All of Grace Summary: Spurgeon's 19 Chapters, One by One
TheologyEvangelismChristian Life
All of Grace is a short book C. H. Spurgeon wrote in 1886 for one reason: to lead the person holding it to trust Christ. It isn't a textbook. It reads like a preacher sitting across the table from you. In nineteen chapters he explains that God justifies the ungodly, that salvation comes by grace through faith, what faith is, and how the person who feels helpless can still believe. The last chapters turn to repentance and to the fear of falling away.
You can read All of Grace free here. Below is a plain summary of each chapter, with a link that opens that chapter in the reader. For the best lines, see All of Grace quotes. For the man behind the book, see Who was Charles Spurgeon?
The big idea in one paragraph
Spurgeon's title is his whole message. Salvation is all of grace, which he says means "free, gratis, for nothing." God doesn't wait for us to improve. He justifies the ungodly through the death of Christ, and faith is only the hand that receives the gift. Even faith and repentance are gifts from the risen Christ. And the God who begins this work keeps those who trust Him to the end.
Chapter by chapter
1. To You
Read chapter 1. Spurgeon states his aim plainly: the salvation of the reader. He tells of a man who put a drinking fountain by the road and didn't care what an art critic thought of it, as long as thirsty people drank. His book is that fountain. He chose plain words so the poorest reader could understand.
2. What Are We At?
Read chapter 2. A poor woman didn't answer her door because she thought the rent collector was knocking. Spurgeon says he isn't calling for the rent. The book makes no demand. It brings a free gift.
3. God Justifieth the Ungodly
Read chapter 3. This is the heart of the book, a "little sermon" on Romans 4:5. God takes the title "Him that justifieth the ungodly." The gospel isn't for good people. A doctor goes to the sick, and pardon is only for the guilty. Spurgeon tells of a ragged crossing sweeper who was hired to sit for a painting, then sent away because he washed and dressed up first. Come as you are, he says.
4. It Is God That Justifieth
Read chapter 4. Only God would have thought of justifying sinners, and only God could do it, because the sin is against Him. When the Judge acquits, no one can condemn. Here Spurgeon tells his own conversion: he heard "Look unto me, and be ye saved," and he looked.
5. Just and the Justifier
Read chapter 5. How can a just God justify guilty people? Spurgeon remembers feeling that God ought to punish him. The answer is substitution. Christ, as the second Adam, bore the sentence, so God can forgive without setting His law aside. Spurgeon rests his own hope on the cross alone.
6. Concerning Deliverance from Sinning
Read chapter 6. Some believe Christ forgives but despair because they keep sinning. Spurgeon says salvation includes a new heart, quoting Ezekiel 36:26. You can't wash a pig into a cat; it needs a new nature. God promises that new nature, and He keeps what He gives.
7. By Grace Through Faith
Read chapter 7. Grace is the fountain. Faith is only the aqueduct the water flows through. Don't trust your faith; trust the One your faith looks to. Weak faith still receives the gift.
8. Faith, What Is It?
Read chapter 8. Faith is made of knowledge, belief and trust. Know the gospel, believe it is true, then lean your whole weight on Christ. Spurgeon warns against understanding faith and never actually doing it.
9. How May Faith Be Illustrated?
Read chapter 9. Faith is the eye that looks, the hand that grasps, the mouth that eats. The farmer, the merchant and the sailor all live by trust. The limpet that clings to the rock knows little, but it clings. Faith grows from clinging to loving trust, and it always leads to obedience.
10. Why Are We Saved by Faith?
Read chapter 10. Faith fits the job because it only receives, like a hand taking an apple. It gives God all the glory, it links us to Him like a rope from the shore, and it moves the heart toward love and holiness.
11. Alas! I Can Do Nothing!
Read chapter 11. The longest chapter answers the cry of helplessness with Romans 5:6: "when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." Spurgeon walks through the person who can't think clearly, can't repent enough, is plagued by evil thoughts, can't believe, can't quit sin, or can't stand firm. To each he gives the same text.
12. The Increase of Faith
Read chapter 12. How do you come to believe? Just believe. If that's hard, pray, hear the gospel often, listen to others who were saved, remember that God Himself commands you to believe, and think about who Jesus is. If none of that helps, pride is the problem: surrender.
13. Regeneration and the Holy Spirit
Read chapter 13. "Ye must be born again" stands in the same chapter as John 3:16, so the two can't conflict. Believing is ours; the new birth is the Spirit's work. The chapter then turns to the risen, reigning Christ, who lives to save and to give.
14. Repentance Must Go with Forgiveness
Read chapter 14. Christ is exalted to give both repentance and forgiveness, and they never come apart. Pardon for someone who still loves sin would be no mercy. Repentance grows as faith grows. It is the companion of forgiveness, not its cause.
15. How Repentance Is Given
Read chapter 15. The risen Christ gives repentance by His work, His Spirit and His providence, even through hard times. He gives it to the most unlikely people. Don't try to squeeze it out of your heart; look at the cross.
16. The Fear of Final Falling
Read chapter 16. Many fear they won't last. Spurgeon says those who trust Christ for the start but themselves for the finish do fall. Using 1 Corinthians 1:8 and 9, he admits the need is real: our weakness, the length of life and a hostile world.
17. Confirmation
Read chapter 17. God promises to confirm believers to the end and keep them blameless. This settling is the Spirit's work. New believers can hope to become steady pillars.
18. Why Saints Persevere
Read chapter 18. The reason is "God is faithful." He called us into fellowship, a partnership with His Son, and that call isn't reversed. Christ and the believer are in the same boat.
19. Close
Read chapter 19. Spurgeon pleads with the reader one last time not to turn away. To those who believe, he says keep to free grace and go win others. He ends: "Meet me in heaven."
How to use this summary
Read the book alongside it. Chapters 3 through 5 give the foundation, chapters 7 through 12 explain faith, and chapters 14 through 18 cover repentance and perseverance. If you want the book's teaching on faith gathered in one place, read Saved by Grace Through Faith: What Spurgeon Says Faith Is. Then open All of Grace and read it start to finish. It takes about three hours.