Part one of this book is a series of 10 lessons I call “Grace Distinctions”. This description comes from my 60 years of studying and teaching theology, during which I have come to think of theology as “the art of making distinctions”. I have especially found that a proper understanding of grace requires making some very important distinctions. When I was teaching grace in the seminary, I came to the point where my beginning lectures for the course were an exposition of these distinctions. The 10 lessons in the first section of this book are intended to set forth this material. Sometimes the same ideas will come up again in part two.

The main section of this book is part two ("Grace Accomplished and Applied"), which is a series of 14 lessons on what it means to be “saved by grace”. These lessons are presented in a simple and orderly manner that I hope can be understood by anyone: prospective Christians, new Christians, seasoned Christians. These lessons can be used for evangelistic purposes, for small group studies, for personal devotions, or for sermon ideas. (I do recommend that teachers, preachers, and group leaders using this for such purposes also use and study the larger volume Set Free! What the Bible Says About Grace. (amazon.com/Free-What-Bible-About-Grace/dp/0899009808) using the table of contents and the indexes to find more extensive developments of the subjects given in more abbreviated form in this small book.)

My goal and prayer is this: May God use this little book (through you, the reader) to reach multitudes with the message of His grace, and to lead them to a richer and deeper understanding of the “blessed assurance” of salvation.

JACK COTTRELL – SEPTEMBER 2017