Truth, Grace, and Security

This book contains two stories, but the first one is nested in the second one. The first part is Bruno Corduan's short autobiography, which begins with him as a boy in a family of rather limited means growing up in Germany during the Nazi era. Having come to trust Christ at an early age and carrying no illusions about the Nazis or their opposition to biblical Christianity and those who practiced it, one might wonder with what anxieties and uncertainties this boy must be struggling, particularly as he gets old enough to be compelled into military service. The surprising answer is "none" because he knows himself to be guided by God, who will protect him physically as well as spiritually. This unreserved trust becomes palpable in a number of instances that are worthy of being deemed miracles. As Bruno continues his life into adulthood in the new Germany, he never ceases to experience the guidance of God. Having grown up in poverty, we find him decades later as a diplomat for the German government and for NATO, negotiating multimillion dollar contracts, having achieved greater success than anyone could have predicted. Still Bruno never lost sight of who really was in charge of his life. Thus, simultaneous with his official duties, we always find him actively engaged in promoting the work of the Lord. He poured his life into this calling as much as into his professional vocation, serving as pastor, teacher, leader, and even church founder. And thus, we come to the second story. This one is much larger, cosmic in size, and Bruno sees his life as just one small instance thereof. In fact, when he finally consented to write out the story of his life at age eighty-two, he would only do so if he could also include this much larger story, namely the history of how God reached down to earth to establish a relationship with human beings through the life and death of his Son. What is it that makes it possible for someone to lead a life such as Bruno's? It is not human energy. What he insists on throughout his exposition is that neither is it piety or religiosity. It is the work of God who will awaken all people who believe in him from spiritual death and give them a life in which he will demonstrate that he is, indeed, the gracious and sovereign Lord of the universe. In short, the first part of this book is Bruno Corduan's autobiography. The second part is his exposition of the gospel and of Christianity, in which he is always reminding us that our salvation and walk with God are the consequences of God's gracious work, and not of our own religious efforts.