

On a separate note, there is an aspect of church life where accountability must be exercised. A church should show grace, but it also has other responsibilities like discipleship and even occasionally church discipline. Grace in a church certainly doesn't mean dumping all standards of Christian living.

I agree that in our relationship with God, we need to recognize our constant need for grace. In our dealings with others, we should show grace. But while that doesn't involve imposing a checklist of standards on other people, it may involve conversations that help people to think through these issues and deal with them personally.

I don't intend to convey a negative attitude about this book through this review. Taken as a whole, "Grace Awakening" is a valuable resource on the topic of grace. I enjoyed it and can recommend it, but with these reservations.

I bought this book when I was in college, but I didn't read it until a few years ago. I was researching the concept of grace for a piece of fiction I was writing. Then, in the middle of reading it, I realized that I had forgotten why I was reading it. Why, oh, why isn't the concept of grace talked about more in our lives? Swindoll makes his point over and over again that if we fully understood grace, it would change everything about us. I was changed in reading this and the book I was writing changed too.

Enjoyed meditating on this devotional about grace. Some of my favorite quotes include:
During his days as president, Thomas Jefferson and a group of companions were traveling across the country on horseback. They came to a river which had overflowed its banks because of a recent downpour. The swollen river had washed the bridge away. Each rider was forced to ford the river on horseback, fighting for his life against the rapid currents. The very real possibility of death threatened each rider, which caused a traveler who was not part of their group to step aside and watch. After several had plunged in and made it to the other side, the stranger asked President Jefferson if he would ferry him across the river. The president agreed without hesitation. The man climbed on, and shortly thereafter the two of them made it safely to the other side.
As the stranger slid off the back of the saddle onto dry ground, one in the group asked him, "Tell me, why did you select the President to ask this favor of?" The man was shocked, admitting he had no idea it was the president who had helped him.
"All I know," he said, "Is that on some of your faces was written the answer 'No,' and on some of them was the answer 'yes.' His was a 'Yes' face."
"Please understand, to be justified does not mean "just as if I'd never sinned." I hear that often and it always troubles me. In fact, it weakens the full impact of justification. Justification really means this: Even though I still sin periodically and have found myself unable to stop sinning on a permanent basis—God declared me righteous when I believed. And because I will continue to sin from time to time, I find all the more reason to be grateful for grace. As a sinner I deserve vengeance. As a sinner I'm afraid of justice. And so, as a sinner, my only hope for survival is grace. In its purest form, it makes no earthly sense!"
“Grace is God’s universal good news of salvation. The tragedy is that some continue to live lives in a death bog because they have been so turned off by a message full of restrictions, demands, negativism and legalism. You may have been one of those held in bondage, victimized by a system that has stolen your joy and snuffed out your hope….if you can come to the camp of grace beneath the cross you’ll never be in the awful bog again.
You will be free ... free at last."
“Grace also brings a freedom to do something else—a freedom to enjoy the rights and privileges of being out from under slavery and allowing others such freedom. It’s freedom to experience and enjoy a new kind of power that only Christ could bring. It is a freedom to become all that he meant me to be, regardless of how he leads others. I can be me—fully and freely. It is freedom to know him in an independent and personal way. And that freedom is released to others so they can be who they are meant to be—different from me.”
The one place on earth where we would most expect to be set free is, in fact, the very place we are most likely to be placed into slavery: the church.
With all this talk about grace and liberty, perhaps it's time for me to clarify something. Some may be asking: Doesn't liberty have its limits? Shouldn't folks restrain their freedom and occasionally hold themselves in check? Yes, without question. Grace can be and sometimes is---abused. By that I mean exercising one's liberty without wisdom, having no concern over whether it offends or wounds a young and impressionable fellow believer. But I must hasten to add that I believe such restraint is an individual matter. It is not to be legislated, not something to be forced on someone else. Limitations are appropriate and necessary, but I fail to find in Scripture anyplace where one is to require such restraint from another. To do so is legalism. It plugs up breathing holes. It kills grace. The best restraint is self-restraint that comes from the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit through the person and presence of Jesus Christ in each individual life. It's been my observation over the last thirty years that the vast majority of believers need to be freed, not restrained. Our job is to free people; God's job is to restrain them. God is doing His job much better than we are doing ours.
