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Believing Christ: The Parable of the Bicycle and Other Good News
Author Stephen Robinson illustrates the power of the Savior as he uses analogies and parables, such as his own bicycle story, and scriptures and personal experiences in this moving, best-selling book.
“Mortals have finite liabilities,” he explains, “and Jesus has unlimited assets.” By merging the two, exaltation can come. As long as we progress in some degree, the Lord will be pleased and will bless us.
We must not only believe in Christ but also believe him — believe that he has the power to exalt us, that he can do what he claims.
People will better understand the doctrines of mercy, justification, and salvation by grace after reading this book.
“Mortals have finite liabilities,” he explains, “and Jesus has unlimited assets.” By merging the two, exaltation can come. As long as we progress in some degree, the Lord will be pleased and will bless us.
We must not only believe in Christ but also believe him — believe that he has the power to exalt us, that he can do what he claims.
People will better understand the doctrines of mercy, justification, and salvation by grace after reading this book.
125 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
About the author
Stephen E. Robinson
21 books37 followersStephen E. Robinson has taught at Brigham Young University since 1986. He received a B.A. from Brigham Young University in 1971 in English Literature and a PhD from Duke University in 1978 in Biblical Studies. He and his wife, Janet, have six children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 973 reviews
January 21, 2008
The concept of this book is pretty simple: Robinson distinguishes between "believing IN Christ" and "believing Christ." The idea is that while many of us believe in Christ's divinity - His role as the Son of God and the Savior of mankind - too many don't believe Christ when He says He can save us personally. Robinson always shares an important "saved by grace" emphasis that is helpful in an all-too-often works-based Mormon culture. "Believing Christ" has become a favorite for Mormons in need of a reminder that Christ meant what He said: He didn't come to save perfect people, but us sinners.
To many Mormons, the concept of "believing Christ" is a breakthrough, but the scriptures teach it over and over. I think the distinction Robinson is after is captured in the distinction between "faith" and "hope." We must have faith that Christ has the power to save and hope that we will in the end receive salvation.
Still, a lesson that most of us need.
To many Mormons, the concept of "believing Christ" is a breakthrough, but the scriptures teach it over and over. I think the distinction Robinson is after is captured in the distinction between "faith" and "hope." We must have faith that Christ has the power to save and hope that we will in the end receive salvation.
Still, a lesson that most of us need.
March 14, 2015
I need to read this one at least once a year. It's like having a bishop on a personal retainer. I feel like I'm being counselled by a very wise and understanding friend who truly "gets it". He makes the point that yes, we believe in Christ, but do we believe Christ? Do we really believe that he has the power to do what he says, that he can save even me? I read this book often so I'll never forget it. p.s. It was recommended to me by my bishop, a really nice guy :)
re-read: I really think this book has done more for the LDS community than any other non-scriptural publication ever printed. I can't really say enough good things about this book. It's simple, clear, and feeds my testimony in a big way. If you're LDS and you haven't read this yet, I highly, highly recommend it. It's a beloved classic for a very good reason. A truly wonderful book. 5 stars.
re-read: I really think this book has done more for the LDS community than any other non-scriptural publication ever printed. I can't really say enough good things about this book. It's simple, clear, and feeds my testimony in a big way. If you're LDS and you haven't read this yet, I highly, highly recommend it. It's a beloved classic for a very good reason. A truly wonderful book. 5 stars.
November 1, 2022
This book is powerful. Words can never describe just how powerful it is. I have come to better understand God and the power of Jesus Christ's atonement all because of this very book. I will read again and again.
June 6, 2008
I loved this book. The ideas were laid out clearly and very straight forward. I am glad to learn more about how both grace and works are necessary for our salvation. Some wonderful ladies from the Baptist church came by my door and showed me the steps to accept Christ and spoke of how we are saved by grace and not by works. They used the analogy that if I was going to give you a gift but said you had to go wash my car first, then it’s not really a gift. I felt inadequate in my attempts to explain that we do need to what our Savior has asked (And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?). I really felt like this book answered many of my questions about the interplay of grace and works.
Another great truth I took away from this book is that feeling of the Savior being with us the whole time helping us along and not just us working hard all our lives on our own and then handing the baton over the Savior to finish. If I am keeping my covenants, then I am perfect-in-Christ right now and can be assured of my salvation right now. Once I enter into the covenant and keep it I don’t have to have a certain level of testimony or faith or knowledge before I can be saved. I can continue to working out my salvation and pushing myself to be better but I don’t have to be worried and whether I’m going to make it or not.
Another great truth I took away from this book is that feeling of the Savior being with us the whole time helping us along and not just us working hard all our lives on our own and then handing the baton over the Savior to finish. If I am keeping my covenants, then I am perfect-in-Christ right now and can be assured of my salvation right now. Once I enter into the covenant and keep it I don’t have to have a certain level of testimony or faith or knowledge before I can be saved. I can continue to working out my salvation and pushing myself to be better but I don’t have to be worried and whether I’m going to make it or not.
September 29, 2008
I had Stephen Robinson as a New Testament teacher and learned much from him not only on the background of Jewish life in New Testament times, but also much about his lessons in the gospel. The glimpses I got about the premise of the book from class were thought-provoking and I think one we need to focus on more often. I have owned this book for years, but never finished it, so I finally pulled it out.
As Latter-day Saints, we tend to focus more on works that grace as we attempt to work out our own salvation by being so perfect we deserve the Atonement. Robinson reminds us that we cannot be saved but by the grace of God through the Atonement of Christ. The balance between being grateful and dependent on grace and being aware that our works (repentance) make us worthy to receive the gift is a fine balance.
To think we are unworthy of the Atonement because we are too sinful or to assume we can achieve our own salvation by making ourselves perfect means that we do not believe Christ. We believe the idea of Christ for humanity, but do not believe Him personally as our Savior. He can heal us. He does understand us. He can wipe away our personal sins. He does know us intimately. The Atonement may be a concept our human minds cannot fathom, but it is a topic worthy of our frequent contemplation, not on a general, theoretical level, but how it personally affects us. I enjoyed my own reflections of my relationship with my Savior that sprung about by this book.
My one issue with the book is that in reminding us that we cannot be perfect, cleansed, sanctified, justified, all that is needed to return to Heavenly Father without Christ, he relies too heavily on the grace side and berates us for our emphasis on works. For example: in one part he mentions that he cringes when well-meaning members point out the areas we need to improve in our path to perfection. Yes I understand that Mormons get overwhelmed and have one of the highest levels of depression because of this expectation to be perfect despite our knowledge that we can repent and be better, but I personally go to church to feel the pricks of the Spirit telling me I have not done so good in this area and need to improve in that one. Those reminders are good and useful and I don't want members to stop the encouragement toward perfect because someone may be down about their own lack of it. Yes we need to be reminded often that we are saved by grace, but we also need to be reminded that we receive that grace by accepting it and choosing it in our efforts to keep the commandments.
