Costly Grace

This week I re-read chapter one of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship and am compelled to recommend it to you. Last week I preached a short message in a local nursing home drawing from Psalm 25 and Luke 14 & 15. In that message I pointed out the connection between the humbled, penitent psalmist and the humbled, penitent prodigal. That message has ministered to me all this past week. In my preparations for preaching this afternoon at an assisted living home I came to Romans 6 (I'm preaching section by section through Romans). The Lord brought together all three portions of Scripture and Bonhoeffer's plea for the recovery of the value of grace in the aforementioned chapter.

Psalm 25 is a prayer of a humbled, penitent disciple of YHWH.

Luke 14 recounts a couple parables Jesus told regarding the character of kingdom citizens; namely, humility and radical generosity. Verses 21 and 33 do well to summarize this chapter: Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. ... So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple" (ESV).

Luke 15 is Jesus' response to the grumbling of the Pharisees and scribes when they saw him sitting and eating with the tax collectors and sinners. Jesus exposed how little those religious grumblers valued the grace of God by telling them three parables.

• NOTE: The objects in each parable increase in intrinsic value while decreasing in quantity.
  
• First, he speaks of the value of one lost sheep out of one hundred.
  
• Second, he speaks of one silver coin out of ten.
• Thirdly, he speaks of one lost son out of two.

The one son exploited grace by asking prematurely for his inheritance and subsequently squandering it. He eventually came to brokenness and shame (what the Psalmist prayed to be spared of). Having learned through humility the value of his fathers loving-kindness and grace, he returned home to repent and confess his sins. His father received him as a valued son.

Romans 6 begins with a question for those who have cheapened the grace of God.

Paul asks,

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? (ESV)

Paul answers...

By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (ESV)

Bonhoeffer contrasts cheap grace and costly grace. Here is a portion of his chapter entitled 'Costly Grace'.

Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting to-day for costly grace.

Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjack's wares. ... The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite. ...

Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian 'conception' of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins. The Church which holds the correct doctrine of grace has, it is supposed, ipso facto a part in that grace. In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of the living Word of God, in fact, a denial of the Incarnation of the Word of God.

Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything, they say, and so everything can remain as it was before. ... Well, then let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world's standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin. ... 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. 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.

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 that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of 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, and it is grace 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. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it costs God the life of His Son: 'ye were bought at a price,' and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon His Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but deliver him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.

Costly grace is the santuary of God; it has to be protected from the world, and not thrown to the dogs. It is therefore the living word, the Word of God, which he speaks as it pleases him. Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: 'My yoke is easy and My burden is light.'

(Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship. 2nd edition, revised and enlarged, SCM Press Ltd, 1959. pp 35-37.)

I wish that I had read this chapter long ago! This study has cut deep. As I told the folks this afternoon, there are far too many Christian corpses walking around in society; claiming grace, but living in sin. At best, we call them "nominal" Christians because for them Christianity is the right thing to do; the accepted thing as long as you are not too committed and don't push your views on others (unless you're talking about social or environmental views, then its your obligation to make disciples).

We often band together and pray for the persecuted church to be faithful. Does the persecuted church really have it worse off than we do? Sure, they lack freedom, but do they lack obedience? We have freedom, but radical, costly obedience is hard to find. Frankly, it's so easy to take grace for granted in our society. Our society doesn't care how committed your are to Christ, especially when you keep to yourself.

I wonder if the persecuted church holds prayer meetings for those of us in free societies, asking God to raise up obedient, responsible Christians who will resist the pervading wind of 'cheap grace'? May God forgive us (me) and help us (me) to renounce the former things, to bear our (my) cross, and to follow Jesus at any cost!

Costly Grace