Cheap Grace ?

Cheap Grace

Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in "The Cost of Discipleship, ................

"Cheap Grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field, for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows Him.

Costly grace is the Gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ, it is costly because it costs a man his life and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life."

When my oldest son was 2 years old, he was scolded by a full kettle of boiling water. He was burned over 60% of his body with 3rd degree burns. He survived the critical first few days. Every day they would bandage him, and every day the bandages from the previous day had to be removed. If his burns got infected, he would die.

A nurse would take Christopher, with my help, to a prepared bath. The bath was full of salt water. I literally had to hold him down as he screamed,his eyes burning into mine with confusion, not understanding the process, only knowing that his father was part of this cruel torture. I would have given my life to have taken his place. I would have given my life to spare him the agony, but, I was powerless. I know all you parents out there can identify with those feelings.

Our heavenly Father, watched His Son being mocked, being spat on, tortured and ridiculed and finally nailed to the cross. He listened to His Son cry out from the depths of His being "My God, My God, why have thou forsaken me." Oh the Fathers agony as He turned His head. How many know that our heavenly Father could have stopped it at any time? He was not powerless. What could have driven Him to allow this to unfold? John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever shall believe in Him, will not perish...................."

This love of the Father for the lost is beyond what our earthly minds can even come close to grasping. What we can take from it this, the grace that flows to and from Calvary is no cheap grace. We will not be judged on how good or bad we are, but what we did with the sacrifice of Calvary.

Yes, Salvation is a finished and complete work, we can neither add to it, nor take anything from it, it was purchased for us at a terrible cost, but, to accept it fully and walk in the newness of life, it will cost us everything. For the sake of the kingly rule of Christ are we ready to sell everything we have for this treasure in the field? Will we pluck out our eye or cut of the hand that offends? To walk in the Spirit, are we ready to pick up our cross? Are we ready to die daily?

Seems like a flippant reply, maybe I am wrong.....Frank

Good observations brother. I believe what Bonhoeffer was looking at in the "Cost of Discipleship," was the result of the reformation. Here is some quotes to back up the point.

"Yet the outcome of the Reformation was the victory, not of Luther's perception of grace in all its purity and costliness, but of the vigilant religious instinct of man for the place where grace is to be obtained at the cheapest price. All that was needed was a subtle and almost imperceptable change of emphasis, and the damage was done."

"But he spoke(Luther) as one who knew that at the very moment of his crisis he was called to leave all that he had and follow Jesus. The recognition of grace was his final, radical breach with his besetting sin, but it was never the justification of that sin. By laying hold of God's forgiveness, he made the final radical renunciation of a self-willed life, but an answer which has been arrived at by God, not by man. But then his followers changed the "answer," into the data for a calculation of their own. That was the root of the trouble. If grace is God's answer, the gift of Christian life, then we cannot for a moment dispense with following Christ. But if grace is the data for my Christian life, it means I set out to live the Christian in the world with all my sins justified beforehand. I can go and sin as much as I like and rely on this grace to forgive me, for after all the world is justified in principal by grace. I can therefore cling to my bourgeois secular existence(modern middle class life?) and remain as I was before, but with the added assurance that the grace of God will cover me. It is under the influence of this kind of "grace" that the world has been made "Christian," but at the cost of secularizing the Christian religion as never before."

Bonhoeffer is saying that one can give mental assent to a series of questions , a nod of yes I agree, and by the nodding and agreeing one is saved. Tozer also refutes this notion. If one gives a mere mental assent to a series of abstract truths, that one is not saved.

"I need no longer try to follow Christ, for cheap grace, the bitterest foe of discipleship, which true discipleship must loathe and detest, has freed me from that. Grace,as the data for our calculations means grace at the cheapest price, but grace as the answer to the sum means costly grace. It is terrifying to realize what use can be made of genuine evangelical doctrine. In both cases we have the identical formula-"Justification by faith alone." Yet the misuse of the formula leads to the complete destruction of its very essence."

