Alcorn begins the chapter writing about John chapter 2. In that chapter Jesus turned water into wine. This was an act of grace. This was all for fun. But then, total truth. Jesus then makes a whip to drive people out of the temple courts who were selling things at prices that equaled extortion. John 2 has a demonstration of grace and truth.
On page 73 Alcorn writes: “we have redefined Christlike to mean ‘nice.’ By that definition Christ wasn’t always Christlike. He confronted people with sin, raised His voice, threw tables, and called people snakes, blind hypocrites, and whitewashed tombs. If we don’t talk about sin and hell because we want to be nice, we’re trying to be nicer than Jesus, who spoke a great deal about both.” (page 73)
Some other points I wanted to share:
• “We imagine that hell is out of proportion to our offenses precisely because we don’t grasp how serious they are. God’s grace faces hell’s reality straight on, offering full deliverance. Denying hell takes the wind out of grace’s sales. If there’s no eternal hell, the stakes of redemption are vastly lowered. What exactly did Jesus die to rescue us from?
• A rescue is only as dramatic and consequential as the fate from which someone is rescued.” (page 75)
He also writes
• “One out of five women having an abortion in America claim to be born-again Christians. Yet pastors tell me, ‘I don’t talk about abortion because it will make our people feel guilty, since many have had abortions.’ Isn’t that exactly why we should talk about it’?
o “our silence isn’t grace—it’s cruelty.” (page 76)
• Eph 4:15: speak the truth in love. (page 77)
• Share the truth; then offer him grace and help. (page 77 about helping a friend share Christ with his father who is dying.)
• In a spirit of grace, love people enough to share the truth. (page 77)
I thought this chapter has some great points, what do you think?
have a blessed week!
Steve Rhodes blog 
I really wish more people would read this blog so they can be more educated about what the Bible “actually says” and not how we interpret things. There are many good points in each chapter but I think this has been the most important. We all need to hear the truth and learn from the truth even if that trurth is painful or goes against what we want to believe. What a great call for preachers, teachers and christians; “our silence isn’t grace – it’s cruelty”. It is also misleading and potentially harmful for people’s eternal life. By speaking the truth in love, we help ourselves and help others. Now, how do we get this message out? Are we willing to face the consequences of offending and alienating both christians and non-christians? A good start would be examining ourselves first and following strong leaders with biblical knowledge and Holy Spirit guided teaching. Unfortunately, the road ahead for christians speaking the truth is difficult and soon to be dangerous in this country. Are we prepared?
Certainly do agree with Keith’s comments, we tend to live the “seen” world and forget how important the “unseen” world is. Jesus surely wouldn’t have gone through what He did if it weren,t very very important, with very dire consequences in the balance. I think even though being convicted of our sin can produce feelings of guilt or anger it’s the one thing that does make us bend the knee and brings us to confession and repentance with the good result of forgiveness. We all need to stick up for truth even though it may mean some losses within our family and friends. God will bring good out of those losses and bring us even closer to Him. Jesus sets us free, and free we are only in Him, in good times and tough times. Heaven is real, hell is also real, we need to be aware of both. Choices become much easier to make when your aware of that truth, amen? God bless