Extravagant Grace: God's Glory Displayed in Our Weakness

Those of us who have been brought up in the Puritan tradition have always been taught that sin is terribly destructive, that it poisons our souls, separates us from God, and ultimately makes shipwreck of our faith leading to death. We believed that if we stubbornly continued in sin, God would ultimately give us over to our own lusts forever, condemning us to hell. Barbara Duguid isn’t having it.Duguid begins in her preface:If our ongoing sin keeps us at the foot of the cross, desperately in need of a refuge and redeemer, then the party starts here and now and my daily sin becomes the conduit for outrageous joy and celebration. So let the festivities begin (p.18).Her main thesis in the book is that there is something God loves even more than a life that is victorious over sin — he loves for his people to be broken and contrite — and for this reason he will often choose to walk us through our sin rather than give us victory over it. She says,Let’s be honest: if the chief work of the Holy Spirit in sanctification is to make Christians more sin-free, then he isn’t doing a very good job… his decision to leave Christians with many struggles with sin must also somehow serve to glorify him and benefit his people. This is shocking news, isn’t it? Think of what this means. God thinks that you will actually come to know and love him better as a desperate and weak sinner in continual need of grace than you would as a triumphant Christian warrior who wins each and every battle against sin. This makes sense out of our experience as Christians (p. 30).Personal experience ranks high in her determination of what is true and the whole book is filled with story after story about her personal failures.Duguid assures us that God’s real goal is not to remove sin but to make us more aware of it. She says,What is God’s goal for us as we mature in faith? Is it simply that we actually sin less and less, or rather that we see our sin more and more? If his goal is that we see more and more sin, then he is ordaining to leave and tolerate a great deal of sin in us for his higher purpose (p. 59).She also assures us that when we sin, it is because God willed it:It may come as a shocking thought that God ordains sin! We know from Scripture that he never tempts anyone to evil and cannot be tempted by it himself (James 1:13). However, it is equally clear that a God who could stop sin and chooses not to, but chooses instead to use it for his own ends, has clearly willed it without ever causing it (p. 60).Duguid lists further benefits of sin:However, if you believe that God is completely sovereign over your sin and is always using it for your own good to teach you more about yourself and more of his grace, then you are free to hate your sin but love what God is doing through it. This does not lead to discouragement, fear, anxiety, and depression. On the contrary, it leads to peace, joy, and greater confidence in the work of the Holy Spirit living in you (p. 61-2).Duguid reimagines sanctification as a monergistic act of God, denying that at regeneration we have been empowered and equipped by the Holy Spirit to kill sin in our lives. According to Duguid, sin is inevitable and we are not free agents:What if God has left you in such a weak state here on earth that you couldn’t even want to flip that Holy Spirit switch (if there were such a thing) without his help and enabling? What if he has done this very thing for our own good—and for his glory? What if the pathway to huge, overwhelming, and abundant joy in Christ does not take us around our sin, but takes us right through the middle of it? (p. 98). God has been writing the story of your life and, on a grander scale, the history of his people by allowing and restraining sin. You are not a free agent (p.105).There is a lot to be said about a broken and contrite heart. And while we always knew that when we sinned, a broken and contrite heart was what pleased God even more than sacrifice, it turns out that according to Duguid, God wants us to be broken and miserable continually.If decreasing the total number of sins that I committed were God’s primary objective, he would have kept me out of the wilderness…God loves broken and contrite hearts, and we don’t acquire those by living the victorious Christian life (p. 118-119). God loves a humble and contrite spirit, and this can come to us in no other way than through our own repeated sinful failure (p. 214).In the entire book, there is not one warning such as what we find in Romans 2:4-5. “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” The kind of extravagant grace Duguid celebrates is a counterfeit. The real thing is the grace that gives us victory over sin.

After overhearing a friend's high recommendation of the book, I recently picked up a copy of Barbara Duguid's Extravagant Grace. Within the first ten minutes of reading, I was floored by her openness to the reality of her own sinfulness. In the book, Barbara does not feel the need to validate herself. Instead, she spends the entire book explaining how the Gospel is made all the more beautiful because of our inability to achieve a sinless life.Have you ever wondered why there are some sins in your life that you just can't seem to overcome no matter how much you've prayed, tried, confessed, and so forth? I know I have. If God's purpose in sanctification is to make us “better and better” day by day, doesn't it seem like we're miserably failing? Or maybe He's not doing His job well enough? Barbara uses the writings and theology of John Newton to explain how God uses our failures and weaknesses to point to His glory. A few of my favorite quotes from the book:“Newton argues that this greater goal is the fashioning of humble and contrite hearts in God's chosen people as, through their ongoing weakness and sin, they come to trust in themselves less and less and to trust and delight in Christ more and more.”“God chose to leave us significantly deformed and imperfect after our conversion because he values something more than our sinlessness.”“God is capable, when he pleases and for his own purposes, of giving me the grace to stand and resist temptation. But often he chooses instead, for his own good purposes, to show me grace through my falls, humbling me and teaching me my desperate need of him.”Of brothers and sisters in Christ, who should not be surprised by our sin, we should hear: “'Of course you sinned... Come with me to the throne of grace to celebrate the love of your Savior and to find help in your time of need.'”"What if being reminded that you don't have to change to win God's favor unleashes such joy and sense of safety in your soul that changing becomes the thing you desire most, simply out of gratitude for such overwhelming acceptance and love?""....God seldom frees us from besetting sin before showing us how deeply inability is rooted in our souls. If this work were cooperative, with me and Jesus working together, then at the end of the performance there would be two people on stage taking the bow. However, understanding my inability leads me to a far different posture. I am not on stage next to Jesus, taking a bow. Instead, I am flat on my face in the dust, with my hand on my foolish mouth, worshiping at the feet of my beautiful Savior whose power and grace has rescued me."The first few chapters of the book explain different maturity levels of believers. I'd never thought of her distinctions and found the comments fascinating. She then spends a few chapters breaking down an understanding of human depravity and where God's grace fits in the bigger picture. She uses many scriptural references to back her points but not in a dry, lifeless way. She pointed me to an immeasurably great and glorious God. Her writings have driven me to my knees in both tears and prayer. I've been given a greater understanding of my own heart so that I may grow in my patience with the sins of others. She finishes the book by giving the “joyful implications of amazing grace,” which include advantages of remaining sin. Yes, you read that right – and I won't give the spoilers here.This book rocked me to my core. It made me consider things in a way I've never given much thought to before. If you've ever struggled with sin, if you've ever been on the suffering side of the sins of others, if you feel dry in your relationship with the Lord, you need to read this book. For that matter, if you have a fervent desire to grow as a believer or even an apathetic attitude towards the Christian life and are ready for a change, read and be blessed.

I loved this book. Barbara Duguid is brutally honest about her own weaknesses. Her vulnerability commends her insights about life. I love especially where she speaks of being told that God might give her grace to change, or grace to help with failing to change. I will read this again and again and recommend it to others.

Christ relentlessly loves us, pursues us and saved us, sinners, to become heirs in the kingdom of God and inherit eternal life.

Clearly written. Fresh perspective. Especially helpful for believers who've been on the road awhile.

Excellent book on God's grace. It made me feel the freedom to truly worship God out of gratitude and not obligation (Law). I would recommend this book to all of the saints that are weary over their besetting sin. It helped me out tremendously. I am going to read it again!

Really great read!