And I'm going to disagree with Robinson on an opinion. He believes members misinterpret 2 Ne 25:23: "for we know that it is by grace that we are saved after all we can do," thinking we must save ourselves and then we're perfect enough to receive grace. I personally don't know anyone who thinks that's what this (my favorite scripture) means. We know—again on a theoretical level—that no matter what we do, we need Christ's grace to be saved. We know what the scripture means, we just need to be reminded that we need to turn to our Savior for strength, for forgiveness, when Satan's whisperings tell us we are alone and unworthy.
Quotes:
Thus the most important goal in mortality is becoming one with Christ.
We believe in him, but we don't trust him. We get so frightened and intimidated, so horrified, by our own imperfections that we don't see how he can possibly save us from then, and we lose faith.
To this union, we bring our righteous desires and our loyalty. He brings his perfection.
You can make yourself just and terrestial by your own good works and best efforts, buy only Christ can make you perfect and celestial.
There are many who want to serve God and keep his commandments, who hunger and thirst after righteousness, but who, because of the very loftiness and nobility of their desires, despair at the reality of their performance.
If we could be justified by our own efforts, then we wouldn't need a savior at all, and Christ's infinite sacrifice would have been all for nothing.
No matter how proud we may be of our relative ability to keep the commandments, until our aptitude is right, until our hearts are broken and our spirits are contrite, our relative goodness is of little benefit.
We are both beggars at the mercy of God. Therefore, I can feel superiority over the least struggling member.
Above all else, God wants our hearts. ... Weakness can be saved; rebellion cannot.
God loves us not because we're so lovable he can't help himself—he loves us because his nature is loving, because God is love.
We humans did not earn or merit the offer of a new covenant. Quite the opposite: the gospel covenant was only necessary in the first place because of our disobedience and our inability to keep the commandments. We didn't earn it—we needed it.
God may be predisposed in our favor, he may put within our reach what was once beyond us, and he may remove every obstacle in the way of our salvation, but he will not force us down the path he has cleared, nor will he save us without our consent.
Salvation comes through a covenant relationship in which both faith and works play their parts. To insist that salvation comes by works alone, that we can earn it ourselves without needing the grace of God, insults the mercy of God and mocks the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in our behalf. On the other hand, to insist that salvation comes by belief alone and that God places no other obligations upon the believer insults the justice of God and makes Christ the minister of sin.
Trying our hardest to keep the commandments and be like Christ is part of our covenant obligation, not because we can succeed at them in this life, but because the attempt, the commitment to try, demonstrates oursincerity and our commitment to the covenant.
While success is not a requirement of the covenant of faith, my best attempts are.
Some of us who are relatively good at keeping the rules also trust in ourselves that we are righteous. Such are inordinately proud of their own goodness; the exalt themselves. But whenever we are proud of how good we are instead of being humbled by how imperfect we are, our hearts are not broken, nor are our spirits contrite.
Those who fail to appreciate their utter dependence upon the Savior and who insist they are working out their own salvation are guilty of this same satanic attitude.
There is transforming power in the grace of Christ for those whose hearts break in humble acknowledgment of their need for grace and mercy.
Rejection of the idea of mercy amounted to a rejection of Christ.
Anyone can pretend to be doing their best and pretend to be justified by faith in Christ and to enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost, while in truth they remain obstinately committed to their sins.
Learn the difference between wanting righteousness and wishingwishing they wanted righteousness.
Individuals who commit the moral and doctrinal error of refusing to do what they could very well do seek to be saved in their sins rather than from their sins. But that is a vast difference between viewing my sins as enemies from which I'm trying with difficulty to escape and viewing my sins as comfortable old friends I'm reluctant to leave behind.
The good news is that God will not require of us more than the best we can do, but the bad news is he will not accept less than that either.
Faith in Christ, repentance, and the cleansing of the Atonement cannot be one-time events in our lives. Although they may begin on a particular occasion, faith, repentance, and forgiveness are part of a continual process of rejection our mistakes, reaffirming our desires and our goal, and realigning our lives to Christ whenever and wherever we are off track.
Human beings are inevitably the arsonists of their own happiness.
Jesus Christ did not just assume the punishment for our sins—he took the guilt as well.
If Jesus had assumed only the punishment for our sins but not the sins themselves, then when the penalty was paid, we would merely "guilty but forgiven," instead of being sanctified through the Atonement, being perfect-in-Christ, and being innocent and worthy of the kingdom of God and the presence of the Father.
Thus through his vicarious atonement, Jesus knows more than anyone about the dark side of being human.
No one has ever been as alone as Christ in the Garden.
Still, however we may try to understand the Gethsemane experience, we are doomed to underestimate it.
Thus when we are tempted to think that our sins have put us beyond the understanding of reach of God, we are simply mistaken, and we grossly underestimate the scope of the Atonement.
In that infinite Gethsemane experience, the meridian of time, the center of eternity, he lived a billion billion lifetimes of sin, pain, disease, and sorrow.
As Latter-day Saints, we tend to focus more on works that grace as we attempt to work out our own salvation by being so perfect we deserve the Atonement. Robinson reminds us that we cannot be saved but by the grace of God through the Atonement of Christ. The balance between being grateful and dependent on grace and being aware that our works (repentance) make us worthy to receive the gift is a fine balance.
To think we are unworthy of the Atonement because we are too sinful or to assume we can achieve our own salvation by making ourselves perfect means that we do not believe Christ. We believe the idea of Christ for humanity, but do not believe Him personally as our Savior. He can heal us. He does understand us. He can wipe away our personal sins. He does know us intimately. The Atonement may be a concept our human minds cannot fathom, but it is a topic worthy of our frequent contemplation, not on a general, theoretical level, but how it personally affects us. I enjoyed my own reflections of my relationship with my Savior that sprung about by this book.
My one issue with the book is that in reminding us that we cannot be perfect, cleansed, sanctified, justified, all that is needed to return to Heavenly Father without Christ, he relies too heavily on the grace side and berates us for our emphasis on works. For example: in one part he mentions that he cringes when well-meaning members point out the areas we need to improve in our path to perfection. Yes I understand that Mormons get overwhelmed and have one of the highest levels of depression because of this expectation to be perfect despite our knowledge that we can repent and be better, but I personally go to church to feel the pricks of the Spirit telling me I have not done so good in this area and need to improve in that one. Those reminders are good and useful and I don't want members to stop the encouragement toward perfect because someone may be down about their own lack of it. Yes we need to be reminded often that we are saved by grace, but we also need to be reminded that we receive that grace by accepting it and choosing it in our efforts to keep the commandments.
