A Look at a Book
by Irene Gilsenan

BOOK REVIEW:
Paul’s Key to the Liberated Life: Romans Six to Eight
by Norman Grubb

Written in his nineties, this booklet (just 22 pages) by Norman Grubb is, he says, "for those who are diggers and hopefully finders."

If you fit into that category then you will find lots here to hold your attention. Norman asserts that Romans 6-8 holds the biblical key to opening the door to the liberated life, and as you read this booklet you will discover that such a claim is well founded.

One of the great joys of reading this is that Norman moves from wonderful spiritual truths to their very practical application. He takes us through the Romans 6 truth of our being "dead to sin and alive to God," and on to the glorious fact that as vessels containing Jesus Christ, our "I" is now solely the expresser of God’s life. All this is followed by "…THE BURNING QUESTION (my emphasis). If the new relationship has replaced the old, and given us our fully-satisfying life, rich fruit, happy service, loving union and communion… why doesn’t it happen? What is wrong?" The answer emerges as Norman takes us through Paul’s struggles in Romans 7, struggles that are common to many, if not all, of us. For those of us who have tried and failed over and over, here is good news indeed. We learn that the problem is not some basic human flaw in us. In fact our repeated failures and defeats can be the necessary negative God uses in our lives, as He did in Paul’s, to make us desperate enough to find the answer. In Norman’s words: "the only way to live the life is if Christ lives my life as me, in place of that self-effort which was really Satan."

If you, like me, have found that self-effort has left you with a less-than victorious life, I recommend you read this booklet.

Two of my favourite sections are entitled "Permanent Tensions" and "Unshakeable Confidence." I read these as I was keenly aware of a very difficult situation affecting some Christian friends. Physical suffering, family problems, economic shocks, fatalities, social problems and personal hurts are just some of life’s trials mentioned by Norman. Sound familiar? Here we are told that, "…the glory living, which will be our permanency through eternity, is first built strongly on a continual ‘suffering’ condition. That sounds terrifying, until we find by experience that there is glory now in the suffering." This book provides the key to how to live in that place of glory. We are further reminded that we can have: "…solid unshakeable confidence that, however totally confusing and apparently humanly inextricable, ALL THESE THINGS are actually working out for GOOD" (Rom. 8:28).

Whether your trials are personal inner struggles to live the Christian life or pain caused by outer circumstances, there is something here for you to delve into. I trust you too will be a "digger and finder."