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Forgiven Forever: Living in the death of Jesus
Why is the cross significant? What implications does an ancient crucifixion have for modern lives? Forgiven Forever is a captivating journey through the Bible’s teachings on Jesus’ death and its impact on you today. You’ll consider key concepts such as forgiveness, atonement, guilt and shame in a new light, as well as topics you might not expect, like Christian leadership, spiritual warfare, and the nature of church. Written by author and pastor Rory Shiner in his enjoyable and accessible style, Forgiven Forever is a must-read for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of the cross and its transformative power.
- GenresChristian Living
154 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 18, 2023
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17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 14, 2025
probs shouldnt have read this straight after the Cross of Christ, covered a lot of the same points with less depth
ah well, still very good, real easy to read too
ah well, still very good, real easy to read too
May 8, 2025
So good. Might move to prov now
August 6, 2025
Super helpful to think through the cross and how it impacts how we live
December 24, 2024
I really enjoy Rory Shiner’s books. One Forever is definitely my favourite, however this one lives up to the clarity and truth I’ve come to expect from his works. The explanation of the meaning of the cross in its various facets and its practical application both reminded me of my theological groundings and was thought-provoking at the same time. I also enjoyed the prayers and discussion guide at the back. There was definitely more theological depth that could have been explored but overall a good read
April 13, 2024
Loved so much about this book - and so, I wished it was a little more than it is.
It is warm, interesting, fresh, clear, readable. Rory has such an interesting way of coming at things. I have done subjects on the cross at Bible college and preached a series of talks on it, and yet I found that I was still surprised and delighted to be learning new things. The chapter on shame was a particular stand out. Read that for sure!
His style of writing is so easy to understand and feels so current. He really gets our current world. I'm reading another book on the cross at the moment and that other one just feels like it's from a previous world, with antiquated analogies and so on. So, I love that Rory's connects with today's concerns and uses analogies that resonate today.
My biggest reservation about the book was that it was often too brief. At several points this felt to me like he was really close to landing an amazing point, but instead of landing it he would just move on. At other points it felt that he would raise something without taking enough time to explain it. Sometimes I felt we moved from enter to desert a little quick, and didn't quite get to chew and digest the main course. And there were one or two places where it was so brief that I felt left to trust him, rather than have him prove it to me from the Bible. I can see why it's nice to have a shorter book rather than a longer book, but I thought a few extra pages in every chapter would have been worth the extra length. Maybe I'm just slow. But I probably prefer someone to show their working a little more. (One example that stands out from his book is the part about the Lord's Supper being a covenant renewal. He didn't explain what a covenant is, or what a covenant renewal would be. He didn't bring me any bible passages to support the idea. It was a new idea for me, and I thought... you didn't convince me, or even help me understand it, so why say it? I'm left to trust you... which isn't the sort of ministry I'd like an evangelical doing most of the time.
I read this looking for a new 'best book on the cross' to recommend to people. In my opinion, the best book out there is John Stott's 'Cross of Christ'. However, Stott's book is becoming increasingly inaccessible for today's readers I think. Lately, I have wondered if I have been sending people to shipwreck their enthusiasm for reading of Christian books on one that is beyond the patience of a less-literate, more distracted world. So I had hoped Rory would bring me the gold from Stott's book in a clearer, more digestible way. Well, it's not quite fair to judge a book by what I wanted it to be. But it wasn't quite what I wanted. I felt that the people in my church would definitely learn things from this book. But I also felt that there are some more important things about the cross which they wouldn't learn from this book. While it touches on many of the big truths, it doesn't explain or defend some of the biggest ones as well as I was hoping. I'd have loved Rory's book to do a little more work on the systematic theological pieces of what the cross achieved. The word propitiation, for example, is used in a few places and the idea is certainly there in other places, but there was not really a systematic unpacking of it and defence of it. I think I'd have liked Rory's book to do just a little more of the standard catechising around some standard reformed evangelical pieces of the cross. A little unfair to judge a book by what I want it to be rather than what it is, of course. But if Rory wrote a book on the cross that was twice as long as this, and did a bit more of that, I reckon it would be "The One"!
I loved that there was a lot of application. However, the balance felt a bit off. Rory gave plenty of great, helpful practical implications for living out the Christian faith. But, given the title ('Forgiven forever') I was surprised that there was less application than I might have expected to the 'vertical' implications of the cross - our standing before God. It wasn't absent, but I felt that there's a bit more that could have been said and it would have been well worth saying it.
One last thought: I thought the ordering of the chapters was a bit odd toward the end as well. It would have made more sense to me to do the church chapter before the Lord's Supper and Leadership chapters, rather than after. In fact, noticing this made me realise that he doesn't really develop an overall argument through the book (in the way, say, Stott does). He has some brilliant chapters on some brilliant topics, loosely related by the theme of the cross. But I feel that those topics can also be turned into a bigger argument that would have pulled me through the book more helpfully. The latter sections felt a bit 'and then... and then...' - but now I'm getting quite picky I suppose! I guess it helped me appreciate more what I loved about Stott's book... though of course Stott takes 5x as many words to do it, and in a much less accessible way.
I think what I'm really saying is that I loved this book, and I'd love Rory to write a version that is twice as long. And then I look forward to recommending that to everyone I meet.
It is warm, interesting, fresh, clear, readable. Rory has such an interesting way of coming at things. I have done subjects on the cross at Bible college and preached a series of talks on it, and yet I found that I was still surprised and delighted to be learning new things. The chapter on shame was a particular stand out. Read that for sure!
His style of writing is so easy to understand and feels so current. He really gets our current world. I'm reading another book on the cross at the moment and that other one just feels like it's from a previous world, with antiquated analogies and so on. So, I love that Rory's connects with today's concerns and uses analogies that resonate today.