And I'm going to disagree with Robinson on an opinion. He believes members misinterpret 2 Ne 25:23: "for we know that it is by grace that we are saved after all we can do," thinking we must save ourselves and then we're perfect enough to receive grace. I personally don't know anyone who thinks that's what this (my favorite scripture) means. We know—again on a theoretical level—that no matter what we do, we need Christ's grace to be saved. We know what the scripture means, we just need to be reminded that we need to turn to our Savior for strength, for forgiveness, when Satan's whisperings tell us we are alone and unworthy.
Quotes:
Thus the most important goal in mortality is becoming one with Christ.
We believe in him, but we don't trust him. We get so frightened and intimidated, so horrified, by our own imperfections that we don't see how he can possibly save us from then, and we lose faith.
To this union, we bring our righteous desires and our loyalty. He brings his perfection.
You can make yourself just and terrestial by your own good works and best efforts, buy only Christ can make you perfect and celestial.
There are many who want to serve God and keep his commandments, who hunger and thirst after righteousness, but who, because of the very loftiness and nobility of their desires, despair at the reality of their performance.
If we could be justified by our own efforts, then we wouldn't need a savior at all, and Christ's infinite sacrifice would have been all for nothing.
No matter how proud we may be of our relative ability to keep the commandments, until our aptitude is right, until our hearts are broken and our spirits are contrite, our relative goodness is of little benefit.
We are both beggars at the mercy of God. Therefore, I can feel superiority over the least struggling member.
Above all else, God wants our hearts. ... Weakness can be saved; rebellion cannot.
God loves us not because we're so lovable he can't help himself—he loves us because his nature is loving, because God is love.
We humans did not earn or merit the offer of a new covenant. Quite the opposite: the gospel covenant was only necessary in the first place because of our disobedience and our inability to keep the commandments. We didn't earn it—we needed it.
God may be predisposed in our favor, he may put within our reach what was once beyond us, and he may remove every obstacle in the way of our salvation, but he will not force us down the path he has cleared, nor will he save us without our consent.
Salvation comes through a covenant relationship in which both faith and works play their parts. To insist that salvation comes by works alone, that we can earn it ourselves without needing the grace of God, insults the mercy of God and mocks the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in our behalf. On the other hand, to insist that salvation comes by belief alone and that God places no other obligations upon the believer insults the justice of God and makes Christ the minister of sin.
Trying our hardest to keep the commandments and be like Christ is part of our covenant obligation, not because we can succeed at them in this life, but because the attempt, the commitment to try, demonstrates oursincerity and our commitment to the covenant.
While success is not a requirement of the covenant of faith, my best attempts are.
Some of us who are relatively good at keeping the rules also trust in ourselves that we are righteous. Such are inordinately proud of their own goodness; the exalt themselves. But whenever we are proud of how good we are instead of being humbled by how imperfect we are, our hearts are not broken, nor are our spirits contrite.
Those who fail to appreciate their utter dependence upon the Savior and who insist they are working out their own salvation are guilty of this same satanic attitude.
There is transforming power in the grace of Christ for those whose hearts break in humble acknowledgment of their need for grace and mercy.
Rejection of the idea of mercy amounted to a rejection of Christ.
Anyone can pretend to be doing their best and pretend to be justified by faith in Christ and to enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost, while in truth they remain obstinately committed to their sins.
Learn the difference between wanting righteousness and wishingwishing they wanted righteousness.
Individuals who commit the moral and doctrinal error of refusing to do what they could very well do seek to be saved in their sins rather than from their sins. But that is a vast difference between viewing my sins as enemies from which I'm trying with difficulty to escape and viewing my sins as comfortable old friends I'm reluctant to leave behind.
The good news is that God will not require of us more than the best we can do, but the bad news is he will not accept less than that either.
Faith in Christ, repentance, and the cleansing of the Atonement cannot be one-time events in our lives. Although they may begin on a particular occasion, faith, repentance, and forgiveness are part of a continual process of rejection our mistakes, reaffirming our desires and our goal, and realigning our lives to Christ whenever and wherever we are off track.
Human beings are inevitably the arsonists of their own happiness.
Jesus Christ did not just assume the punishment for our sins—he took the guilt as well.
If Jesus had assumed only the punishment for our sins but not the sins themselves, then when the penalty was paid, we would merely "guilty but forgiven," instead of being sanctified through the Atonement, being perfect-in-Christ, and being innocent and worthy of the kingdom of God and the presence of the Father.
Thus through his vicarious atonement, Jesus knows more than anyone about the dark side of being human.
No one has ever been as alone as Christ in the Garden.
Still, however we may try to understand the Gethsemane experience, we are doomed to underestimate it.
Thus when we are tempted to think that our sins have put us beyond the understanding of reach of God, we are simply mistaken, and we grossly underestimate the scope of the Atonement.
In that infinite Gethsemane experience, the meridian of time, the center of eternity, he lived a billion billion lifetimes of sin, pain, disease, and sorrow.
October 24, 2008
This book probably deserves more stars than I gave it, but I had had it recommended to me by so many people that I really had high hopes. I was told it would help me better understand the Atonement. In that, the book ultimately failed. I have had much more success with personal prayer, scripture study, and life experience.
I feel obligated, however, to give the book at least two stars, because I know that it has indeed helped others, and it was not offensive in any way.
I feel obligated, however, to give the book at least two stars, because I know that it has indeed helped others, and it was not offensive in any way.
March 13, 2008
This is one of my favorite books! I read it at somewhat of a turning point in my life and it dramatically changed my outlook and understanding of the atonement and the purpose of life. It teaches such simple concepts, but illustrates them so clearly.
April 6, 2010
I love this book--a short, easy to read explanation of the Atonement, grace and works. I recommend it for all youth--and adults. The part I appreciate the most is that at times I lose focus on what matters most in our faith--I get hung up on the good I need to do, the rules I need to follow, how successful I or my children are being, and I forget the Christ came not just as an example but as a Savior. I need to re-read this periodically to remember that I need the Atonement in my life at all times and that no one else except for Christ could do this work. Anyhow, this book is a great way to help me stay focused on what really matters and a way to discuss this important topic with teens.
August 27, 2007
The author had some great insights. It deffinately got me thinking about my personal faith, and affinity to do the things which are commanded in the scriptures. I would have to say that the book was somewhat booring in the begining. The basic premise of the book was believing what Christ taught, rather than believing that he existed. That point seemed to drag on and on, but picked up again after sharing a few stories, and giving a unique perspective from Christ's vantage point.
