"By Grace Alone" by Derek Prince

"By Grace Alone: Finding Freedom and Purging Legalism From Your Life" piqued my interest because I'd never read a book that devoted itself to exploring the grace of God. It's also interesting to see what people have to say about legalism, as there is such a difference in the way this topic is viewed.

A caveat right off the bat: I had never heard of "worldwide Bible teacher Derek Prince" before, and although I looked around online before I agreed to review this book, I didn't realize he had a Pentecostal background. Therefore I did not agree with the doctrines he occasionally touched upon, such as a separate baptism of the Holy Spirit, conditional salvation, the prosperity gospel, etc. These were only briefly mentioned throughout the book, but it is part of the whole.

Overall, I found this a very interesting an thorough look at law and grace, and why the two cannot mix. Legalism in this book was strictly defined as works-based salvation. Prince expounds upon why the law was given, how the law is something we could never achieve, and how "Law writes with ink on external tablets; grace writes with the Holy Spirit on the heart" (pg. 143). Grace is the unmerited favor of God bringing us salvation and changing us into His image.

My favorite parts of the book were when Prince explained more about the cultural background of Galatians 3:24 ("...the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ...") and the last chapter, The Presence of Grace, where he discusses how grace manifests itself in a Christian's life. On the whole, I thought the book was engaging and interesting for a deeper look on these topics.

I received my copy from the publisher in exchange for this honest review. All opinions are my own.