In spite of the terrible consequences sins may bring, grace also means we allow others the freedom to choose, regardless. To do otherwise abuses as much as those who use their freedom as a license to sin. I am a firm believer in mutual accountability, but grace means I will not force or manipulate or judge or attempt to control you, nor should you do those things to me. It means we will keep on helping others to freedom by providing breathing holes. It means we deliberately let go so each of us can grow and learn on our own; otherwise, we shall never enjoy the liberty of an open sea. For most of us, letting others go is neither natural nor easy. Because we care, it is more our tendency to give people hints or advice. The thought of letting them fail or fall is extremely painful to us, but God treats us like that virtually every day of our lives. We tend to clutch, not release . . . to put people in our frame and not allow them any breathing holes unless and until they accept the shape of our molds.
Few people realize better than non-Christians how guilt-ridden many Christians are. A lady in our congregation tells of a conversation she had with a fellow student while the two of them were students at the Berkeley campus of the University of California. He knew she was a Christian, and he made it painfully clear that he had no interest whatsoever in her faith. When she asked why, his answer bore the sting of reality: "Because the most guilt-ridden people I know are Christians. No thanks."
Grace releases people, not only from sin but from shame. Do you do that in your ministry? Or do you make a note of those things and keep reminding yourself when that particular name comes up: "Well, you know, you'd better watch her" or, "You've gotta watch him." Do you give people reasons to feel greater shame? Who knows what battles of shame most folks struggle with? It is enormous.
My hope has been to create an appetite for grace that is so strong nothing will restrain us from pursuing the freedom and spontaneity it can bring---a longing so deep that a new spiritual dawn, a "grace awakening," if you will, cannot help but burst through the wall of legalism. Since I am a Christian minister, much of my involvement and exposure is in the realm of the church and Christian organizations. It has been my observation that even here most folks are not free; they have not learned to accept and enjoy the grace that has come to us in Jesus Christ. Though He came to set us free, it saddens me to say that many still live behind the wall of bondage. Regrettably, the stones of constraint are everywhere to be found. Instead of being places of enthusiastic, spontaneous worship, many churches and Christian ministries have become institutions that maintain a system of religion with hired officials to guard the gates and to enforce the rules.
In vain I have searched the Bible, looking for examples of early Christians whose lives were marked by rigidity, predictability, inhibition, dullness, and caution. Fortunately, grim, frowning, joyless saints in Scripture are conspicuous by their absence. Instead, the examples I find are of adventurous, risk-taking, enthusiastic, and authentic believers whose joy was contagious even in times of painful trial. Their vision was broad even when death drew near. Rules were few and changes were welcome. The contrast between then and now is staggering.
The difference, I am convinced, is grace. Grace scales the wall and refuses to be restricted. It lives above the demands of human opinion and breaks free from legalistic regulations. Grace dares us to take hold of the sledge of courage and break through longstanding stones. Grace invites us to chart new courses and explore ever-expanding regions, all the while delighting in the unexpected. While others care more about maintaining the wall and fearing those who guard it, grace is constantly looking for ways to freedom. Grace wants faith to fly, regardless of what grim-faced officials may say or think or do.
There is a "grace awakening" loose in the land. Will you become a part of it? While you take your turn with the sledgehammer and pound away, a host of us are standing near, and some of us may be half a world away, cheering you on. Don't think of it as a lonesome, isolated task. You are breaking through to freedom, and no one is more delighted than the Lord Jesus Christ, who has promised you His grace. Never forget His words: "If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." Stay at it. By the grace of Almighty God, the new movement will someday sweep across every continent and the longstanding wall that has kept people in bondage for centuries will come tumbling down. And we shall all, at last, be free indeed.

I feel pretty ambivalent about this book. Although the message was biblically sound and articulated with an infectious joy, the book overall seemed to lack depth. I thought the treatment of biblical law relied on stereotypes and was close to a dualistic view of God in the OT vs. God in the NT, and I wish the treatment of this issue had been more textually grounded.

The takeaway that I most appreciated was the 5 areas in which grace particularly helps believers (insecurity, weakness, abrasiveness, compromise, and pride)--the discussions here were helpful and valuable. I do think that this book would speak effectively to people coming out of either severe legalism or libertinism, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a must-read for everyone.

Good start to a great book. Discussed Chapt 1 and 2 , read to 5.

An excellent book, showing the need for God's grace, and what it means in real life. A plea against fundamentalism and legalism, towards a richer, freer life in Christ. A little heavy in places, perhaps, but very sound. Well worth the effort. Similar message to Philip Yancey's 'What's so Amazing about Grace?'