"CHEAP GRACE..."

"…is the enemy of the church. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth… an intellectual assent to that idea is held to be itself sufficient to secure remission of sins. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance… grace without discipleship, grace without a cross… Costly grace is the gospel [of the church]… It is costly because it costs a man his life, and grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his son… it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God… When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die. That is why the rich young man was so loath to follow Jesus, for the cost of his following was the death of his will. In fact, every command of Jesus is a call to die, with all our affections and lusts." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Historical context (summarized from CCM): Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a young minister of the German church, was persecuted, arrested, and executed by the Nazis for speaking out against Hitler’s evil and preaching the gospel. Quote above was taken from “The Cost of Discipleship” (1937), written by Bonhoeffer for his ‘underground seminary’ students who were training ministers refusing to take oaths of allegiance to Hitler and support his racial beliefs. Bonhoeffer was writing about how the Biblical gospel had become twisted into what he called 'cheap grace'…

Thoughts by City Campus… “Cheap grace, the idea that we are saved by grace, not works, had led to the widespread inference that costly obedience was only optional. The reasoning went like this: 'We are saved by grace, not by our obedience… We don’t have to [give, be involved, or witness] to be saved. We just have to believe and ask for forgiveness.' The German church had been founded by Martin Luther himself. But over the years the concept of salvation by grace had degenerated into this ‘religion of cheap grace’ that had created a deep spiritual coldness and malaise in the German church. People believed they were Christians because they were born and raised in the church and they simply embraced the concept of salvation-by-grace. They gave lip-service to the idea of free justification/salvation but it was not changing their lives…

“What is the solution? Notice that Bonhoeffer does not say: ‘Stop thinking God accepts you freely by grace! He only accepts those who are completely committed and obedient!' The antidote for cheap grace–costly grace–is still grace. His argument is simple… He argues that those who have had their hearts gripped by how much our salvation cost God will be willing to do God’s will even if it means the loss of life. He denies that saving faith is merely “intellectual assent” to the idea of free forgiveness. Rather, saving faith (the faith that truly saves you) is joyful repentance for our self-centered lives in the light of the costly salvation of the cross. All who truly see that Christ gave up his life for them will be willing to give up their wills for him. It is a natural response.

“So how do we explain the people who say, ‘Oh, I believe in the gospel that we are saved by grace and not works,' and who then lead unchanged lives, refusing the joyful, costly obedience of discipleship? Bonhoeffer’s theory is that they look only at the free-ness of grace to us, not at the costliness of grace to God. If you don’t truly understand the first principle (the free-ness) you fall into Phariseeism and legalism. But if you don’t truly understand the second principle (the costliness) you fall into apathy, joylessness, and your life does not change.”

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Reading this excerpt from City Campus gave me chills all down my back… It’s that feeling of being completely homeless for however long of a time, and someone comes and drops a million bucks on your lap. Like as if I was hungry and all I would’ve been satisfied with is a bowl of cereal, and someone comes and treats me to a gourmet meal. For so long, I’ve been desperately wanting to know why I do fall into a cycle of apathy, joylessness, and an unchanged life, and it’s been right there, at the cross, all along… I said this in the last post but I’ll say it again: What grace, so undeserved, at such a price.