This is something of what Paul Washer was talking about last night. It is terrifying to realize what use can be made of genuine evangelical doctrine. We are living in a devastated generation that is reaping the whirlwing of the misuse of genuine evangelical doctrine. Here is an example of one truth, two different paths.......

"At the end of a life spent in the pursuit of knowledge Faust has to confess...."I now do see that we can know nothing." That is the answer to a sum, it is the outcome of a long experience. But Kierkegaad observed, it is quite a different thing when a freshman comes up to the university and uses the same sentiment to justify his indolence. As the answer to a sum it is perfectly true, but as the initial data it is a piece of self-deception. For acquired knowledge cannot be divorced from the existence in which it is acquired. The only man who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ. Such a man knows that the call to discipleship is a gift of grace and that the call is inseparable from the grace. But those who try to use this grace as a dispenstaion from following Christ are simply deceiving themselves."

My post was simply to point out the enormous cost of Calvary. And that the grace that flows to and from there came at a terrible cost to the Godhead..........Frank

Well my fellow Kansan
(I am actually from Greenock in Scotland, moved to Overland Park) You seemed to have went from the sublime to the ridiculous :)

I think that you may, and correct me if I am wrong, have justification mixed up with sanctification. It is saving grace we are talking about. Bonhoffer , and I would agree, is simply saying that it requires one's life to come to Christ.(those who save their life will lose it, those who lose their life for my sake will gain eternal life)

The post I wrote has nothing to do with the Law and how we live our lives after we are saved. That would be a whole other post simply to deal with the issues that you raised. Yet, ironicly enough, you have presented yourself as the same kind of example as I quoted in my reply to Compton. You write

"We think because we looked at a naked woman, or man in a curious moment on the computer, or have a beer, or smoke a ciggarette, or say a curse word, or cheat on a test, that weve failed him and we have to confess and say our penance to restore our relationship that we never lost. It was grace that kept me safe thus far and it will be grace that leads me home, and I have news for you friend, it will be grace that leads you home as well, despite yourself."

Dont you know brother that the Scriptures tell us to avoid "even the appearence of evil." If you are saying, and I hope that you are not, that since you will never be able to live a completely sin-free life, that we should not even bother, then that is the same "indolence," that Bonhoeffer quotes. If you can do all the things that you mentioned and it not bother your concience, then can I suggest that your concience may be seared? Perhaps you are not saying that though, maybe you can claify? David himself said, thinking about Bathsheba "Create in me a clean heart oh Lord and renew a right Spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence oh Lord, take not thy Holy Spirit from me...restore unto me, the joy of my salvation." And also

Psa 24:3 Who shall go up into the hill of Jehovah? Or who shall stand in His holy place?
Psa 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to vanity, and has not sworn deceitfully.
Psa 24:5 He shall receive the blessing from Jehovah, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Psa 24:6 This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face, O God of Jacob. Selah.

Test yourself brother, see if you are in the faith. Beware when you stand, lest you fall. If anyone has made a confession of faith, if anyone has been genuinely regenerated, they shall be a new creature in Christ, behold all things are new. Anyone who truly knows the Lord, knows that to sin is an agony, because it seperates us from the "presence," of the Lord. We would never do anything that would hurt our Lord, we want to do that which pleases Him. We hunger and thirst after His presence, as the deer panteth for the waterbrooks so my soul longeth after thee..............Frank

PS... And we write these things to you so that your joy may be full.
1Jn 1:5 And this is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.