It's a quick read, and quoted several times a year in sacrament meetings everywhere.
It's a quick read, and quoted several times a year in sacrament meetings everywhere.
January 14, 2008
This book was life changing. I listened to it on cd. I had not realized that I believed IN Christ more than I BELIEVED Him when He says I will be forgiven. Seriously, insightful and life-changing. I recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their relationship with Christ.
April 3, 2008
This was a wonderful book to read-- especially during the Easter season. The author gives several analogies and examples that help us to understand our relationship with the Savior and what He has done for us and how that can apply to our everyday lives. I would highly recommend it.
April 30, 2020
I am not a Mormon, but I live in Utah and spend much of my time talking about Christianity with Mormon friends and students at the university. This book was recommended to me many times by many people, usually after discussions regarding the controversy of grace and works, and so I finally got around to reading it.
I can say without exaggeration that this was one of the worst books I have ever read. It was theologically shameful. It was full of platitudes. It was full of the wisdom of man, that devilish wisdom that James warns about which is contrary to the wisdom of God. It was an attempt to relate and compare our relationship with God to our relationship with human beings, ignoring everything the Bible has to say about God's ways being higher than our ways. Reading this book was painful, and I truly pity all those who have read this book and indicated that they liked it.
Plato's probing question "What is righteousness?" is the most important question a person can ask. The Bible is chiefly concerned with this question, and the question of how a person can be righteous before God. Robinson addresses himself to this question in the book, and amazingly describes righteousness as "being relatively righteous compared with the rest of the world" (p. 27)! Throughout the book Robinson never carefully defines what righteousness actually is, and what is required of us by God, but continues to use ambiguous phrases like "better than others", "doing what can reasonably be expected of you", "trying your best", doing what you can", etc. Well, the great question would then be "What can reasonably be expected of you?" Robinson never explains. We are left in the dark, with nothing more than the supposedly good news that we must simply try, and not worry if we fail, because we can repent and try again, and again, and again... for now at least. Robinson continues to inform us that this ambiguous process of failing and yet feeling good about ourselves will one day come to an end when we actually have to do it.
Robinson actually says on page 88-89 and 103-104 that the "aim" of Christ's covenant is to make you independent of Christ Himself. The goal is for you to become self-sufficient so you no longer need Jesus. He is only necessary as a stepping stone for now, but later you will not need Him. Then there will be a little backyard party in heaven for you celebrating your arrival to self-sufficiency. Congratulations! You don't need Jesus anymore! How wonderful. I wish I were making this up. This is blasphemy of the highest kind. One only needs to read the Bible to discover that righteousness can never be obtained through our obedience to the commandments, and that complete trust in Jesus Christ alone is the only way to be righteous before God, both now and forever. There will never be a time when we will not need Jesus. We will never be righteous on our own. Jesus is not a temporary welfare program "for now": He is our everlasting righteousness (Dan. 9:24).
The Parable of the Bicycle confirms the continued emphasis of the book that salvation is a team effort and partnership with Christ; that you and Christ are co-Saviors. You have to do your part, and if you do, then Christ will do His part. Salvation is thus not only conditional on your own works, but is a team effort according to Robinson. If you don't give your little jar of pennies to Christ (which when translated to real life means doing all you can do, and that is no little jar), only then will Christ pay for the rest of the bike. And Robinson states on page 33 that the actual end goal is for you to pay for the bicycle all on your own! What a goal. In the words of Boyd K. Packer:
"The mediator turned then to the debtor. 'If I pay your debt, will you accept me as your creditor?'
'Oh yes, yes,' cried the debtor. 'You save me from prison and show mercy to me.'
'Then,' said the benefactor, 'you will pay the debt to me and I will set the terms. It will not be easy, but it will be possible." (The Mediator)
So the little girl has to pay daddy back after all. Is this a gift or a loan? What if she doesn't pay? Who ultimately is the savior?
On page 36 Robinson defines a covenant as always and only being two-way. This is what Mormons have been taught to believe, even though the very first covenant ever mentioned in the Bible is a one-way covenant without any conditions for creation to fulfill (Genesis 9). In this way the true glory of covenant is nullified, and an endless and impossible two-way covenant is offered, which never can give peace to the individual. Simply face reality: you are failing at the so-called New Covenant of Christ. You don't do your best. You don't do what is reasonably expected of you. The Bible does not speak of the gospel this way. Christ did not come to make a deal or partnership with you, but He came to save you. He came to save sinners by His grace. Simply trust in Him to do all the saving. No one who ever trusts in Christ to save them will hear from God on judgment day: "I'm sorry, you should not have been trusting in Christ so much. You should not have thought He was so good. You should have kept the commandments... more."
All Robinson is essentially saying in this book is that you don’t need to actually obey the commandments of God to be forgiven. You just have to try, and not actually do it (though what is trying? He does not say). All he is actually doing is lowering the standard so the guilty can feel good about themselves rather than admit their guilt. It is the work of the devil to suppress the truth, and to make you feel like you are obedient when you are not. When you feel guilty (because you are guilty), Satan comes along and says "Don't feel guilty. God won't punish you. Besides, you're trying. You aren't perfect, but God doesn't require that. 'All' doesn't really mean all, and 'always' doesn't really mean always. I don't know what God requires, but whatever it is you are okay. Don't give in to your guilty feelings. Trust that you are a good person. Trust that you are going to make it because Christ believes you can do your part." (Who is doing the believing? Are we believing in Christ or is Christ believing in us?) God wants you to trust in Christ, that He saves guilty sinners. God wants you to look away from your own goodness and trust in grace. The truth is, we are all guilty, bad, hell-deserving sinners. In the light of this, the amazing news is that God loves guilty, bad, hell-deserving sinners, and that Christ died to save us freely by grace. There are no conditions of works. Trusting Christ is not a work, but a ceasing to work; a ceasing from thinking you have to be good to be saved, and a believing that Christ will save the ungodly (Romans 4:5), just as He said. This is really good news for those who know the truth, but upsetting news for those who want to pretend that they have personal righteousness.
This book is just another proof that Mormonism is based upon doctrine of devils and not the Word of God. Mormonism draws your attention and hope away from Christ and makes you focus on yourself. Please consider your ways.
"They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace." (Jeremiah 6:14)
I can say without exaggeration that this was one of the worst books I have ever read. It was theologically shameful. It was full of platitudes. It was full of the wisdom of man, that devilish wisdom that James warns about which is contrary to the wisdom of God. It was an attempt to relate and compare our relationship with God to our relationship with human beings, ignoring everything the Bible has to say about God's ways being higher than our ways. Reading this book was painful, and I truly pity all those who have read this book and indicated that they liked it.
