In the final analysis, when compared to the absolute holiness of God, we all fall far short of His holiness and stand as wretched sinners who are separated from God, spiritually dead and without life (Eph. 2:1, 5), and under the condemnation of the moral Law of God. This moral Law (which we have so foolishly removed from the walls of our schools) reveals all the world guilty as sinners (Rom. 3:19), as separated from God, and in need of reconciliation and redemption (Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18-20; Col. 1:20-22).

What's So Amazing About Grace? was named Book of the Year by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association in 1998 when it was chosen by Christian retailers as the title they most enjoyed selling; [35] Yancey's The Jesus I Never Knew had received the same award two years earlier. [36] In 1998, Christianity Today compared What's So Amazing About Grace? to Joel A. Carpenter's Revive Us Again, writing that both books productively analyze Christian fundamentalism. [13] That year, Karla Vallance's Christian Science Monitor review called the book similarly sentimental to John Newton's hymn " Amazing Grace". [37] But are these people accurate about who needs grace? It depends on the standard by which we judge our true condition. Every human being needs God’s grace to the limit no matter how good we may appear to be when compared to others. Naturally, it is better to be a moral person, a good neighbor and citizen, and a decent husband and father than to be guilty of the things mentioned above, but as will be shown from our study, we all are in desperate spiritual condition and in need of God’s grace. When compared to a holy God, we are all wretched sinners in desperate need of His grace. All the World Needs Grace Because

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a b c d e f g h i Callaway, Phil (April 1998). "If Grace Is So Amazing: Philip Yancey". Presbyterian Record. Vol.122, no.4. Toronto. p.18. ProQuest 214350907. Think of it this way. The Sears Tower in Chicago is much taller than the LaSalle National Bank. Fr One of the reasons people fail to realize their true spiritual condition and need of grace is because they make comparisons (themselves or others) with the wrong object or standard. The issue is not how we compare to another or how they compare to us or to someone else, but how we all measure up when compared to God and His incomparable holiness. Apart from grace, we are all on the same road. Some people just slide into the ditch and stay for a while. Others slide in, drag others in with them, and set up house.

INTRODUCTION: We sing a song about amazing grace but have you ever stopped to meditate on why God’s grace is an amazing thing? How amazing is this grace that saved a wretch like me? And is there anything else that makes God’s grace amazing? What exactly is grace, what has it done for me, and what should my response be to it? This book is no mere Christian pep talk; it is moral philosophy that would make Plato burst out of the Lyceum to proclaim the slaughter of the fattened calf. And by that I mean it's good. Damn good. Grace is something that is incredibly simple in theory, deeply personal and very difficult to implement in our everyday lives. Grace is the defining element of Christianity and it is beautiful. Yet, the idea that we are loved and there is nothing that we can do that will change that love is met with skepticism at best and usually suspicion. Yancey makes it clear how very beautiful and simple Grace is. But he also covers "Grace Abuse" and forgiveness. All of this was thought provoking and inspired many conversations in our house. Throughout the book Yancey makes clear how very powerful Grace can be... it's just not easy. One chorus that sounds repeatedly through Yancey’s book is the story of a prostitute whom he invited to church. (p.11) Her response was, “Church! Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse.” Yancey heralds that pronouncement as an indictment of the church’s judgmental and negative attitude. I agree whole-heartedly that the church is to love sinners and tell them the gospel of Christ, but did Yancey never stop to think that maybe the church is supposed to make that prostitute feel bad? Perhaps conviction of sin is not categorically a bad thing, and perhaps it is actually loving to make someone feel uncomfortable about their sin. Paul didn’t have any problem at all telling the whole world that they were “worthless,” “deceitful,” and had the poison of vipers on their lips.” (Rom. 3:12-13) He has no problem telling them that they are sinners and that they will therefore die. (Rom. 6:23) Jesus Himself says that it is the very work of the Holy Spirit to “convict the world of guilt in regard to sin.” (John 16:8) Imagine that! “The Holy Spirit! Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. He’d just make me feel worse!”

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Crampton, Robert (November 3, 2001). "Rolling with It". The Australian. Surry Hills, New South Wales . Retrieved August 9, 2015. a b c Olson, Ray (July 1997). "The Great House of God/What's So Amazing About Grace?". Booklist. 93 (21): 1772.