All I would say in reply Stromboli is....how does your opinion stack up with Scripture. ?.....Frank

Hi Heartsong...you write "What an agony of heart - to watch your own child go through such pain - all the while knowing that he did not understand. I can not even begin to imagine"

I appreciate your comments my friend. There is something uniquely agonizing about watching your child suffer. I know that there are many parents who have suffered this out there and they know the depth of this pain. I think the only thing worse than this is to watch your child die. Our firstborn died. We had to give permission to switch a machine off. To bury your own flesh and blood is a sore pain indeed. And so, with these two experiences in mind,one week before our third child was born I felt an urging in my spirit to write a letter. I did not know what I was going to write or to whom, but in obedience I picked up my pen and wrote.....

"A blessing to you in the name of Jesus. Jesus is the mighty king ,He is the Lion of Judah. There are many voices in this world who would say that He is weak or dead and that we are alone, that is a lie from hell itself. We serve a mighty God who has authority over kings and presidents, over nations and empires. Satan and his mighty demons tremble in the presence of Jesus.

There is not a hair on your head that the Lord does not know. The Lord Himself, in the garden of Gethsemane was tried to His very core, even His closest friends had fallen asleep on Him. And in His agony, in His despair, He cried out to His Father, “Father, take this cup from me”, at that very second we see the Lords humanity, He is so able to understand our situations.

Sometimes we would question ,”why Lord”, but there is always a reason.The lord cried from the cross “my God ,my God, why has thou forsaken me”, at that very point He touched man’s lowest ebb, despair, hell itself. I do not know, but I imagine that this was the hardest moment for our Father as He watched His Son hang from that cross and withdraw His presence.

The Father in His infinite wisdom and mercy and love for us ,sacrificed His Son. Oh the agony the Father felt, but now the perfect wisdom of our Father is shown. There is nothing now His Son does not know, His dying and rising, formed in perfection, is now the hope of mankind. Our Jesus is alive and He knows us inside out. He will never abandon us.

And when our time arrives to come into the very presence of the living God, when we kneel before the precious lamb of God, when we become one with our Lord, then we will know all that the Lord has done for us. It is an honor and a privilege to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. I tremble at the very thought of coming into the presence of Almighty God. We simply can’t imagine, our minds are totally inadequate to realize the Glory of our Lord.
May the Lord strengthen you and fill you with His glory. The victory is already won, let us wait upon the Lord."

I felt led, Heartsong, to send this to my mother and father in Scotland. One week later my third son was born. He had Downs Syndrome and was seriously ill, close to death. We had no idea beforehand that there was any problems. One week after he was born, the letter arrived back at my house. The Lord had led my mother to send it back to me and tell me that the letter was to me. As I read it I wept and wept and wept. My mind went back to all those years before when my son had been burned. God the Father spoke into my heart. He said He knew my pain. Then it dawned on me In a very small way, God the Father was sharing His pain with me, as a Father who had watched, in agonies we can never come close to imagining, His own Son suffer and die. He was telling me that there is a reason Daniel being born. Further along I would understand why. Oh Heartsong, this child of mine has changed my whole family in ways I could never have imagined. He is the joy of my life. What a glorious God, who reached into His treasury and gave me something worth more than gold.

Oh the grace and the love of my heavenly Father, all wise, all loving, taking great care to heal His children. Grace might be free to us, but it was not free to our God. It is precious, it is a pearl of great price and should be treasured. We will never know the true cost, never in this life, and probably not in the next either, enough to know "That God so loved the world that He gave His only Son." Oh thank you Father, I can never repay you for this glorious and costly love of yours, but perhaps in some small ways I can be faithful to you Lord. To give you my whole life is a small thing in comparison to your great sacrifice.....glory to God in the Highest, my King, my Lord.........My Abba Father.............Frank

"This picture serves to remind me of the price - that I would never take for granted the sacrifice that was made on my behalf - the perfect, precious Saviour, slain for my sins, that I might live in Him. Oh, what a blessed Saviour He is - ever faithful, ever true."

