Cheap grace

[lattelady]

I have a book authored by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was a young Lutheran pastor in the early 1900's. He was the son of a famous German psychiatrist and spoke out publicly against the Nazis, and was consequently arrested in 1943. He was later martyred (hanged). He was only 39 when he died, but he had made it his mission to bring Hitler down.

His book is called "The Cost Of Discipleship", and it is a wonderful book. He focuses on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and I love what he has to say about cheap grace vs. costly grace.

"Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace." "Grace is represented as the Church's inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking 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 possibilites of using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap?

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 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."

"Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentence, baptism without church discipline..." "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 wiill 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."

the"Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace becaue it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because 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 cost 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 delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God."

I believe in a costly grace, and I am eternally thankful that this costly grace was offered to me!

[Justice]

I guess I misunderstand. As we have all been saying grace is not free (or cheap), you have been one of the biggest proponents of "grace is free" and we don't have to do anything to get it.

Am I confused?

[prisonchaplain]

Justice, sometimes you feel the most beholden when you receive a gift far beyond what you could ever dream to obtain.

[bytor2112]

Now, there is a true doctrine of salvation by grace--a salvation by grace alone and without works, as the scriptures say. To understand this doctrine we must define our terms as they are defined in holy writ.

1. What is salvation? It is both immortality and eternal life. It is an inheritance in the highest heaven of the celestial world. It consists of the fullness of the glory of the Father and is reserved for those for whom the family unity continues in eternity. Those who are saved become as God is and live as he lives.

2. What is the plan of salvation? It is the system ordained by the Father to enable his spirit children to advance and progress and become like him. It consists of three great and eternal verities--the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement--without any of which there could be no salvation.

3. What is the grace of God? It is his mercy, his love, and his condescension--all manifest for the benefit and blessing of his children, all operating to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

We rejoice in the heavenly condescension that enabled Mary to become “the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh” (1 Nephi 11:18).

We bask in the eternal love that sent the Only Begotten into the world “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

We are profoundly grateful for that mercy which endureth forever and through which salvation is offered to erring mortals.

4. Does salvation come by grace, or grace alone, by grace without works? It surely does, without any question in all its parts, types, kinds, and degrees.

We are saved by grace, without works; it is a gift of God. How else could it come?

In his goodness and grace the great God ordained and established the plan of salvation. No works on our part were required.

In his goodness and grace he created this earth and all that is on it, with man as the crowning creature of his creating--without which creation his spirit children could not obtain immortality and eternal life. No works on our part were required.

In his goodness and grace he provided for the Fall of man, thus bringing mortality and death and a probationary estate into being--without all of which there would be no immortality and eternal life. And again no works on our part were required.

In his goodness and grace--and this above all--he gave his Only Begotten Son to ransom man and all life from the temporal and spiritual death brought into the world by the Fall of Adam.

He sent his Son to redeem mankind, to atone for the sins of the world, “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). And again all this comes to us as a free gift and without works.

There is nothing any man could do to create himself. This was the work of the Lord God.

Nor did we have any part in the Fall of man, without which there could be no salvation. The Lord provided the way, and Adam and Eve put the system into operation.

And finally, there neither has been, nor is, nor ever can be any way nor means by which man alone can, or any power he possesses, redeem himself.

We cannot resurrect ourselves anymore than we can create ourselves. We cannot create a heavenly abode for the Saints, nor make provision for the continuation of the family unit in eternity, nor bring salvation and exaltation into being. All these things are ordained and established by that God who is the Father of us all. And they all came into being and are made available to us, as free gifts, without works, because of the infinite goodness and grace of Him whose children we are.

Truly, there is no way to overstate the goodness and grandeurs and glories of the grace of God which bringeth salvation. Such wondrous love, such unending mercy, such infinite compassion and condescension--all these can come only from the Eternal God who lives in eternal life and who desires all of his children to live as he lives and be inheritors of eternal life. - Elder Bruce McConkie

Edited November 11, 2009 by bytor2112

[Traveler]

LatteLady: I have been one of your biggest critics. But at this point I would like to take a different tack concerning your comments. Also I would like to say to everyone – this post is not an attack on anyone but an observation from someone that makes their living as a scientist and also someone devout in my personal beliefs and feelings. If that is an oxymoron to anyone then that is your problem – not mine.

In general I do not believe what anyone says about religion. When a person says, “I believe in this or that” or when someone probes doctrine of various religions I personally try to look beneath the surface to gain an understanding and determine if they really know what they are talking about. Sometimes if various things are obvious in their post I will ask questions to clarify what I think they are trying to say. If they begin to hedge on important points – I chock them off as religious fanatics disconnected with reality. I do not have strong desire to burst their bubble but use this information to determine (pre-assess) the depth to which they can deal with life and religion.

When a person says they believe in grace – I may ask some questions but at the same time I try to observe if they are capable of living consistently with what they say is their belief. If a person says they are a believer in a good and great G-d that saves by grace only – I like to observe to see if they employ unilateral grace as a valid working method of dealing with others. If they really believe in grace only being the method of the smartest and most efficient and loving person in the universe then I expect that they will copy that method exactly as they understand it in dealing with others.

