The Case for Grace: A Journalist Explores the Evidence of Transformed Lives (Case for ... Series)

forgiveness opened the door to the possibility

bitterness is poison in the soul of a Christian.

Grace liberates us. Our tendency toward performance imprisons us.”

What can God accomplish through the simple gesture of a hug?

We are called as Christians to help people who are suffering, not dismiss their suffering as an illusion and thereby minimize or dismiss it.

Cheap grace, said German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is . . . forgiveness without requiring repentance . . . [and] absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ living and incarnate.”

Said Philip Yancey, “We can never sink so far that God’s grace will not reach us. At the same time, grace does not leave us there. It raises us to new heights.”6

She had been taught that forgiveness was never optional in the Christian faith; it was required by God.

Fools hate wisdom, are complacent, bring grief to their parents, lack common sense, pursue schemes, revel in folly, are full of pride, practice deception, refuse to make amends, spurn discipline, scorn advice, and exalt themselves.3