I loved Wretched Saints!  It’s the kind of book one doesn’t read just once.  The lies we’ve believed are too ingrained and the gospel so radical that we have to be reminded repeatedly about the truth of our faith. Noel Heikkinen has done that with great skill, humor, and truth.  Read this book, keep it in your library, and read it again and again. 

In Wretched Saints, Noel Jesse Heikkinen has done a fine job dispelling the myth that Christianity is chiefly a religion of judgment, scolding, and separation. Instead, he paints a compelling picture of how awareness and admission of sin become a pathway to enjoying the grace and love of God. Take a risk. Read this book and see if perhaps you’ve misunderstood Christianity all along.

In Wretched Saints, my pastor Noel lays out the wonderfully paradoxical truth of the gospel. You are both a sinner, saved by God’s relentless grace, and a saint, covered completely by the cross. In the chapters of this game-changing book, you will unearth practical truths to help you stop striving—yet simultaneously keep growing—as you rest in God’s love and allow Jesus to do the heavy lifting, making you more like Him.

It’s more than a coincidence that the words wretch and retch are so similar. So much of what Heikkinen covers in this book are the aspects of our own sinful nature and struggles that make us feel like puking. But he does a brilliant, pastoral job of not wallowing in that mess and, instead, giving hope from the depths of God’s grace.

Some writers provide well-argued, biblical foundations for living under grace. Others show how that kind of life might be lived. Noel excels at doing both in this book. It’s wise, insightful, massively encouraging, and highly recommended.

With refreshing transparency and deeply biblical truth, Pastor Noel Heikkinen will reconstruct the faith you once had when you first believed that Jesus loved you. . . . It’s time to stop listening to the lies that point you toward introspection and the never-ending search for self-approval and to rest, really rest, in Christ’s declaration, “It is finished!” I love this book. Pick it up and let its message liberate your soul.

If tired and overwhelmed are words that come to mind when you think about your Christian life, then let Noel help you to be overwhelmed once again by God’s tireless grace for “wretched saints” like us.

Martin Luther said that justification by faith must be continually in our ears, or else we will doubt and forget it. Wretched Saints more than rises to the challenge, resounding with the Good News that God meets us in our mess with His saving grace, and that His love isn’t changing, even though we continually second-guess it. What a deeply engaging and ever-urgent reminder of the gospel.

When it comes to living life in light of God’s grace and mercy, too many Jesus-followers “believe” the theology but never experience the reality. In Wretched Saints, Noel Heikkinen shines a bright light on the truth of God’s declarations about what He’s done and who we’ve become in Christ.

Have you ever felt like it’s only a matter of time before people find out? Before they find out about your imperfections, sins, lies, and hypocrisy? If so, then you’ve probably also felt the simultaneous tension of wanting to leave that all behind and walk in freedom. In Wretched Saints, my friend Noel will help you identify the lies that are holding you back, so that you can embrace the truth that will lead you into a life of freedom.

I love books that draw attention to the nature of grace. I love it even more when a book brings grace to the places we actually live. If you have felt the tension of being a sinner and being justified by God at the same time but you don’t know how to live in the tension, this book is for you. I can’t wait to get Wretched Saints into the hands of the people of the church I pastor.