Plato's probing question "What is righteousness?" is the most important question a person can ask. The Bible is chiefly concerned with this question, and the question of how a person can be righteous before God. Robinson addresses himself to this question in the book, and amazingly describes righteousness as "being relatively righteous compared with the rest of the world" (p. 27)! Throughout the book Robinson never carefully defines what righteousness actually is, and what is required of us by God, but continues to use ambiguous phrases like "better than others", "doing what can reasonably be expected of you", "trying your best", doing what you can", etc. Well, the great question would then be "What can reasonably be expected of you?" Robinson never explains. We are left in the dark, with nothing more than the supposedly good news that we must simply try, and not worry if we fail, because we can repent and try again, and again, and again... for now at least. Robinson continues to inform us that this ambiguous process of failing and yet feeling good about ourselves will one day come to an end when we actually have to do it.
Robinson actually says on page 88-89 and 103-104 that the "aim" of Christ's covenant is to make you independent of Christ Himself. The goal is for you to become self-sufficient so you no longer need Jesus. He is only necessary as a stepping stone for now, but later you will not need Him. Then there will be a little backyard party in heaven for you celebrating your arrival to self-sufficiency. Congratulations! You don't need Jesus anymore! How wonderful. I wish I were making this up. This is blasphemy of the highest kind. One only needs to read the Bible to discover that righteousness can never be obtained through our obedience to the commandments, and that complete trust in Jesus Christ alone is the only way to be righteous before God, both now and forever. There will never be a time when we will not need Jesus. We will never be righteous on our own. Jesus is not a temporary welfare program "for now": He is our everlasting righteousness (Dan. 9:24).
The Parable of the Bicycle confirms the continued emphasis of the book that salvation is a team effort and partnership with Christ; that you and Christ are co-Saviors. You have to do your part, and if you do, then Christ will do His part. Salvation is thus not only conditional on your own works, but is a team effort according to Robinson. If you don't give your little jar of pennies to Christ (which when translated to real life means doing all you can do, and that is no little jar), only then will Christ pay for the rest of the bike. And Robinson states on page 33 that the actual end goal is for you to pay for the bicycle all on your own! What a goal. In the words of Boyd K. Packer:
"The mediator turned then to the debtor. 'If I pay your debt, will you accept me as your creditor?'
'Oh yes, yes,' cried the debtor. 'You save me from prison and show mercy to me.'
'Then,' said the benefactor, 'you will pay the debt to me and I will set the terms. It will not be easy, but it will be possible." (The Mediator)
So the little girl has to pay daddy back after all. Is this a gift or a loan? What if she doesn't pay? Who ultimately is the savior?
On page 36 Robinson defines a covenant as always and only being two-way. This is what Mormons have been taught to believe, even though the very first covenant ever mentioned in the Bible is a one-way covenant without any conditions for creation to fulfill (Genesis 9). In this way the true glory of covenant is nullified, and an endless and impossible two-way covenant is offered, which never can give peace to the individual. Simply face reality: you are failing at the so-called New Covenant of Christ. You don't do your best. You don't do what is reasonably expected of you. The Bible does not speak of the gospel this way. Christ did not come to make a deal or partnership with you, but He came to save you. He came to save sinners by His grace. Simply trust in Him to do all the saving. No one who ever trusts in Christ to save them will hear from God on judgment day: "I'm sorry, you should not have been trusting in Christ so much. You should not have thought He was so good. You should have kept the commandments... more."
All Robinson is essentially saying in this book is that you don’t need to actually obey the commandments of God to be forgiven. You just have to try, and not actually do it (though what is trying? He does not say). All he is actually doing is lowering the standard so the guilty can feel good about themselves rather than admit their guilt. It is the work of the devil to suppress the truth, and to make you feel like you are obedient when you are not. When you feel guilty (because you are guilty), Satan comes along and says "Don't feel guilty. God won't punish you. Besides, you're trying. You aren't perfect, but God doesn't require that. 'All' doesn't really mean all, and 'always' doesn't really mean always. I don't know what God requires, but whatever it is you are okay. Don't give in to your guilty feelings. Trust that you are a good person. Trust that you are going to make it because Christ believes you can do your part." (Who is doing the believing? Are we believing in Christ or is Christ believing in us?) God wants you to trust in Christ, that He saves guilty sinners. God wants you to look away from your own goodness and trust in grace. The truth is, we are all guilty, bad, hell-deserving sinners. In the light of this, the amazing news is that God loves guilty, bad, hell-deserving sinners, and that Christ died to save us freely by grace. There are no conditions of works. Trusting Christ is not a work, but a ceasing to work; a ceasing from thinking you have to be good to be saved, and a believing that Christ will save the ungodly (Romans 4:5), just as He said. This is really good news for those who know the truth, but upsetting news for those who want to pretend that they have personal righteousness.
This book is just another proof that Mormonism is based upon doctrine of devils and not the Word of God. Mormonism draws your attention and hope away from Christ and makes you focus on yourself. Please consider your ways.
"They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace." (Jeremiah 6:14)
June 4, 2024
Every Latter Day Saint needs to read this book.
This is a beautiful book on the atonement and on changing and in reconciling ourselves with God. One of the prevailing themes of this book is that it is not enough to believe in Christ b to believe Christ—that is believe that while we are not “celestial material” that through Christs atonement we can be. Robinson says likens this unto accepting the messenger but not the message.
Some of my notes:
The shortcut to perfection is Jesus Christ—leaning on His perfection
Unworthy though we are, Christ is calling for us
Trust that the Savior can save you
Genuine faith in Christ is faith in the atonement
We can not make it on our own
Two entities—Christ and I—make a perfect partnership
It doesn’t matter what we add/subtract to the equation, but that we make the equation! Christ is infinite and with him, we get infinite
I’m the gospel race, there are only winners and quitters
“The One who comes to save”
How much do you have? He’ll provide the rest. “Between the two of us, you’ll have it covered.”
He never requires more than we can give
Our 100% is different! Like how tithing is 1/10 but a different dollar amount for each individual
“We’ll work on it together.”
Grace has eliminated every excuse but one: I just don’t want to go to the kingdom with you
His yoke is easy doesn’t mean that there won’t be effort, but that it is within our capability
“Christ will carry me on His shoulders.”
This is a beautiful book on the atonement and on changing and in reconciling ourselves with God. One of the prevailing themes of this book is that it is not enough to believe in Christ b to believe Christ—that is believe that while we are not “celestial material” that through Christs atonement we can be. Robinson says likens this unto accepting the messenger but not the message.