I have observed that some people cannot survive and live in a society of grace. These must be locked up and put in prison (hell) and cannot be allowed to deal with anyone that can be taken advantage of. In LDS theology these are called telestial. In essence these are they that do not believe in offering grace to anyone else but them.

A second group of people can survive some grace but for them it must be metered out only to those that give them what they want. They are kind when it suits them. They love their religion and dislike others. They are very interested in their salvation and being saved. They are willing to live by grace but only to those that meet their criteria. In LDS theology we call these terrestrial.

A third group of people enjoy and thrive in grace and with others that are more bound to grace than any other things. Interestingly these people do not care about themselves but others. If they fight a war – it is to save freedom for others. If they do a good turn it is not to be recognized and rewarded but because they love others. In short they do not even care about their own salvation. What they do they do for others and what will benefit them. They do not praise or worship G-d for their salvation but for the greater good of all. Christ is their ideal not in words on Sunday but during the week when no one else is kind (a Good Samaritan) they are kind and giving. In LDS theology we call these Celestial.

In my book it is not about the grace a person gets that makes them a Christian (Christ like) it is the grace they give. I believe it is better to give whatever you think you have than to receive whatever you think you can get. This is my input to this subject and my opinion about grace, belief, G-d, Christ and all such doctrines.

The Traveler

[Moksha]

He was the son of a famous German psychiatrist and spoke out publicly against the Nazis, and was consequently arrested in 1943.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer may have even met with family pressure to not do this, being the son of a German Psychiatrist. It was the German Psychiatrists who first endorsed the concept of eliminating the "useless eaters" ie., the mentally ill and challenged. This was expanded into the "Final Solution" of eliminating Jews, Gypsies and those deemed undesirable by the Fatherland.

[Moksha]

I thought Christ "purchased" God's Grace through the Atonement. It was his gift for Mankind. No invoice was included, but a life does seem to be of great worth.

[Justice]

Justice, sometimes you feel the most beholden when you receive a gift far beyond what you could ever dream to obtain.

I feel the same way, PC. In fact, I feel so much so that I don't feel I could expect to face Him unless I give Him my all. Forget what it says in scripture (it can be misinterpreted), I'm just telling you how I feel inside.

What nerve would it take to stand before God at judgment and claim to be ready to receive your free gift if you've done nothing about the testimony of Him you claim to have?

I really don't want to turn this thread into another debate, I was just hoping Lattelady would explain how she understands the quote.

[lattelady]

Justice,

Towards the end of the quote, it has a quote from scripture within the quote--"ye have been bought with a price." This is the costly grace bestowed upon us all. What would be the correct response? Live a life of flippant disregard for my Savior's gift that cost Him His life? If you think that's what I've been saying this whole time, you've been SORELY misinterpreting my words and judging me incorrectly. The correct response is at the end of that quote from scripture: "ye have been bought with a price; therefore, honor God with your body." Honor God. With everything we do. Don't take hold of the grace and then turn around and say, "Well, I'm 'saved' from eternal damnation! That's all I really cared about. Now on with my life of disobedience and wild carnality!"

That's what the quote means, I believe, when it says, "Cheap grace amounts to a denial of the living Word of God." Anyone who truly has an encounter with the living Word of God--the Incarnation: Jesus Christ--will seek to honor God. With everything we do. Will we fail, Yes. And we'll seek to repent and turn from our sin and live for Him again. That is how I understand not only the quote, but my walk with Christ.

[Snow]

"Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace becaue it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because 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 cost 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 delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God."

I believe in a costly grace, and I am eternally thankful that this costly grace was offered to me!

Was that the sound of "faith only" flying right out the window?

Why yes, yes it was.

[lattelady]

Snow,

"Faith alone saves" is safely resting right here... I'm not sure WHAT just flew out the window, but I would requote Luther when he said, "Faith alone saves. But the faith that saves is not alone."

[Justice]

So, it's as James said: Faith without works is dead. An inoperative faith can't save (which isn't even a real thing anyway), but faith with works saves. So, works are required in order to have faith, and since faith is required to be saved, then works are required also. Is that right?

[Snow]

Snow,

"Faith alone saves" is safely resting right here... I'm not sure WHAT just flew out the window, but I would requote Luther when he said, "Faith alone saves. But the faith that saves is not alone."

Perhaps I misunderstood you OP. I thought you were arguing FOR Costly Grace, not against it. I now see that you are arguing in favor of Cheap Grace.

Perhaps you could come up with a catchier name for it so it sounds more desirable.

[HillCumorahCC]

Just so happens I started reading "The Cost of Discipleship" a couple days before you posted this topic. So far I have found it very good. The only problem I have is he seems to promote the Calvinist idea that Jesus chooses who to call to Him for salvation and you can exercise your agency to choose to follow Christ. But thus far his points about grace and discipleship are very good.