Oh Yes brother, what a blessed saviour. My son may be a treasure to me, yet even my son pales in comparsion to my Jesus who broke into the darkness of one who was lost in drunkeness and drugs, one who tried to find relief in every foul thing that man can do. And then, almost at the bottom of the bottomless pit, my Lord opened my eyes and I saw my state. And in a moment of horror, I cried out to Him in all of my filthiness, and He came right down into my pit of darkness and the light of heaven shone on me. I cried out "Lord do not look at me,please forgive me" and He took my hand and said "shhh,you come with me." Up and up and up, filth falling from me, up and out that pit, that miry clay and there it was, the blue sky of heaven and He set me down on the solid Rock. Oh the joy of sins forgiven and reconcilliation. A new heart filled with love and peace, the stony heart destroyed. Oh the grace that filled that heart. Jesus, my Lord, my Saviour..............Frank

THE PROCESS

My heart is shredded, it lies in pieces
Think, I must think
Here comes the hammer, it cannot miss
The blow, and now I shrink

The shrinking ends , I am no more
One chance to survive, I take it
And now I am no more
Only one choice , I thought, and I took it
And walked on through the door

The blows are still coming now
But I feel a little less
Surely my heart grows stronger
Ah yes, but no caress

I now reside in this world of mine
And the blows keep raining down
Stronger , even stronger now
A smile replaced by a constant frown

My heart, my heart, it is no more
It is completely encased in steel
My God, My God, Oh help me Lord
My God I cannot feel.

I look down in horror
No heart, no flesh , just bone
I look around in horror
My God, I’m all alone

Where is this place I thought I knew
It’s dark, it’s dimly lit
My God, My God, I’m almost at the bottom
Of the bottomless pit.

And in that moment, right where I was
My God He came to me
My son, my son, my son He cried
I have come to set you free.

Oh my God, Oh my Lord
Is it true, can I be free
Oh please dear Jesus, please dear God
Please don’t look on me

My son, my son, you are my son
And I will put you on the Rock
Be quiet now, be quiet son
Shh, do not talk

I have a Son, My only Son
He died upon a tree
He is My Son, He is your Lord
He’s the Rock that will set you free.

And so it was, and so it is
My Father took me in His Hand
Onward , ever upward
Out of the pit, into the Promised land

He set me on the Rock and I looked down
No longer a heart of steel
I could see and I could touch
I had flesh and I could feel

So come to the Rock, come to Christ
And He will set you free
If you will just open your eyes
He will let you see.

Hi sister Joan...you are right. What words could express the vastness of our God? The English language, in all it beauty, is like mere grunts as it stumbles and falters before the throne of grace. The enormity of our God, the grandness of His being, all of our words are like pitiful beggers that scrape and stumble before the majesty of our King. And yet this God has made Himself known to the least amongst society. The call went out to the highways and the byways.

1Co 1:26 For you see your calling, brothers, that not many wise men according to the flesh are called, not many mighty, not many noble.
1Co 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28 and God has chosen the base things of the world, and things which are despised, and things which are not, in order to bring to nothing things that are;
1Co 1:29 so that no flesh should glory in His presence.
1Co 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who of God is made to us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption;
1Co 1:31 so that, according as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord."

Quite simply, I live and breath and have my sanity because of Him. According to the flesh I would never have been chosen to be a follower of Christ. My family, even in a town that was poor, was the poorest of the poor. Sometimes we would sit for months without electricity. Many times I would walk 4 miles just to "borrow," potato's from my grandma. Yet, one night my mother walked out and came back in and announced that she had "found Jesus." Jesus came and sat down with us, He took up residence in our apartment. Now, who would ever have guessed that? The King of all creation, the Lord of Lords had deemed to come and visit us. No one can explain that. All I can say is that when a jeweler sells a diamond, he presents it on black velvet. Oh how the precious metals stand out on the blackness of the background. Jesus often time chooses to display His treasures, treasures of love, treasues of joy, treasures of peace, and the greatest of all treasues, salvation, on the blackest of canvases so that His works shine out all the more. May His glorious name be praised.....Frank