Some of my notes:
The shortcut to perfection is Jesus Christ—leaning on His perfection
Unworthy though we are, Christ is calling for us
Trust that the Savior can save you
Genuine faith in Christ is faith in the atonement
We can not make it on our own
Two entities—Christ and I—make a perfect partnership
It doesn’t matter what we add/subtract to the equation, but that we make the equation! Christ is infinite and with him, we get infinite
I’m the gospel race, there are only winners and quitters
“The One who comes to save”
How much do you have? He’ll provide the rest. “Between the two of us, you’ll have it covered.”
He never requires more than we can give
Our 100% is different! Like how tithing is 1/10 but a different dollar amount for each individual
“We’ll work on it together.”
Grace has eliminated every excuse but one: I just don’t want to go to the kingdom with you
His yoke is easy doesn’t mean that there won’t be effort, but that it is within our capability
“Christ will carry me on His shoulders.”
July 12, 2018
A member of our Metro Jail Branch asked for a copy of this book so I re-read it to refresh my memory and I still love it. Such simple and profound words to describe the great love of Christ for each one of us.
December 31, 2018
Such great insights on who Jesus Christ really is and what He can really do. It also really helped me understand grace so much more!
January 13, 2023
A wonderfully insightful and thought-provoking book full of hope. A very uplifting, positive read.
November 3, 2021
The last chapter made it 5 stars!
August 28, 2008
I seem to be the odd-Mormon-out when it comes to this book. I really don't like it. Don't get me wrong; I love my Savior and am so very grateful for His atonement and the opportunity it gives me to be redeemed from my sins. But the message I got from this book was, "It's okay to be mediocre - don't try too hard - in fact, don't even attempt to reach beyond your comfort zone - Christ will make up the difference." And I don't believe that. I believe that we should ALWAYS be striving to be better than we are, to learn, to grow, and to aspire toward perfection. Just don't ever settle. I think this book says it's okay to settle. I disagree.
July 22, 2020
This short book teaches profound principles surrounding both the magnitude and intimacy of Christ's Atonement - but in a clear, simple way! Recommend to anyone - especially if you're curious about what members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe about the part we play in being healed and saved by Jesus Christ.
March 5, 2008
The parable of the bicycle is a classic, as it really does teach us how to understand the atonement of Jesus Christ. I also love how this book teaches us that we don't need to become perfect in an instant, but just continue to try in the little ways that we can.
June 27, 2008
The explanation of our charge to "be ye therefore perfect" is brilliant. It is the best I've heard (read).
January 27, 2021
The Savior lives! He is there when we need Him and brings us peace, hope, and most of all, redemption. He makes eternal life possible & offers us sanctity despite our sins. And that is good news.
February 20, 2009
Again, this review is in answer to someone else's review who thought that the book was bad, and lead to spiritual decadence because we no longer worry about striving for perfection if we trust in Christ to perfect us. After I took the time to respond to their review, I decided that the response deserved to be posted here as my review:
The real question is, if the book is so bad, then why did Elder Oaks so strenuously praise it? It is one of a very few books actually RECOMMENDED in the Ensign by one of the Apostles. Sometimes we want to "stand up" for the Brethren, and take things further that they do, or worse, sometimes we take them in the opposite direction than they do.
Balance is the key, and we have been out of balance in the "works" direction for too long. The scriptures do not agree. Their balance is actually much further on the grace side if we read them carefully. I remember being in Brother Robison's new testament class, and we were reading Paul, and he stopped, and turned to the D&C, then to the Book of Mormon, and pointed out each of them saying the same thing as Paul about Grace, and then he said... I have to do this, because you never know, Paul just might have been a Baptist! Of course he was joking, but experience has taught him that people who actually think like that tend to show up in his classes. The move towards a more grace centered theology in the Church has been driven primarily by a return to the scriptures. The more we read the Book of Mormon (primarily King Benjamin) the more we realize that Paul was right about grace all along. It is the idea of "cheep" grace that is false doctrine, but not the idea of salvation by grace. Please read "what think ye of salvation by grace" by Elder McConkie, and you find that Brother Robison is very much in-line with the feelings of the Brethren. He has had the opportunity on many occasions to ask them what they thought about his book, and the response is overwhelmingly positive. Apparently the Brethren like it.
True, it would be wrong to un-balance in the grace direction, but it would be equally wrong (or perhaps worse) to un-alance in the works direction. I believe that this book has brought us as a people back in balance, not thrown us out of balance.
As for a scripture that says that we cannot keep all of the commandments in this life try Romans 3:23. That is the context in which Brother Robison gave those statements about not keeping all the commandments. As for Brother Robison's statement about becoming perfect many years after we reach the Celestial kingdom, remember that it was Joseph who said that it will be many years after we have departed this life before we even LEARN all the commandments, let alone keep them. True, Joseph said that no unclean thing can dwell with God, but we are made clean through the atonement of Christ, and then we can dwell with God. This cleansing comes on condition of repentance, not perfection. Lack of perfection is BY DEFINITION not keeping all of the commandments perfectly.
This means that we must STRIVE for perfection, or we can never enter the kingdom of God. But we must also know that as we strive for perfection we will fail. When we do, repentance is required, and then we must have unwavering trust in the Grace of Christ to save us, not on our merits, but on His.
Do a word search for the term "merit" in the Book of Mormon, it is fascinating what you find. You are right about one thing though, the parable of the Bicycle is false doctrine. Salvation is FREE according to the scriptures, which means that the little girl's few cents actually are 0 cents i.e. the parable of the bicycle is false because it doesn't go far enough, or, at least, it doesn't go as far as the scriptures go.
That salvation is free doesn't mean that we don't have to repent (cheep grace) rather it means that repentance is the process whereby we "receive" the "free" gift of the atonement. It means that we don't pay for our salvation, with Christ making up the difference here and there. It means that our process of repentance is such a small part of salvation that it is essentially nothing compared to the staggering weight of what Christ has done. This is King Benjamin's point.
When we realize these facts, and when we understand them correctly, we do not go farther from Christ as you suggested, instead we recognize the extent of His hand in our salvation, and it is then that we begin to really keep the commandments with gusto.
Further, the atonement is not just a bar of soap, that cleanses us from past sins (grace), leaving the keeping of future commandments up to us (works), rather, the atonement is an enabling power, that enables us to keep the commandments. Thus I am cleansed from past sins by the Grace of Christ, and enabled to keep future commandments by the grace of Christ. This happens IF I choose (agency) to allow Christ to change me (the process of being born again). This is what Paul means when he says that his good works don't save him, because they aren't his good works, they are God's good works, working through him.
