Cheap Grace

Pastor Nelson really brought some provoking material to our Small Group Training this morning. This week I will blog some of it. Here is one segment. Check this out:

In his attempt to bring a balance between two realities in the life of a Christian, Dietrich Bonheoffer talks about costly grace versus cheap grace. He writes, "Grace is represented as the church's inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost!" 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 us using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap? Bonheoffer concludes that 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.

I am more and more convinced that true discipleship is VERY expensive and more and more concerned that people think it is cheap. God help us take walking with you seriously!