The Grace and Truth Paradox: Responding with Christlike Balance (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Late one rainy night, my wife and I were leaving a movie theater when Nanci noticed an older man in the parking lot leaning on..." (more)
Key Phrases: grace and truth paradox, eternal hell, Baby Jessica, Jesus Christ, Uncle Eric (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hate the sin but love the sinner is the gist of the paradox explored in this slender point-of-purchase book by minister Alcorn. The author of Deadline draws on his experiences of getting "proabortion" activists, unbelieving academics and his "resistant" father to see the light to argue that Christians must display grace-a spirit of humility, love and inclusion-while also insisting on the truth of Christian doctrine. Truth without grace, he asserts, yields a self-righteous Pharisaism, while grace without truth leads to "moral indifference" and a dilution of Christ's message. Alcorn writes in a contemporary idiom, likening grace and truth to a binary star system or the twin strands of the DNA double helix. But his is a traditional evangelical outlook that combines Biblical literalism, hell-fire and a deep acknowledgment of personal sin. Alcorn registers his fundamentalist views on such topics as relativism on campus, the fallacy of Darwinism and Oprah Winfrey's "have-it-your-way designer religion." But he also chides Christians for their holier-than-thou attitudes ("Jesus," he warrants, "would preach five sermons against self-righteous churches for every one against taverns") and compares himself with evil-doers ("I am Dahmer. I am Mao") in attesting to the fallen state of all humanity and their dependence on God's unmerited grace for salvation. Firm but forbearing, Alcorn's tract is a dose of old-time religion in a smooth modern formulation.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Christians trying to model their lives after Jesus may find that He gets buried under lists, rules, and formulas. Now bestselling author Randy Alcorn offers a simple two-point checklist for Christlikeness based on John 1:14. The test consists of balancing grace and truth, equally and unapologetically. Grace without truth deceives people, and ceases to be grace. Truth without grace crushes people, and ceases to be truth. Alcorn shows the reader how to show the world Jesus -- offering grace instead of the world's apathy and tolerance, offering truth instead of the world's relativism and deception.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Multnomah Books (January 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590520653
• ISBN-13: 978-1590520659
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #74,355 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super Book, September 9, 2003

By	Rod Kelly (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

Randy Alcorn really gives you a great understanding of what it's like to be a "balanced" Christian. Not just full of Grace at the expense of Truth or vice versa but that it takes dependence on the Holy Spirit to provide discernment at that moment of decision to dispense truth and/or grace as required.
Mr. Alcorn really cut to the heart of the matter in letting us know that being a Christian means dispensing Truth and Grace in the relativistic society that we live in.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Short, Concise, Good, January 16, 2006

By	Tim Challies (Oakville, Ontario) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1). Jesus, our Lord and our God, was and is full of grace and truth. We, his people, have far too often been anything but. It is this paradox, the paradox between grace and truth, that is the subject of a small book by Randy Alcorn (only 96 pages), part of the "Lifechange Books" series.

Alcorn says, "People had only to look at Jesus to see what God is like. People today should only have to look at us to see what Jesus is like. For better or worse, they'll draw conclusions about Christ from what they see in us. If we fail the grace test, we fail to be Christlike. If we fail the truth test, we fail to be Christlike. If we pass both tests, we're like Jesus." And our world is in desperate need of Jesus, and the fullness of His grace and truth.

There sometimes seems to be a conflict between grace and truth. So many Christians appear to emphasize one or the other but so few seem to be able to maintain both. Alcorn teaches balance, but not a balance of 50 percent grace and 50 percent truth, but a Christlike balance of 100 percent grace and 100 percent truth. The Grace and Truth Paradox examines how we can resolve the apparent contradiction between these two ideals. The model is, of course, Jesus, who never sacrificed perfection in either grace or truth. He never emphasized one at the expense of the other.

The solution the author provides is biblically sound. He shows that we can be filled with grace while never compromising the truth. He shows that grace and truth are, in reality, inseparable, for often withholding truth is tantamount to withholding grace. He shows that, ultimately, the grace and truth paradox is also a paradigm - a way of looking at and understanding life. People need the direction of truth to know where to go and the empowerment of grace to get there. Anything less than both grace and truth is neither.

I enjoyed this book and found it challenging to my faith. In fact, the only real problem I had with the book was that Alcorn turned to the old, tired, sad cliché of contrasting Mother Teresa and Hitler as the pinnacles of good and evil. Surely we can do better than that! Still, this is a biblical and satisfying book and one I am glad to recommend.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful but Brief!!!, January 26, 2005

By	Gregory Nyman (Winchendon, MA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Randy Alcorn has written a small treatise on grace and truth, and while using Scripture and personal examples, he appeals to Christians to pursue balance between the both. In one chapter after another, he focuses first on grace and then truth, and contends that the balanced Christian life must have both, and with a truth-centered Christianity, one runs the risk of being legalistic, but in a grace-centered Christianity, one also runs the risk of being overly nice, with the truth taking a back seat.

It is a nicely woven theme, and can be read in one sitting, although the reader might want to chew on one chapter at a time. A powerful treatise, though, and it's right to the point!!

Highly recommended!!!