The real problem of "cheep" grace is what it does to agency. Once we understand that it is our agency that determines whether Christ can change us, then we understand that we must strive for absolute total perfection. It is this striving that invites His power to enter us and change us. But I can't and shouldn't take credit for the end result of the change. The change happens by the grace of Christ, through the power of His atonement and blood.
You asked what the Book of Mormon means when it says that we must be saved "from" our sins and not "in" them. The answer is that it means that we cann't be saved without repentance. But you suggested that salvation comes by repentance AND perfect obedience, which it does not, or no one would be saved. It comes by repentance and STRIVING for perfect obedience, with further repentance when we fall short next time.
You also took issue with Brother Robison's statements that we are perfected IN Christ IN this life, yet that is what the Scriptures say. We are made perfect after this life, and we are perfected IN Christ NOW. To be "sanctified" is to be made holy (in Hebrew "holy" and "sanctified" come from the same root, and a quick usage study of the word Holy, especially in the Old Testament indicates that we are to be "holy" because God is "holy", in other words, to be holy is to be like God, who is perfect). Note, that in the Book of Mormon, we are sanctified IN THIS LIFE, at the reception of the Holy Ghost, which "sanctifies" us (i.e. we are perfected IN Christ) at that moment. The word "sanctified" can have many meanings, if it means to be completely change (perfected by Christ) then it is something that happens after this life, and many of the Brethren have appropriately used the term to mean this and have implied that sanctification happens after this life. But words often have multiple meanings, and in the Book of Mormon, it is clear that sanctification means something slightly different as it happens IN THIS LIFE, at the reception of the Holy Ghost. In other words, when we are made perfect IN Christ. If we then endure to the end, we will be perfected BY Christ in the eternities. Brother Robison's discussion of being perfected IN Christ was never intended to imply that we do not have to "endure to the end" (read "Following Christ" if you have any question about that!)
Thus, once we correctly understand the doctrine of Grace, we must still strive for perfection. Correctly understanding Grace doesn't do as you suggested, and cause us to stop striving. But what it does do, is it stops us from taking credit for the outcome of that striving. We call that humility, or as Paul said, not by works "lest any man should boast." Lest we think that Paul was wrong about this, remember that it is the Book of Mormon that teaches that God gives us weaknesses (lack of perfection) so that we can be humble (lest we boast), and then, if we humble ourselves, HE (not you or I) makes weak things strong (Ether 12). Since humility is the key to this change, understanding Grace, and giving Him the credit for the change (a correct understanding of the doctrine of Grace) becomes essential to our salvation and exaltation.
The real question is, if the book is so bad, then why did Elder Oaks so strenuously praise it? It is one of a very few books actually RECOMMENDED in the Ensign by one of the Apostles. Sometimes we want to "stand up" for the Brethren, and take things further that they do, or worse, sometimes we take them in the opposite direction than they do.
Balance is the key, and we have been out of balance in the "works" direction for too long. The scriptures do not agree. Their balance is actually much further on the grace side if we read them carefully. I remember being in Brother Robison's new testament class, and we were reading Paul, and he stopped, and turned to the D&C, then to the Book of Mormon, and pointed out each of them saying the same thing as Paul about Grace, and then he said... I have to do this, because you never know, Paul just might have been a Baptist! Of course he was joking, but experience has taught him that people who actually think like that tend to show up in his classes. The move towards a more grace centered theology in the Church has been driven primarily by a return to the scriptures. The more we read the Book of Mormon (primarily King Benjamin) the more we realize that Paul was right about grace all along. It is the idea of "cheep" grace that is false doctrine, but not the idea of salvation by grace. Please read "what think ye of salvation by grace" by Elder McConkie, and you find that Brother Robison is very much in-line with the feelings of the Brethren. He has had the opportunity on many occasions to ask them what they thought about his book, and the response is overwhelmingly positive. Apparently the Brethren like it.
True, it would be wrong to un-balance in the grace direction, but it would be equally wrong (or perhaps worse) to un-alance in the works direction. I believe that this book has brought us as a people back in balance, not thrown us out of balance.
As for a scripture that says that we cannot keep all of the commandments in this life try Romans 3:23. That is the context in which Brother Robison gave those statements about not keeping all the commandments. As for Brother Robison's statement about becoming perfect many years after we reach the Celestial kingdom, remember that it was Joseph who said that it will be many years after we have departed this life before we even LEARN all the commandments, let alone keep them. True, Joseph said that no unclean thing can dwell with God, but we are made clean through the atonement of Christ, and then we can dwell with God. This cleansing comes on condition of repentance, not perfection. Lack of perfection is BY DEFINITION not keeping all of the commandments perfectly.
This means that we must STRIVE for perfection, or we can never enter the kingdom of God. But we must also know that as we strive for perfection we will fail. When we do, repentance is required, and then we must have unwavering trust in the Grace of Christ to save us, not on our merits, but on His.
Do a word search for the term "merit" in the Book of Mormon, it is fascinating what you find. You are right about one thing though, the parable of the Bicycle is false doctrine. Salvation is FREE according to the scriptures, which means that the little girl's few cents actually are 0 cents i.e. the parable of the bicycle is false because it doesn't go far enough, or, at least, it doesn't go as far as the scriptures go.
That salvation is free doesn't mean that we don't have to repent (cheep grace) rather it means that repentance is the process whereby we "receive" the "free" gift of the atonement. It means that we don't pay for our salvation, with Christ making up the difference here and there. It means that our process of repentance is such a small part of salvation that it is essentially nothing compared to the staggering weight of what Christ has done. This is King Benjamin's point.
When we realize these facts, and when we understand them correctly, we do not go farther from Christ as you suggested, instead we recognize the extent of His hand in our salvation, and it is then that we begin to really keep the commandments with gusto.
Further, the atonement is not just a bar of soap, that cleanses us from past sins (grace), leaving the keeping of future commandments up to us (works), rather, the atonement is an enabling power, that enables us to keep the commandments. Thus I am cleansed from past sins by the Grace of Christ, and enabled to keep future commandments by the grace of Christ. This happens IF I choose (agency) to allow Christ to change me (the process of being born again). This is what Paul means when he says that his good works don't save him, because they aren't his good works, they are God's good works, working through him.
The real problem of "cheep" grace is what it does to agency. Once we understand that it is our agency that determines whether Christ can change us, then we understand that we must strive for absolute total perfection. It is this striving that invites His power to enter us and change us. But I can't and shouldn't take credit for the end result of the change. The change happens by the grace of Christ, through the power of His atonement and blood.
You asked what the Book of Mormon means when it says that we must be saved "from" our sins and not "in" them. The answer is that it means that we cann't be saved without repentance. But you suggested that salvation comes by repentance AND perfect obedience, which it does not, or no one would be saved. It comes by repentance and STRIVING for perfect obedience, with further repentance when we fall short next time.
