Book Review: The Gospel Uncensored (Blue & Swan)

The Gospel Uncensored: How only grace leads to freedom by Ken Blue and Aldon Swan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Apostle Paul wrote 9 letters to 7 different churches as recorded in the New Testament.  Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Colossae, Philippi and Thessalonica all received a personal letter from the Apostle.  Furthermore, in the beginning portion of each letter, Paul’s affection pours upon them as he expresses his thankfulness to them… all except one.  Obviously the unlucky church had to have been the church in Corinth!  Right?  Seriously, they had lawsuits, sexual promiscuity, divisions and idolatry; no thankful comments for them!  Well, if we look in the early portion of 1 Corinthians we will find that Paul did express thankfulness to them.  So, which church did not receive Paul's affection of thankfulness?  It was Galatia.  Yes, Galatia didn’t receive Paul’s expression of thankfulness but received a harsh rebuke.


So, why was Paul sterner with Galatia than Corinth?  Corinth was a mess, whereas, Galatia was trying to walk the straight and narrow!  What gives?  Essentially it comes down to the person of Jesus.  Galatia was attempting to add to the finished work of Jesus.  They had a form of Christianity that held to “Jesus Plus” and according to Ken Blue and Alden Swan in their new book; this is the utter destruction of the Gospel.  Blue and Swan state with a passionate gusto that Jesus “plus” anything is not merely a distraction to the Gospel or an improvement to the Gospel but the annihilation of the Gospel!  In other words, Galatia had messed with the very foundation, the basic building blocks, of Christianity.   Now, we can begin to see the reason for Paul’s rebuke, his absence of thankfulness and the importance of Blue & Swan's new book for our contemporary culture today.  


In their new book, “The Gospel Uncensored,” Blue and Swan take the reader through Paul’s letter to Galatia and the simple truth that Jesus is actually enough.  “The Gospel Uncensored,” is a fervent book on the grace of God and how this gracious work of Christ leads to freedom.  It is a heartfelt plea to the reader to get over “Jesus plus religion” and come back to “Jesus plus nothing.”  For it is in Jesus and Him alone that we have freedom.

"The Gospel Uncensored" is a great read, well worth your time and would be a valuable book for a small group setting/study. 

View all my reviews