God’s grace is not cheap grace – it cost Jesus his life. No, his is a costly grace!
Perhaps you’ve heard about the so-called “new gospel” that’s going around.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I keep my ears peeled for such things. Because I despise any gospel other than the hard, rugged, exacting Gospel that calls us to die daily to our sin so that we might live in the strength of our Savior. It is the robust Gospel that says, “Sin kills, hell is real, but God is merciful, his kingdom can change you, and Jesus is the way.” It’s the good news that answers all of our bad news – the really bad news that we are, as Jonathan Edwards puts it, sinners in the hands of an angry God. It is a demanding Gospel in which the breathtaking and amazing grace offered through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is not counted as cheap. For the Christian, there is no such thing as “cheap grace.”
Have you heard that expression before? The phrase “cheap grace” was coined by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was killed in World War II by Hitler because of his strong defense of life, and of the Gospel. I read his book when I was in high school – that’s when I first heard about cheap grace. The book was called The Cost of Discipleship. So when I say “cheap grace,” I mean grace without price, without cost. Grace that is taken for granted. People who insist that our sin has been paid for, so life in Christ can be had for nothing. No contrition is required, no sanctification is necessary. Say that you follow Jesus but go ahead and live like the rest of the world; model yourself on the world's standards and don’t worry about aspiring to live a different life.
This is what I mean when I talk about the “new gospel.” It's a different version of the prosperity gospel. It is a gospel that says, "God loves you just as you are, he does not require you to deny any of your desires, and he really just wants you to be your best self." Oh, friend, make no mistake – these are prosperity gospel lies. They may be couched in compassion and be cloaked in language that sounds loving; but this so-called good news may use the lingo of empowerment, but it’s not the Gospel. The grace of this sort of gospel is as cheap as it comes.
Ah, but costly grace is like the parable of the treasure hidden in the field. For the sake of that treasure – the treasure of knowing Christ – a person will gladly go and sell everything he has. That sort of Christian will pluck out his eye if it causes him to stumble; he will, in a matter of words, cut off his hand if it leads him astray. He is the Christian who will leave everything – just drop your fishing nets on the beach – just give it all up and follow Jesus. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote extensively on both cheap grace and costly grace. He said that God's grace, "is costly grace because it costs a man his life, and yet it gives that same man the only true life there is… Above all, it is costly because it costs God the life of his Son. ‘You were bought at a price’ and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us."
So, please, do not be fooled by easy believism. Do not be deceived by the new prosperity gospel. Shore up your thinking, and may I suggest that you get a copy of The Cost of Discipleship written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It is a true classic which’ll help you understand your blood-bought responsibilities as a child of God. You can find Bonhoeffer’s book at your Christian bookstore or online. Remember, your salvation cost Jesus his very life; if you name him as your Savior, then it will cost you your life. And yes, this is my way of sharing true hope in all your hardship.
© Joni and Friends