This book contains a good exploration of the concept of grace, not from a heavy theological perspective but a simpler, practical one, by presenting many modern examples of grace in action along side Biblical references. Some of these were very compelling to me and some fell kind of flat for me, just based on the kinds of stories that interest me. Mark Earley". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. October 25, 2001. p.A25 . Retrieved August 9, 2015. With powerful stories, rich theology, and practical suggestions, Yancey challenges us to become living answers to a world that desperately needs to know, What's So Amazing About Grace? Product Details a b "1998 Book of the Year". Christianity Today. Carol Stream, Illinois. 42 (5): 26. April 27, 1998 . Retrieved August 13, 2015. Can grace make a difference in the midst of such atrocities as the Nazi holocaust, and how can it withstand the brutality of hate?The author summarizes Karen Blixen's short story " Babette's Feast", which was adapted into a 1987 Danish film. The story is set in a fishing village where the inhabitants avoid all pleasure for religious reasons. [22] Two sisters take in Babette, a Parisian refugee who becomes their personal chef, but they allow her to make only simple, bland meals. Years pass; Babette wins a lottery and spends her winnings on a delicious banquet for the villagers, who agree to eat but not enjoy the food. [23] A banquet guest recognizes Babette as a former world-renowned chef and identifies her gift to undeserving and initially unwilling recipients as grace. [24] In another chapter Yancey similarly summarizes Gabriel García Márquez's novel Love in the Time of Cholera. [25] Yancey writes about his friendship with prominent pastor Mel White (pictured, 1995). I rejected the church for a time because I found so little grace there. I returned because I found grace nowhere else. I was just escaping from a shark-infested swimming pool and I was mighty glad to be free. And NOW there was peace in my life as well. In Galatians chapter 5, Paul lists love and kindness as two of the fruits that should be seen in a believer’s life through the influence of the Holy Spirit. Kindness, mercy, and love are part of what it means to be a Christian; they are part of the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in a person’s life. This is Yancey’s indictment of the Christian church—that it too little embodies these kinds of virtues. The church needs to be less judgmental, less negative, more loving. We should pause here to admit that it is exceedingly dangerous to say anything in opposition to an argument like that. One cross word about it, and the reviewer unwittingly condemns himself as a judgmental, unloving negativist, and legitimizes the complaint of the book. So I suppose we must begin with the premise that pointing out error, and that even with some gusto, is not necessarily a bad thing. Jesus, the Apostle Paul, and even Philip Yancey all do it quite frequently.

In 2021 Philip released two new books: A Companion in Crisis and his long-awaited memoir, Where the Light Fell. Other favorites included in his more than twenty-five titles are: Where Is God When It Hurts, The Student Bible, and Disappointment with God. Philip's books have won thirteen Gold Medallion Awards from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, have sold more than seventeen million copies, and have been published in over 50 languages. Christian bookstore managers selected The Jesus I Never Knew as the 1996 Book of the Year, and in 1998 What’s So Amazing About Grace? won the same award. His other recent books are Fearfully and Wonderfully: The Marvel of Bearing God’s Image; Vanishing Grace: Bringing Good News to a Deeply Divided World; The Question that Never Goes Away; What Good Is God?; Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?; Soul Survivor; and Reaching for the Invisible God. In 2009 a daily reader was published, compiled from excerpts of his work: Grace Notes. Philip Yancey, an American journalist [3] based in Colorado, [4] was inspired to write a book about grace in Christianity when he went to the White House to interview President Bill Clinton. Clinton, a Southern Baptist from birth, told him, "I've been in politics long enough to expect criticism and hostility. But I was unprepared for the hatred I get from Christians. Why do Christians hate so much?" [1] Yancey later said that, although there are many reasons for Evangelical Christians to disapprove of Clinton's policies and lifestyle, hating him was not a valid option for Christians. [1] Cathedral Date for Multi-Million-Selling Christian Author". Bristol Post. September 2, 2006. p.26 . Retrieved June 22, 2015. I think that Jewish rabbi was probably correct to walk away from the Nazi in silence. He didn’t try to get revenge on the man, but neither was he able to embrace him and tell him it was all forgiven. I imagine that with whatever “faith” the man had in his God, he was crying out for justice to be done. And that is no bad thing, whether for that man or any other suffering injustice.As the band played, the words of the hymn immediately came to mind, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me; I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see.” Most people, including born again believers, do not think of themselves as wretches, but the author of “Amazing Grace” did. Though I have found some disagreement as to exactly when John Newton wrote the hymn (1748 or 1779), it was written after a close encounter with death on the high seas.