Cheap grace – What is it?

from the old testament

• The Law God gave the Israelites involved actions that demonstrated God’s justice, love, and mercy. He wanted His people to recognize that, yet they didn’t obey His Law because their hearts were not in it. Through the prophet Micah, God told the Israelites, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8). All three of God’s expectations for Israel involved acting in ways that demonstrated justice, kindness, and humility.

from the new testament

• Bonhoeffer argued that “cheap grace” emphasizes the good or easy parts of salvation without telling the truth regarding its difficulties (repentance, church discipline, confession, discipleship, the cross, or the full story of Christ’s life). Though Scripture does say that “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23b), the Bible never teaches that the Christian life is an easy one.
• Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24). In the first century, carrying a cross was a humiliating and painful act a prisoner did on the way to his death (c.f., John 19:17). When Jesus tells the believer to pick up his or her cross, He is using it figuratively to talk about the difficulty of the Christian life which calls for His followers to die to self and live for Christ.
• This was how Paul lived. He said, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). But Paul didn’t claim he was unique but said of all believers, “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24).
• In short, to follow Jesus comes with a real cost, including the world’s hatred (John 15:18-20).
• Knowing persecution firsthand because of their allegiance to Jesus, Paul, James, Jude, and Peter each referred to themselves as “slaves” of Christ Jesus (Romans 1:1; James 1:1; Jude 1; 2 Peter 1:1). To be a “slave” (or “servant,” depending on the translation) of Jesus means obeying Him by striving to be holy.
• Paul, speaking to believers, said, “thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:17-18). Sin masters unbelievers, but believers have been set free of that bondage. That means a believer should strive not to sin. Notice Paul’s assumption: believers are those fighting their old master, sin. That is costly.
• Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Keeping Jesus’ commandments is an act of obedience and evidence of salvation. We might say, “talk is cheap” when it comes to claiming to love Jesus. The proof is in the obedience.
• Jesus once asked, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46). He then gave a parable, saying that the one who does not obey Him is building a house on sand that will be washed away (Luke 6:47-49). Today, we might say Christianity without obedience is a house of cards. There’s no reality or substance to it.
• Someone who is truly born again is internally transformed (2 Corinthians 5:17) such that they will necessarily start obeying Jesus because of the new heart God has given him or her.
• Jesus’ frightening warning in Matthew 7 supports this view: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). To call Jesus ‘Lord, Lord’ is to emphatically claim to be a Christian. However, to not obey (“do the will of the Father”) shows that one is not really a Christian in his or her heart.
• Similarly, the parable of four seeds is about four different types of people who respond to the gospel (Matthew 13:1-9). The first three seem to receive the truth, but unlike the last seeds, they fall away or bear no “fruit,” i.e., their lives do not show that they are saved. Those three could be said to have “cheap grace” because their “salvation” wasn’t evident in their lives.
• Other parables also indicate the reality of false, self-deceived believers who are Christian in name only. See, for example, The Parable of the Weeds (Matthew 13:24-30), the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), and the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30).
• James’ letter indicates a similar argument, saying that works are the evidence of one who has genuine faith. James states, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14). He was not saying that works saves, but that a lack of works indicates a false faith.

implications for today

As rebels against God, we deserve only eternity in hell, being punished for our sin against an infinite, holy God. However, out of a deep mercy, He sent Jesus to live the perfect life that we could not and then die as if He had sinned. His death made Him a substitute for sinful men and women.

Believing in Jesus means you are taking hold of the free gift of salvation that comes through Him. However, while the grace is free, the new life is not. Our Master demands obedience. No believer is perfect (1 John 1:8-10). However, we must desire to obey and demonstrate that through producing some fruit (spiritual growth) over time. Indeed, God wants all of His children to be like Christ, so He disciplines true believers when they aren’t obeying (Hebrews 12:6-8).

Passages showing that Jesus will reject some who claim to know Him are frightening (e.g., Matthew 7:21-23). Bonhoeffer’s concern was that free or “cheap” grace inadvertently lulls some into the false belief that they are eternally secure on the basis of a prayer. He was saying that one whom God has saved will show the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and have a heart-felt desire to obey.

Consider yourself. Though the amount of fruit varies greatly from believer to believer, do you at least see some fruit? Would anyone notice anything different between you and an unbeliever? They should, because a true believer has been changed on the inside and is now a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). If you are at all uncertain, we strongly encourage you to speak with a mature believer at your church, such as a pastor or elder, someone who knows you and can evaluate you impartially. Our eternity hangs not in our claim to faith but in a faith that is not dead.