Book Review: Stunned by Grace by Frank Friedmann
Although Frank Friedmann’s book, Stunned by Grace, was released in the spring of 2020, I just now got around to reading it this spring. I wish that I had not waited so long!
This is a great book on the grace of God and the full gospel message.
Frank said that it took him 20 years, 4 rewrites, and seven edits before finally publishing this book! It shows.
Frank was stunned by grace over 30 years ago and has been living by grace, teaching about grace, and counseling others through that grace since that time.
The experiences he’s had all throughout that time allowed him to write from a place of depth and put together a comprehensive look at the new covenant grace message.
DID GOD LIE?
In the opening chapter, Frank captures the disconnect between what Jesus promised and what many Christians often experience.
He brings up five things that Jesus promised.
1. Your joy would be made full.
2. His peace would be left with us.
3. We would have abundant life.
4. He would provide rest for the weak and weary.
5. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
The problem is that a lot of us don’t experience full joy, peace, abundant life, rest, or freedom!
If Jesus promised these things, was He lying?
NO! It’s just that the church has missed the full gospel message. We hear the message about what Jesus did to forgive our sins and provide a place in heaven for us, but we don’t hear about all that Jesus did to us to transform us into a whole new creation!
IDENTITY
Because we often miss whom we become in Christ the moment we put our faith in Jesus for salvation, we are constantly trying to find ways to establish or maintain our identity that began long before we ever came to know Christ.
One of the things I appreciate is how Frank does a masterful job of helping us see what really went wrong in the garden when sin entered the world and how that has led us to act and behave as we do in our flesh.
He mentions how we become our own god. We become the source of our lives. But we also look to other people to be our source as well.
Frank explains how this took place in the life of Adam and Eve.
In Adam's eyes Eve also became like God. She too became a source of life for Adam. This, my friend, is what people have been doing ever since the fall. We look to others to meet our most significant needs, and we will do anything to get those needs met. We function like 2 ticks with no dog, attempting to suck the life out of each other. It is ironic that if you take that phrase and spell dog backward what a declaration it makes. We function like 2 ticks with no God attempting to suck the life out of each other when there is no life to begin with.
Chapter 5, Stunned by Grace
We were not made to be the source of our own lives, nor were others made to be the source of our lives either. God was made to be our source.
He is our Life. He establishes and maintains our identity.
Once we put our faith in Jesus, God rebirths us into a new creation. We have new Life in Him. We are born into His family. We are children of God.
We no longer have to look to ourselves or others to find abundant life.
What freedom we now have!
FREEDOM FROM THE LAW
Not only do we have freedom from our old self and the bondage to use others to find Life, but we are also now free from slavery to the law (performance).
This is another area that Frank does a fantastic and thorough job of explaining. There is so much confusion about the law and the place it carries in the life of a new covenant believer.
He spends four chapters on this subject: The Real Purpose of the Law, The Perversion of the Law, We Are Free from the Law, and Why the Law Will Never Work.
Here’s one of the things Frank writes in this section.
You will not bear fruit following the law. You will not experience or express love, joy, peace, patience, goodness or any other aspect of the Spirit life by following the law. The only way to bear fruit in the Christian life is to be married to Jesus Christ, Who told us to abide in Him. He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Abide in Me, and you will bear much fruit” (John 15:5). Branches don’t bear fruit unless they’re connected to the vine.
Chapter 14, Stunned by Grace
Frank’s conclusion: Grace does what law can’t.
GIVE YOURSELF SOME GRACE
As Frank finishes up the book, he encourages all of us to extend grace to ourselves. We all must grow up in grace. It takes time to learn how to live from God instead of for Him.
It may be uncomfortable at times, and we might fall as we learn to walk in dependence on Christ. However, in Christ, we stand.
As you continue to learn how to walk in grace, here are some encouraging words that Frank closes with.
Father not only loves you, he likes you. He created you for himself and adopted you as his son or his daughter. He treats you with great honor, value, and dignity. He disciples you by his Word and his Spirit to live according to who you really are in him.
Chapter 18, Stunned by Grace
CONCLUSION
I highly recommend Stunned by Grace! I love this book, and I know that you will too.
Frank is a gifted communicator of the grace message. He is funny, sincere, knowledgeable, and guided by the Spirit as He shares these great truths.
You will be blessed if you read it, and you will be stunned by our Lord’s grace!
BONUS: NEW 31-DAY DEVOTIONAL!
Stunned by God is a 31-day devotional that Frank and John Russin co-wrote together and was just released!
If you’re looking for a daily devotional to go along with the Stunned by Grace book, this is it!
Frank and John’s prayer for you (from the back cover) is that you’ll find God in a way you never knew Him. That you’ll trust Him fully and experience Him powerfully. That you’ll live in Him radically, stunned daily by Who He is to you. And that your changed life will proclaim the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ to those around you.
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