You also took issue with Brother Robison's statements that we are perfected IN Christ IN this life, yet that is what the Scriptures say. We are made perfect after this life, and we are perfected IN Christ NOW. To be "sanctified" is to be made holy (in Hebrew "holy" and "sanctified" come from the same root, and a quick usage study of the word Holy, especially in the Old Testament indicates that we are to be "holy" because God is "holy", in other words, to be holy is to be like God, who is perfect). Note, that in the Book of Mormon, we are sanctified IN THIS LIFE, at the reception of the Holy Ghost, which "sanctifies" us (i.e. we are perfected IN Christ) at that moment. The word "sanctified" can have many meanings, if it means to be completely change (perfected by Christ) then it is something that happens after this life, and many of the Brethren have appropriately used the term to mean this and have implied that sanctification happens after this life. But words often have multiple meanings, and in the Book of Mormon, it is clear that sanctification means something slightly different as it happens IN THIS LIFE, at the reception of the Holy Ghost. In other words, when we are made perfect IN Christ. If we then endure to the end, we will be perfected BY Christ in the eternities. Brother Robison's discussion of being perfected IN Christ was never intended to imply that we do not have to "endure to the end" (read "Following Christ" if you have any question about that!)
Thus, once we correctly understand the doctrine of Grace, we must still strive for perfection. Correctly understanding Grace doesn't do as you suggested, and cause us to stop striving. But what it does do, is it stops us from taking credit for the outcome of that striving. We call that humility, or as Paul said, not by works "lest any man should boast." Lest we think that Paul was wrong about this, remember that it is the Book of Mormon that teaches that God gives us weaknesses (lack of perfection) so that we can be humble (lest we boast), and then, if we humble ourselves, HE (not you or I) makes weak things strong (Ether 12). Since humility is the key to this change, understanding Grace, and giving Him the credit for the change (a correct understanding of the doctrine of Grace) becomes essential to our salvation and exaltation.
March 24, 2019
'He says He can get me into His kingdom despite my imperfections, and I believe Him.'
'Taken together as a single entity, the two of us, Christ and I, are perfect. I do not mean that we can become perfect later on. I mean that from the moment the partnership is formed in good faith, from the moment we have sincere faith in Christ, sincerely repent of our sins, and receive baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost - from this moment the partnership is celestial. '
'... He never requires more than I am able to give, and what He does require of me is always appropriate to my knowledge and circumstances. '
'Trying our hardest to keep the commandments and be like Christ is part of our covenant obligation, not because we can succeed at them in this life, but because the attempt, the commitment to try, demonstrates our sincerity and our commitment to the covenant; it is a statement of our goals and desires. '
'While success is not a requirement of the covenant of faith, my best attempts are. '
'The sins that He remits, He remits by making them His own and suffering them. The pain and heartaches that He relieves, He relieves by suffering them Himself. These things can be shared and absorbed, but they cannot be simply wished or waved away. They must be suffered. '
'Taken together as a single entity, the two of us, Christ and I, are perfect. I do not mean that we can become perfect later on. I mean that from the moment the partnership is formed in good faith, from the moment we have sincere faith in Christ, sincerely repent of our sins, and receive baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost - from this moment the partnership is celestial. '
'... He never requires more than I am able to give, and what He does require of me is always appropriate to my knowledge and circumstances. '
'Trying our hardest to keep the commandments and be like Christ is part of our covenant obligation, not because we can succeed at them in this life, but because the attempt, the commitment to try, demonstrates our sincerity and our commitment to the covenant; it is a statement of our goals and desires. '
'While success is not a requirement of the covenant of faith, my best attempts are. '
'The sins that He remits, He remits by making them His own and suffering them. The pain and heartaches that He relieves, He relieves by suffering them Himself. These things can be shared and absorbed, but they cannot be simply wished or waved away. They must be suffered. '
May 19, 2023
I loved this book. It’s a quick read, but full of so many great analogies for understanding the Atonement and our potential relationship with Christ: the bicycle, the bank accounts, the business merger, the sports team, the bicycle built for two, the doctor, etc.
I loved the idea that one of the reasons that the Holy Ghost is called the comforter is because he assures us that Christ’s grace is sufficient for every single person. We are doing better than we think we are, but we don’t have to (and can’t) do it alone.
A favorite quote: “Christ stands at the door and knocks, but He never kicks it in.” 😆
I loved the idea that one of the reasons that the Holy Ghost is called the comforter is because he assures us that Christ’s grace is sufficient for every single person. We are doing better than we think we are, but we don’t have to (and can’t) do it alone.
A favorite quote: “Christ stands at the door and knocks, but He never kicks it in.” 😆
January 17, 2019
This book is mindblowingly simple. Though only 125 pages, it’s not something you can just breeze through because each page explains Grace and the Atonement so understandably that you have to sit and digest.
As someone who’s struggled with the concept of Grace for years, so many things in this book made me wish someone had told me sooner!
I’m doing a poor job explaining. Grounded in scripture, this book basically helped me understand the bigger picture and feel the Holy Spirit. Life-changing.
As someone who’s struggled with the concept of Grace for years, so many things in this book made me wish someone had told me sooner!
I’m doing a poor job explaining. Grounded in scripture, this book basically helped me understand the bigger picture and feel the Holy Spirit. Life-changing.
May 24, 2019
I found this book to be very inspiring. It was a quick easy ready with a conversational tone. It felt like a really good EFY lesson. Made me look at some things different, good analogies throughout, and scriptures to support Robinson's commentary. Definitely one that I'll revisit again and again.
Some of Robinson's cliche phrases and overly personal tone was only mildly annoying and didn't distract too much from the overall message, which was fantastic.
Some of Robinson's cliche phrases and overly personal tone was only mildly annoying and didn't distract too much from the overall message, which was fantastic.
September 1, 2024
I see why that one’s a classic. Not every page resonated, but there were some things beautifully put, and a few others that were a genuine shift in how I read certain verses.
Side note: I um, borrowed, this from my Grandparents house this summer and it was interesting to see the differences between what Grandma found worth highlighting and what I felt was worth a margin note. You see a lot of someone’s personal and perspective in what speaks to them.
Side note: I um, borrowed, this from my Grandparents house this summer and it was interesting to see the differences between what Grandma found worth highlighting and what I felt was worth a margin note. You see a lot of someone’s personal and perspective in what speaks to them.
August 30, 2020
Good book with a few great stories, I just wasn’t a huge fan of the tone.
December 29, 2022
Genuinely if you believe in Christ, you need to read this book. I learned so much about my relationship with him and about the atonement. Would highly recommend!!
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