Terry Virgo - Gods Lavish Grace

Copyright 2004 by Terry Virgo
This edition copyright 2004 Lion Hudson

The right of Terry Virgo to be identified
as author of this work has been asserted by him in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any
information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by Monarch Books
an imprint of
Lion Hudson plc
Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road, Oxford OX2 8DR, England
Tel: +44 (0) 1865 302750 Fax: +44 (0) 1865 302757
Email: monarch@lionhudson.com
www.lionhudson.com/monarch

ISBN: 978-1-85424-645-5 (UK)
ISBN: 978-0-8254-6053-1 (USA)
e-ISBN: 978-0-85721-406-5

First edition 2004

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are
taken from the Holy Bible, New American Standard Bible,
The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971,
1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. All rights reserved.

NIV = New International Version
1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society.
British Library Cataloguing Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.

Cover image: Stockbyte/Getty

By the same author:

Does the Future have a Church? (Kingsway)

No Well-Worn Paths (Kingsway)

A People Prepared (Kingsway)

Enjoying Gods Grace (Kingsway)

Explaining Reigning in Life (Sovereign World)

From Refreshing to Revival (Kingsway)

God Knows Youre Human (Cityhill Publishing)

Men of Destiny (Kingsway)

Praying the Lords Prayer (Word)

Receiving the Holy Spirit and His Gifts (Word)

Restoration in the Church (Kingsway)

Start (Kingsway)

Weak People, Mighty God (Kingsway)

Acknowledgements

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to those who have helped shape and confirm my thinking on the theme of grace, through their writing, speaking and liberated lives. I thank God for each one of them.

I am also profoundly grateful to God for the privilege of being rooted in a grace-filled church. The Church of Christ the King in Brighton has been my home for 25 years now and from there I have had the privilege of travelling widely to share this message. Newfrontiers is a family of churches that I have now been serving for over 30 years. They are scattered among the nations and celebrating the grace of God, expressing worship, works and witness that testify to the goodness of that grace; I am deeply grateful to everyone in that ever-expanding family.

Finally, I want to express genuine, heartfelt gratitude to Janis Peters, my secretary, who has typed and retyped the manuscript of this book. Her efficiency and wonderful enthusiasm have made it possible to bring this material to you in its present form.

Permissions

Extract taken from the song The Grace of God by Judy Pruett (pages ).

Copyright 1990 Judy Pruett/Kingsway Music.

Adm. by Kingsway Music. tym@kingsway.co.uk.

Europe & Commonwealth (excl. Canada). Used by permission.

Extract taken from a poem by Madame Guyon (page ).
T.C. Upham, The Life of Madame Guyon , James Clarke & Co.

Used by permission.

Extract taken from the song Purify my Heart by Brian Doerkson (page ).

Copyright 1990 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing.

Used by permission.

Preface

I had been a Christian for about 16 years before my eyes were opened to the truth of Gods grace in a life-changing way.

My experience as a Christian began with five years of backsliding followed by about eleven years of zealous but rather condemnation-driven Christianity. I became increasingly involved in serving God and left my secular work to take up full-time evangelism, followed by Bible College and then some years of pastoral ministry.

One day, I seemed to see some bright sky among the clouds above me, but it quickly closed. I momentarily thought that I heard God tell me that I did not have to earn his love but that he loved me freely and always would! But it was too good to be true and I returned to my former attitude based on duty, applied zeal, passion for God and fervour to serve him, mixed with frequent condemnation.

Some time later, the clouds opened again and I was sure that I had seen something new and gloriously releasing! I began to grasp the wonder of his glorious grace. I gave myself to fresh study and then began to preach Gods grace with new freedom, joy and certainty, having personally experienced the complete transformation of my own Christian life.

It has now been my joy and privilege for a number of years to proclaim the grace of God in many nations, and it has also been my delight to see many lives transformed through this wonderful life-changing truth. Few joys can be compared with discovering the wonder of Gods grace, and I now set this material before you, certain that, if you will give yourself to reading it with an open heart and a willing spirit, your whole experience of Christ can also be transformed. You can be set free to enjoy his grace, to celebrate his love, to be certain of your freely-given righteousness, and to make him known to others.

Gods grace defies our comprehension. His kindness is unfathomable, his covenant love unbreakable. May you encounter the love of God in a new and releasing way as you read the volume in your hands.

Terry Virgo
January 2004

The way in

Maybe you are one of the many Christians who wish that you were more fulfilled in your walk with God. Perhaps you wonder if you are doing enough to deserve his pleasure and earn his acceptance: clouds of condemnation trouble you even when you try to pray. Reading the Bible may have become a chore rather than a pleasure.

How do you get out of this vicious circle of trying harder, followed by disappointment and despondency? Is there something you have failed to understand, a key that can open a new door for you?

This opening chapter shows the way out of the bondage of law-keeping into a fruitful life where you enjoy the grace of God.

The way in

It really does depend on whom you know. I was standing with Wendy, my wife, in Washington DC on Pennsylvania Avenue looking up at the White House. I had reason to hope that I might actually enter the place and have a look around its inner recesses. We had arrived with a promise but with considerable uncertainty as to how things would work. As Wendy and I drew close to the railings around the garden area of the magnificent building, we were approached by a very large policeman and, unlike English policemen, he was well armed with a sizeable gun on his hip. He enquired where we thought we might be going. I rather tentatively replied that we had hoped to enter the White House.

He looked at me rather pityingly and made it very clear to this foolish Englishman that no one walked into the White House.

I explained to him that I was a preacher and that in the morning I had preached at the Covenant Life Church in nearby Gaithersburg and had been assured that I would be able to gain access to the White House through a man who was a member of that church.

And who is this guy? he enquired.

I think his name is John, I replied pathetically.

Perhaps I had never felt so disqualified from the hope of realising any previous ambition I might have had. At this very moment John arrived. Hurriedly jumping from a cab, he ran to our side. Actually, I did not know his face since I had never met him. He was simply a member of the large congregation where I had preached in the morning but he had been given clear instruction and had arrived to meet Wendy and me and take us into the White House. He presented his credentials to the officer who checked them on his computer in a nearby cabin and, wonder of wonders, the gate opened and we walked in, not only to the grounds but also to the inner recesses of the White House. We were told that there were two possible tours, one of which was the VIP one, surpassing the normal public one. But we were privileged to go beyond even the VIP tour and were taken into the Cabinet Office and even to the doorway of the Oval Office. A very kind guard explained to us many of the details of things placed around the office and even those which were on President Reagans desk. It was a high privilege.