The Great Work of the Gospel: How We Experience God's Grace [Paperback]

John M. Ensor (Author), John Piper (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2006

Forgiveness is God's Great Work because sin is the greatest ofproblems, the cross is the most excellent of solutions, and graceproduces the most extreme changes. It is all-inclusive andeverlasting. In this book, John Ensor helps us grasp the realityand human experience of God's ongoing, outworking, wonderfulgrace.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“John writes so that we will know the depth of sin and counters it with the richness of God’s grace. A compelling book.” —Lars and Elisabeth (Elliot) Gren “The Great Work of the Gospel is God-centered good news. It is the kind of message that will make deep, strong people and deep, strong churches. It will release people from the self-absorbed rationalizations that keep us from the fullest engagement in the global cause of God.” —John Piper, Pastor for Preaching, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis—from the Foreword “The strong medicine we need in an era where God’s amazing grace has been diminished by thinking so highly of ourselves. John Ensor demonstrates the greatness of our guilt and the surpassing greatness of God’s grace, which alone can deliver us.” —Randy Alcorn, Director, Eternal Perspectives Ministries --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Review

"John writes so that we will know the depth of sin and counters it with the richness of God's grace. A compelling book."
—Lars and Elisabeth Gren (Elliot)

"The Great Work of the Gospel is God-centered good news. It is the kind of message that will make deep, strong people and deep, strong churches. It will release people from the self-absorbed rationalizations that keep us from the fullest engagement in the global cause of God."
—John Piper, Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis

"The strong medicine we need in an era where God's amazing grace has been diminished by thinking so highly of ourselves. John Ensor demonstrates the greatness of our guilt and the surpassing greatness of God's grace, which alone can deliver us."
—Randy Alcorn, founder, Eternal Perspective Ministries; author, If God is Good and Heaven

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Crossway Books (May 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581347731
• ISBN-13: 978-1581347739
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #206,984 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and Cross-Centered, September 9, 2006

By 

Tim Challies (Oakville, Ontario) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Great Work of the Gospel: How We Experience God's Grace (Paperback)

On one of John Ensor's web sites, "Heartbeat of Miami," is a most sobering map. Showing the locations of each Miami's abortion facilities in red and ultrasound-equipped pregnancy help centers in blue, the red dots outnumber of the blue by a margin of fifteen to one. As leader of "Heartbeat of Miami," Ensor hopes within the next two years to increase the number of adequately equipped pregnancy help centers to at least 4. From his work directing this organization that constantly sees people at their most broken comes Ensor's third book, The Great Work of the Gospel.

The Great Work of the Gospel is a book about the human experience of God's outworking grace--"the sin-forgiving gift of it, the guilt-removing power of it, the soul-satisfying joy of it, the cross-suffering mystery of it, the conscience-cleansing experience of it, the life-transforming quality of it, the muscular faith-building impact of it, the eternally reconciling splendor of it." The book seeks to understand how God works out His grace and how we, as recipients of that grace, experience it. This is His Great Work.

Through ten chapters, John Ensor provides ten reflections on this Great Work. He writes about many of Scripture's grand themes: the Great Work considered, desired, needed, promised, revealed, justified, experienced, enjoyed, shared and unsheathed. Each chapter revolves around a particular passage of Scripture and ends with several group study questions. Most chapters involve men or women Ensor has encountered in his vocation--many of whom are women who have been subjected to cruel and terrible treatment at the hands of others.

