I think this might be the first time I’ve had difficulty writing  a review because the book was too good!  lol  Really.

If you’re anything like me, you often find yourself torn between the admonition to “let go and let God” and the “take responsibility for yourself” camps, knowing that surely there must be a balance but unable to quite find it.  The Discipline of Grace: God’s Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness steps in to answer just that question: how do we balance God’s grace with our own responsibility?

The reason I have a hard time with this review is that there is so much here.  The book is simply jam-packed with teaching, to the point that I really haven’t been able to assimilate it all yet and will have to read it again — at least once.

Grace

One of the early points Bridges makes, and a critical, underlying truth throughout the book, is that “your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace.  And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”

This is such a simple concept, and yet it’s such an essential one to get a really solid grasp on.  Although we recognize that we’re saved by grace, we often think as though we live by works, either falling into pride because we’re doing well or condemning ourselves mercilessly because we fall short.  Instead, we need to recognize, by faith, that we live every day by grace.  It is grace that equips us to do well and grace that catches us when we fall. (Anyone else hearing Rich Mullins here? “If I stand, let me stand on the promise that You will pull me through; and if I can’t, let me fall on the grace that first brought me to You.”)

This essential need for God’s grace every day, and for continual reminders of the gospel that allows us to live by this grace, are the subject of the first half of the book.  This might leave the reader thinking, “what about the disciplines?  When are we going to talk about my role?” But this foundation is a necessary one.

Discipline

The second half of the book talks about our responsibility in the pursuit of holiness, with one chapter devoted to each discipline, and all continually pointing back to the foundation of grace.  The primary disciplines the author addresses are probably not the ones that first come to your mind when you think of “Christian disciplines,” although those disciplines are included within some of these final chapters.  The discipline of commitment, the discipline of convictions, the discipline of choices, the discipline of watching, and the discipline of adversity are all covered.

As with Dr. Bridges’ other books, this one is biblically solid, meaty, convicting, and helpful on a practical level.

Definitely recommended!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”