Costly versus Cheap Grace: Part 1
I really attempt to be an avid reader. Many times though, I wind up buying a book and sticking it on my shelves for "later use". This is an inevitability for many pastors, or so I am told. I have many that I want to get to from Barth, Wright, Bauckham, and Witherington. However, I believe that they will now have to wait. This is because I have found a true treasure recently. I've wanted to get my hands on "The Cost of Discipleship" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer for some time. I was finally able to do that earlier this week and I believe that I will never be the same as a consequence.
There are many topics that Bonhoeffer addressed in his all too short lifetime. One that is resonating with me profoundly right now is the concept of cheap versus costly grace. I'm planning on addressing this issue in greater detail in a forthcoming series of posts but I do want to start now.
"Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves... That is what we mean by cheap grace , the grace which amounts to the justification of sin without the justification of the repentant sinner who departs from sin and from whom sin departs" (Bonhoeffer, 1937, p.44).
What Bonhoeffer is talking about, I believe, is living a type of "christian" existence that is "christian" in name only. Cheap grace is found when someone speaks of "accepting Christ as their personal savior" without making any apparent lifestyle changes. This is when someone accepts Christ but then goes right out and lives like nothing is different for them. Now this may last for days, weeks, months, years or the rest of their lives. Frankly, this type of life begs the question... is that person saved to begin with? Now that is not the point of this series. I am not trying to put myself in the place of God, as he alone is the one who judges our eternal destination. That said, I do believe that Christians in general and pastors in particular have a responsibility to call others to a life of discipleship, or sa Bonhoeffer put it, a life characterized by costly grace.
"Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a (person) must knock" (Bonhoeffer, 1937, p.45).
Notice something? Cheap grace may be characterized as a life that is passive in relationship to Christ. This view believes that Christ did all of the work, thereby exonerating myself from having to work, to grow or to change. Costly grace, on the other hand, is active in nature. As Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened" (Matthew 7:7, NIV). The verbs that are used are active. Jesus didn't say "give thanks, don't speak, don't seek, don't grow, be complacent and let others do the hard work." We were told to pick our crosses daily in order to follow him, not to sit back and rest in what we deem to be salvation. This mindset MAY be enough to get one into heaven, but it is quite possible that, in the words of Pastor Steve DeNeff, one may get to heaven and see a God that one does not recognize.
Remember this, I am not advocating a life characterized by legalism. i am not suggesting a formula of one part Bible study, two parts prayer and one part church attendance. While each of those are worthy endeavors and vital for spiritual growth and survival, they aren't ends rather they are means to an end. That end is a discipled life of devotion to Christ Jesus.
Costly grace is designated as such because it literally costs both us and God. It costs us because we give up our lives. It cost God because he gave up his son for this to be possible, to paraphrase Bonhoeffer. In other words, our lives MUST be different than they were if we are to be true disciples of Christ. Spend time in prayer. Spend time in the Bible. Tell others about Christ in order that some might hear and come to him. Attend and invite others to church regularly.
Does this seem costly? It should. Grace may be freely given to us by Christ initially, but it can exact a high cost. That cost is our old lives. Yet, if we are willing to make that change, we will come to a time when that old life will be held in contempt in exchange for the life given to us in Christ, as Paul wrote in Philippians 3. That is the hope that we have when we come to a point when we are willing to exchange our old nature for a nature that is changed by the Holy Spirit, a life characterized by costly grace.