My biggest reservation about the book was that it was often too brief. At several points this felt to me like he was really close to landing an amazing point, but instead of landing it he would just move on. At other points it felt that he would raise something without taking enough time to explain it. Sometimes I felt we moved from enter to desert a little quick, and didn't quite get to chew and digest the main course. And there were one or two places where it was so brief that I felt left to trust him, rather than have him prove it to me from the Bible. I can see why it's nice to have a shorter book rather than a longer book, but I thought a few extra pages in every chapter would have been worth the extra length. Maybe I'm just slow. But I probably prefer someone to show their working a little more. (One example that stands out from his book is the part about the Lord's Supper being a covenant renewal. He didn't explain what a covenant is, or what a covenant renewal would be. He didn't bring me any bible passages to support the idea. It was a new idea for me, and I thought... you didn't convince me, or even help me understand it, so why say it? I'm left to trust you... which isn't the sort of ministry I'd like an evangelical doing most of the time.
I read this looking for a new 'best book on the cross' to recommend to people. In my opinion, the best book out there is John Stott's 'Cross of Christ'. However, Stott's book is becoming increasingly inaccessible for today's readers I think. Lately, I have wondered if I have been sending people to shipwreck their enthusiasm for reading of Christian books on one that is beyond the patience of a less-literate, more distracted world. So I had hoped Rory would bring me the gold from Stott's book in a clearer, more digestible way. Well, it's not quite fair to judge a book by what I wanted it to be. But it wasn't quite what I wanted. I felt that the people in my church would definitely learn things from this book. But I also felt that there are some more important things about the cross which they wouldn't learn from this book. While it touches on many of the big truths, it doesn't explain or defend some of the biggest ones as well as I was hoping. I'd have loved Rory's book to do a little more work on the systematic theological pieces of what the cross achieved. The word propitiation, for example, is used in a few places and the idea is certainly there in other places, but there was not really a systematic unpacking of it and defence of it. I think I'd have liked Rory's book to do just a little more of the standard catechising around some standard reformed evangelical pieces of the cross. A little unfair to judge a book by what I want it to be rather than what it is, of course. But if Rory wrote a book on the cross that was twice as long as this, and did a bit more of that, I reckon it would be "The One"!
I loved that there was a lot of application. However, the balance felt a bit off. Rory gave plenty of great, helpful practical implications for living out the Christian faith. But, given the title ('Forgiven forever') I was surprised that there was less application than I might have expected to the 'vertical' implications of the cross - our standing before God. It wasn't absent, but I felt that there's a bit more that could have been said and it would have been well worth saying it.
One last thought: I thought the ordering of the chapters was a bit odd toward the end as well. It would have made more sense to me to do the church chapter before the Lord's Supper and Leadership chapters, rather than after. In fact, noticing this made me realise that he doesn't really develop an overall argument through the book (in the way, say, Stott does). He has some brilliant chapters on some brilliant topics, loosely related by the theme of the cross. But I feel that those topics can also be turned into a bigger argument that would have pulled me through the book more helpfully. The latter sections felt a bit 'and then... and then...' - but now I'm getting quite picky I suppose! I guess it helped me appreciate more what I loved about Stott's book... though of course Stott takes 5x as many words to do it, and in a much less accessible way.
I think what I'm really saying is that I loved this book, and I'd love Rory to write a version that is twice as long. And then I look forward to recommending that to everyone I meet.
April 16, 2024
Shiner's other works have been impactful; his talks which made up his first book "One Forever" have been a favorite way to explain the unique relationship Christians have with Jesus. I need to read his book on theological impact of the Resurrection eventually (Raised Forever), but this recent book packs a bit of a punch in 160 or so pages.
While there's heaps of new material, I see a big influence of Scott's contemporary classic "The Cross of Christ" but with more a pastoral affect. The end of Chapter 7 summary on what holding on to Jesus has probably made me wipe a couple of tears. I've shared a draft to a number of people over the years he tweeted and they all really need to hear that it's Jesus holding on to them, not the other way around. Much of this could be read while doing a study on Hebrews.
While there's heaps of new material, I see a big influence of Scott's contemporary classic "The Cross of Christ" but with more a pastoral affect. The end of Chapter 7 summary on what holding on to Jesus has probably made me wipe a couple of tears. I've shared a draft to a number of people over the years he tweeted and they all really need to hear that it's Jesus holding on to them, not the other way around. Much of this could be read while doing a study on Hebrews.
June 12, 2024
Compelling work on the central focus of Christian theology - the cross of Christ. Rory writes with pithy illustrations and unapologetic explanations to make the many different facets of a biblical theology of the cross clear. I could easily imagine using this for a 12 week book club in the lead up to Good Friday!
September 16, 2024
A wee gem on the Cross
There are numerous books on the cross. This is a wee gem. Rory Shiner explains in clear, simple but not simplistic, and practical terms what the Cross is - and why it is so central to the Christian faith. As a primer for a new Christian, an explainer for an inquirer, or a necessary reminder for a more mature believer- this is hard to beat!
There are numerous books on the cross. This is a wee gem. Rory Shiner explains in clear, simple but not simplistic, and practical terms what the Cross is - and why it is so central to the Christian faith. As a primer for a new Christian, an explainer for an inquirer, or a necessary reminder for a more mature believer- this is hard to beat!
July 31, 2024
It was powerful to have it laid out how the cross deals with more than sin and death, but also shame, sorrow, earthly views of authority, pride and the strength of weakness.
December 31, 2025
Launched into reading this with enthusiasm and was well rewarded. Engaging and practical while grappling with what the crucifixion of Jesus means and accomplishes. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews