Extravagant Grace (Barbara Duguid)

In Extravagant Grace, Barbara Duguid recalls relevant teachings of John Newton (16-century Christian preacher and author of Amazing Grace) and, from them, creates a narrative that calls us to better understand our weakness- and God's grace.  Setting aside popular (but inaccurate) views about victory in this life over sin, she outlines the problem with the Church today:

Few people, and perhaps especially few pastors, are willing or able to open up their lives and hearts for public exposure and scrutiny. Most of us prefer to hide our sin and weakness instead of revealing ourselves and experiencing shame and humiliation. As a result, our churches have become places where we perform well for others and speak far more about our victories than our struggles. In consequence, many Christians wrestle with the agony of sinful failure in isolation and desperation. The silent message is deafening: Christians are people who quickly grow and change, and if you are weak and struggling you must not be a believer, or perhaps worse, you are a particularly bad Christian in whom God is very, very disappointed.

This reality runs counter to everything we see in the Gospel.  There, we see that Jesus' sacrifice finished the requirements of the law, and this double imputation (God gives us Jesus' righteousness, and gives Jesus our sinfulness) satisfies the Lord's demands.  Therefore,

Because Jesus was strong for me, I am free to be weak. Because Jesus won for me, I am free to lose. Because Jesus was Someone, I am free to be no one. Because Jesus was extraordinary, I am free to be ordinary. Because Jesus succeeded for me, I am free to fail.

Christianity is different than every other religion for just this reason.  Most (if not all) other religions preach certain beliefs and actions to earn standing or salvation.  The essence of Christianity is the opposite- we cannot act on our own, we cannot earn anything good, we deserve condemnation, and nothing we do can change that.  Thankfully, God changed the game for us.  He acted without our consent or desire to draw us out of the abyss- and He did so without any action of any kind on our part.  We are utterly dependent upon Him at all times.  Even our faith in Him is a gift from Him.

Sadly, our human weakness means that we often turn even the good news of Christianity into the same old works-based religion- follow the ten commandments and God will be happy, live a good life and earn heaven, etc.  This sort of message appeals to us as humans, as it's works-based and something we can do, thus making us feel in control.  But we're not.  Scripture clearly says that our hearts are deceitful, all humans are wicked, and sin will be with us (in varying degrees and forms) during our remaining time on Earth.  We will fail.  A lot.  Why?

God could have saved us and made us instantly perfect. Instead, he chose to save us and leave indwelling sin in our hearts and bodies to wage war against the new and blossoming desires to please God that accompany salvation. This is a raging battle that we often lose, and that often leaves us feeling defeated and joyless in our walk with God. . . . [yet] since we know God does all things for his own glory and the good of his people, his decision to leave Christians with many struggles with sin must also somehow serve to glorify him and benefit his people. 

Really?  Yes:

Whatever a sovereign God allows, he has in fact ordained.

Which means:

God thinks that you will actually come to know and love him better as a desperate and weak sinner in continual need of grace than you would as a triumphant Christian warrior who wins each and every battle against sin. This makes sense out of our experience as Christians. If the job of the Holy Spirit is to make you more humble and dependent on Christ, more grateful for his sacrifice and more adoring of him as a wonderful Savior, then he might be doing a very, very good job even though you still sin every day.

This line of thinking- completely Biblical- shatters the (regrettable) direction many Churches have taken today- one of trumpeting human faith, effort and victory, and judging those who are weak and wandering.  We look to our own performance for comfort and assurance.  God did not deem it to be so:

What if growing in grace is more about humility, dependence, and exalting Christ than it is about defeating sin? 

In the Bible, the strongest people are those who know their own weakness while the weakest people are those who are most impressed by their own strength.

Joy in Christ is perhaps God’s greatest desire for his children. He does not want us to admire ourselves; he wants us to cherish and long for his beloved Son. His goal is to humble us and show us our great need for the ravishing gift he has provided. Sinful weakness is one of the precious tools he uses to help us get there.

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This book was great reminder of the aforementioned truths.  It wasn't perfect- points were repeated a lot, the reliance on just one preacher could be annoying, and some of the theology explored is deep and may require some background in the reformed faith to fully understand and not distort- but the importance and power of the message overruled its shortcomings.  Highly recommended.

Rating: A+