Cheap grace was a term used by the Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer to describe the state of modern Christianity. In his book, The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer describes cheap grace like this,
" Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate."
This type of preaching is very popular today. "Come as you are!" pastors say. They forget to tell you that you cannot stay that way. When we come to Christ we become slaves to righteousness, we give up being slaves to sin (Romans 6:16).
Costly Grace
Bonhoeffer goes on to describe costly grace this way,
"Such grace is costly because it causes us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it cost 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 cost God the life of his Son...."
To become a disciple of Christ means to follow Him. We leave everything to follow His will for our lives just as His first disciples did. The evidence of our faith is our obedience and our faith causes us to be obedient! James tells us this in James 2: 20-24. He tells us that faith without works is dead. He says that a man is not justified by faith alone but by works.
Transformed By Christ
So how do we reconcile what James says with the words of Paul in Ephesians 2: 8-9 that tell us that we have been saved through faith and not works? Our salvation is the gift of God, the gift of faith, given to us by His grace and mercy. Grace is not given to us because of something that we did. It is an undeserved gift of God. The evidence of this salvation is our works. We do not become Christians to just stay the same and go our way. We become Christians and turn on backs on the world to follow Christ. When we are brought to a knowledge of Christ through faith, action is expected, even required, because how we live and what we do is evidence of our transformation by the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ.
Cheap Grace
Cheap grace says we only have to believe. Cheap grace doesn't require change. Cheap grace says I can live how I want to as long as I have faith. Cheap grace makes a mockery of Christ's sacrifice for us on the Cross. And yet, if I am an alcoholic and give up my alcohol or rich and give away all my money, then that is wonderful, but that does not save me. A saint without faith is no saint at all. When we step out in faith and come to Christ when He calls, that is our first act of obedience. If however we continue in disobedience to Jesus and His call on our lives, that is evidence that we do not have faith.
The Bible plainly tells us that simple belief is not enough. In James 2:19 we are commended for having belief but we are also told that "even the demons believe and tremble." It is sad to consider how many people today believe they are Christians because they believe in God, but aren't because they haven't repented and turned to obedience. They are believers but not transformed believers.
Perhaps you wonder how then, are people on their death beds who become Christians truly saved? They have done nothing. Like the thief on the cross they have no works. Our Lord knows the heart. He knows that if that person were to live they would have works. They would have been obedient. He also knows when someone is only saying the words in hopes of saving their skins. Again, God knows us like no other.
How Obedient Are We?
When Abraham was called to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice, he did not question God but just obeyed. His obedience was a direct result of his faith. What area of our lives are we holding back from God? How far does our obedience go? Do we tell God, in so many words, I will go this far but no farther in my obedience? Do we want "cheap grace" or do we understand how costly His grace really is?
At the very least our obedience will cause us to be a stranger in the world. We will be unlike those around us and because of this we will be ridiculed and considered odd. Our obedience could cost us our families, it could cost us our jobs, it could cost us the "respect" of the world. Our love, our mercy and our forgiveness should be so different from the world that people have trouble understanding us. Why don't these people seek revenge? Why don't these people want to be powerful and important? Why don't these people just "go along to get along"? Everything about us should shout that we are followers of Christ.
What Does Obedience Cost?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was killed by the Nazi's in a concentration camp in World War 2. His crime was speaking out against them. Bonhoeffer knew what obedience to God's will might cost him but that did not stop him. Costly grace calls us to follow Christ wherever that takes us, cheap grace requires nothing from us. What will obedience cost us? Will we sacrifice everything for our Lord?
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