Best Christian Books on Grace: 11 Classics on God's Free Favor
If you read one book on grace, make it Spurgeon's All of Grace. He wrote it for one purpose, the salvation of the reader, and it explains in plain, warm chapters that God saves sinners freely, by grace, through faith. If you want something shorter and just as plain, read D. L. Moody's Sovereign Grace. If you think you are too far gone for grace, read John Bunyan's The Jerusalem Sinner Saved.
Moody's definition of grace is hard to improve: "unmerited mercy, undeserved favor." The old writers taught that grace is not God's reward for good people. It is His free kindness to people who deserve the opposite. It is the source of salvation from start to finish: grace chose us, grace sent Christ, grace gives faith and repentance, grace keeps us and brings us home. Faith is only the hand that receives it. And grace does not leave us as we were. The same grace that pardons also teaches, trains and strengthens. It is never a license to sin.
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:9
Here are eleven of the best books on grace in TheWay Library, all free to read.
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1. All of Grace, by C. H. Spurgeon
Spurgeon begins with Romans 4:5, "him that justifieth the ungodly," and shows that God does just that. Then he explains grace as the fountain and faith as the channel, what faith is, and why repentance and perseverance are gifts too. The longest chapter answers the person who cries, "I can do nothing."
He comes, not because we are just, but to make us so: he justifieth the ungodly.
All of Grace, chapter 3
See our All of Grace summary, its best quotes and what it means to be saved by grace through faith. Read All of Grace.
2. Sovereign Grace, by D. L. Moody
Short chapters from Moody's preaching: the fountain of grace, saved by grace alone, grace abounding to the chief of sinners, law and grace, and grace for living and for service. The book ends with conversations between Moody and the Irish preacher Marcus Rainsford.
Many are satisfied to go into the stream of grace ankle deep, when God wants them to swim in it.
Sovereign Grace, chapter 7
See our guide to D. L. Moody's books. Read Sovereign Grace.
3. The Jerusalem Sinner Saved, by John Bunyan
Jesus told His apostles to preach the gospel to all nations, "beginning at Jerusalem," the city that had just crucified Him. Bunyan asks why, and answers: the worst sinners need mercy most, show off grace best and love most when forgiven. The long application speaks straight to the troubled reader.
Jesus Christ: yea, Christ is prepared for such as thou art.
The Jerusalem Sinner Saved, The Application
See our guide to John Bunyan's books. Read The Jerusalem Sinner Saved.
What grace is and does
4. Grace and Power, by W. H. Griffith Thomas
Short studies of the Christian life that put grace at the root of everything: knowing Christ, peace and access to God, justification, sanctification, consecration and meditation. Clear and well organized.
Our sufficiency is not of self, but of grace, and our service is the outflow of the grace of God in the heart.
Grace and Power, chapter 5
5. Ephesian Studies, by H. C. G. Moule
Ephesians is the letter of grace, and Moule's devotional studies are a warm guide to it. Read the chapters on Ephesians 2, the Ephesians' salvation as an example of redeeming grace. For a second guide, Alexander Maclaren's Expositions on Ephesians has a fine sermon titled "Salvation: Grace: Faith." See our guide to H. C. G. Moule's books. Read Ephesian Studies.
6. Heaven Opened, by Richard Alleine
A Puritan opens the covenant of grace and shows what is in it for the believer: God Himself, Christ, the Spirit, the angels as servants, death turned to gain, and a new heart. The book ends in a soliloquy of triumph.
In sum, this new heart is the divine nature; the image of God renewed; the life of God begotten, Christ formed in them.
Heaven Opened, chapter 9
See also the best Puritan books. Read Heaven Opened.
Grace for those who have failed
7. "And Peter," by J. Wilbur Chapman
The title sermon takes the angel's words at the empty tomb, "tell his disciples and Peter," and finds there Christ's tender care for a disciple who had denied Him. Other sermons treat the prodigal's father and "No Difference."
We know ourselves better when we know Peter thoroughly well.
"And Peter" and Other Sermons, chapter 3
See our guide to J. Wilbur Chapman's books. Read "And Peter".
8. The Parables Read in the Light of the Present Day, by Thomas Guthrie
Guthrie's vivid chapters on the parables, including the prodigal son and the lost coin, both pictures of a God who comes looking for us.
In these we see God seeking our salvation; not waiting till we go to him, but coming to us — to seek and to save the lost.
The Parables Read in the Light of the Present Day, chapter 9
The grace that teaches
9. "The Way," by Sir Robert Anderson
Short chapters on the Christian life. The center of the book is Titus 2:11-12: the grace of God that brings salvation also teaches us to deny ungodliness and live soberly, righteously and godly. Anderson warns against using grace to set aside God's holiness.
The New Testament is read as though it were given to supersede the Old, and the grace and love of God are used to set aside the truth of His holiness and majesty.
"The Way", chapter 4
Living by grace
10. Letters on the Most Important Subjects, by William Romaine
Warm personal letters from an eighteenth-century London pastor to a friend. Nearly every one turns to the same counsel: rest on the finished work of Jesus, live by faith rather than feelings, and expect to thrive most when you feel lowest in your own eyes.
Remember again, Christ is the sum and substance of it all.
Letters on the Most Important Subjects, Letter VII
11. Teachings of Nature in the Kingdom of Grace, by C. H. Spurgeon
Short readings from Spurgeon's sermons, grouped around pictures from the natural world: Eden, trees, gardens, springs and harvests. Good for a few minutes a day.
God comes to man; man seeks not his God.
Teachings of Nature in the Kingdom of Grace, The Garden of Eden
Where to start
Start with Spurgeon and Moody. If guilt has you stuck, read Bunyan and Chapman next. When you are ready for more, read Griffith Thomas and Moule on Ephesians.
One more classic belongs on any list about grace. Bunyan's Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners is in our guide to the best books on conversion. For the whole plan of salvation, see the best books on salvation. For how grace changes a life, see the best books on sanctification.