so, i started reading the cost of discipleship by dietrich bonhoeffer. first off, the guy's story is pretty amazing, so if you've never heard of him, look him up. but anyways, the first chapter of the book is talking about cheap grace vs. costly grace and this got me thinking a lot. ever since i read it, i've been thinking of how often i just brush off sin as forgiven, without really taking time to appreciate the fact that Jesus Christ, God's own son suffered and died so that i could have that forgiveness. i think bonhoeffer says it best when he says 'what has cost God much, cannot be cheap for us.'
so how then are we to respond to this 'costly grace?' bonhoeffer suggests true discipleship, or the leaving of all to follow Christ. seems pretty radical huh? but that's why grace is costly, and why cheap grace [or grace without discipleship attached] has let so many people become Christians, who don't change anything about themselves other than coming to church sunday morning.
now i don't want to suggest that this costly grace is something that we earn. it is in the gospel of the grace of God that we are always and in every circumstance sinners. but that grace justifies us, even though we are sinners. so i think that such grace deserves a response by us. God allowed his own son to die so we could have this grace, shouldn't that change the way we live our very lives?
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. -Romans 8:9-10
3 comments:
Yes, it should. For an amazing sermon on that, check out the Grace web site and download Bill's sermon from this past week (Oct. 28th) on Galatians 2.
I never finished this book because for someone who struggles with legalism, the thought of costly grace took me back down law-keeping paths. Not Bonhoeffer's intent, I know - it was just my flesh. But for me, knowing who I am in Christ has been that message of amazing, extravagant grace which leads me to respond in love. I am glad you are reading this and continuing to grow deeper in grace.
It's funny, Christianity is the simplest thing, yet it's also the most complex. It's free, yet it costs everything. Christ never said that the path we have chosen is easy, and that's probably for the better, as it shows us that to live for God we need His grace first.
Continue blogging away, I'm interested in hearing what God has put on your mind.
thank you, jeremy for writing this blog. i need to read this book. i've been struggling lately about what our works should like since we are saved by grace, and people tend to put emphasis on the grace aspect but not how good works flow from grace. i've never heard about costly grace before and it brings together things i've been thinking about pretty well.
keep up the good words.
Post a Comment