Perhaps the greatest compliment I can give this book is simply in pointing to the amount of fodder it provided for thinking and writing. I spent many hours pondering what Ensor wrote and dedicated several articles to exploring his themes. With tenderness and passion, Ensor explores the grace of God and how it manifests itself in us. It explores the great work of God; the great work of the gospel. A deeply moving book, it is also powerful in pointing always to the cross of Jesus Christ. I recommend it unreservedly. It is undoubtedly one of the finest books I have read this year.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Re-center minds and hearts around the gospel, July 27, 2006

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Christian Book Previews "Christian Book Previews" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Great Work of the Gospel: How We Experience God's Grace (Paperback)

The theme of The Great Work of the Gospel by John Ensor "is about our human experience of God's outworking grace" (p. 11). From its first chapter to the last, this well-paced book explores the power of God's saving grace in the life of man. Ensor writes emphatically concerning the work of salvation, "But it is not a partnership. It is not `I do half and God does half.' It is God's work" (p. 15). Throughout, Ensor is quick to remind us that the work of grace in a believer's life is God's work; He is the sovereign craftsman building grace into our lives so as to produce a work that would glorify Him.

Ensor organizes his book around the central themes of the gospel, core truths that comprise what we would consider the saving message of Jesus Christ. He begins with the forgiveness of sins and the reconciliation a sinner can have with God as he takes hold of God's mercy. Because, as Ensor puts it, "God desires to make his mercy the apex of his own glory in the eyes of all creation" (p. 28). From that foundation of forgiveness, he moves through the entire process of salvation, from owning up to our guilt before God to pushing past our grudges by forgiving others just as generously as God forgives the repentant sinner. In between these two poles, we read about God's holy wrath against sin, hope in God's forgiving grace, Jesus Christ as the incarnation of God's outworking grace, the wrath and mercy displayed on the cross, experiencing a clean conscience, and having a glad heart to obey God. In each chapter, the author displays a skillful handling of the Bible and a warm, personable tone that invites the reader in through real-life stories, vivid illustrations, and gripping quotes.

The book pulls no punches with regard to the "hard" matters of the Christian faith. On pages 32-33, he denounces, with gentleness and biblical reasoning, the modern psychological perspective which treats guilt as a negative, something to be treated rather than prayerfully examined. In his chapter on God's judgment, he spends a good amount of time explaining and defending the doctrine of eternal punishment in hell for the unbeliever. He writes later on how many Christians "remain hamstrung by their secret guilt and are living very shallow lives...because they have nothing but a shallow understanding of the cross, and in many cases only a small appetite for learning more" (p. 97). And on the topic of a clean conscience, he writes with stunning insight, "The very question of self-forgiveness may reflect a resistance to glory in God's mercy and a preference to grind our teeth for failing to be as good as our pride always assured us that we were" (p. 114). It is this "no holds barred" attitude toward the truth and toward error that makes for an invigorating read.

The author has given his life for service to the Lord. He works for women in need, establishing crisis pregnancy centers worldwide. So when he writes about forgiveness, sin, righteousness, hope, and joy, the readers get a sense that the author has experienced and clearly grasps these issues that he's tackling. This is why when he ends on how the outworking of God's grace motivates us to serving God in good deeds, we know that we are hearing from a man who practices what he preaches. This crowning chapter is really the height of the book, driving us out of our private reformations into works for the good of others. The examples he uses in this chapter are memorable. Overall, this book reminds us afresh that doctrine is powerful, motivating, captivating, and sorely need in our times with all "the feeble and anemic preaching of the age" (p. 160). It is a book that will re-center our minds and hearts around the center of it all: the gospel. - Jason Park, Christian Book [..]

5.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal, May 22, 2008

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P. Thomas (TX , United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Great Work of the Gospel: How We Experience God's Grace (Paperback)

I am reading through this book for the second time now. This is significant, in that I can only recall doing that one other time with a book. This work has elicited such a response. I am very thankful for Mr. Ensor and those gifted like him. He has written a significant and phenomenal book on the greatest subject in all the world: The work of God. How this work impacts and affects people is the flow of Ensor's work, and it is flooded with insightful looks into real people and how there lives are impacted by the work of God. However, the central focus begins to quickly unfold as you read this book: that all of this work in people's lives; all the affects; all the reactions and responses serves to reveal the great God behind this work.
Very well written and well thought out. I hope to give this book as a gift many times and use it in a study.

Enjoy and be enriched.