{"id":5781,"date":"2020-11-01T08:00:04","date_gmt":"2020-11-01T00:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=5781"},"modified":"2021-10-07T05:09:28","modified_gmt":"2021-10-06T21:09:28","slug":"261-dietrich-bonhoeffer-on-cheap-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=5781","title":{"rendered":"259. Dietrich Bonhoeffer on \u201cCheap Grace\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5><strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\">Faith without Works Is Dead<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><sup>14\u00a0<\/sup>What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?\u00a0<sup>15\u00a0<\/sup>If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,\u00a0<sup>16\u00a0<\/sup>and one of you says to them, \u201cGo in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,\u201d and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?\u00a0<sup>17\u00a0<\/sup>So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. <sup>18\u00a0<\/sup>But someone will say, \u201cYou have faith and I have works.\u201d Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0[<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">James 2:14-18<\/span>, <em>NRSV<\/em>]<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong><sup>17\u00a0<\/sup>So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new<\/strong>!<\/span>\u00a0[<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">2 Cor. 5:17,<\/span> <em>NRSV<\/em>]<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/33\/16933-004-CD5407AE\/Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-1939.jpg\" alt=\"Image result for dietrich bonhoeffer pictures&quot;\" width=\"490\" height=\"533\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/books.google.com.my\/books\/content?id=ANfH1fmvBKIC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;img=1&amp;zoom=1&amp;edge=curl&amp;imgtk=AFLRE71MnpISfg_wgP7H_os4ivgvncgwFyNPzlk3YZKMHIb5UVck8OrDzjebcH4mmbbq0INmao1oD9Sj_7kuGUI0K857wY6wWm27nAFbwyK2jHkQ3QsO0nsvPJ4J-Z-GnQuPOfYLHYkq\" alt=\"Front Cover\" width=\"351\" height=\"535\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>The Cost of Discipleship<\/em> (trs.1949, ori.1937) by Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a classic 20<sup>th <\/sup>century Christian text. One of the most quoted parts of the book deals with the distinction which Bonhoeffer makes between &#8220;<u>cheap<\/u>&#8221; and \u201c<u>costly<\/u>\u201d\u00a0grace.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">There is nothing \u201ccheap\u201d about grace, of course. What Bonhoeffer wants to highlight is:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cCheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession \u2026<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong style=\"font-size: 15px;\"><em>1. <u>Cheap Grace<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Notice what Bonhoeffer\u2019s definition of cheap grace emphasizes and what it de-emphasizes. When the benefits of Christianity are emphasized without the costs involved, he insists, the adjective\u00a0<em>cheap<\/em> applies. What he is objecting to is not that salvation and eternal life are free gifts of God\u2019s grace, but rather the teaching that the call to salvation does not also include a call to repentance and holy living.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Clearly, as we have stated so often, salvation is not a matter entirely in God\u2019s hands. God has taken the initiative, God has done His part, and Jesus the Son has suffered and died and shown us the way to live. The Crucified and Risen One has won our salvation; salvation is close at hand. But we have to <em>want<\/em> salvation, not in a cheap way of course, but in the full implication and burden of what it takes to <em>want<\/em> something that is real good real badly enough that we too, are prepared to make some sacrifices and live in accord with God\u2019s kingdom values. The New Testament writers remind us of this basic equation through various images, including the image of the Lord coming on the last day as the Eternal Judge. It is never as simple as a matter of whether we have been baptised, and whether we call Him \u201cLord, Lord\u201d. We shall all be judged.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cCheap\u201d grace, then, is seen in behaviors that try to hide the necessary cost of discipleship from people. It misleadingly claims that as long as we make a profession of faith, we are saved. But while it is wonderfully true that God\u2019s grace covers all our sins, just as Paul says that \u201cwhere sin increased, grace abounded all the more\u201d, he also insists: \u201cWhat shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?\u201d (<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Rom%206.1-2\">Romans 6:1-2<\/a>). So salvation by grace is so much more than simply mouthing the words \u201cJesus is Lord,\u201d going to church services, or saying some set prayers. We are saved by a living and active faith, James insists (2:14-26), a faith that manifests itself in repentance, obedience and love of God and our neighbor. We are to be \u201cnew creations in Christ\u201d as Paul says it best (<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/2%20Cor%205.17\">2 Corinthians 5:17<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Bonhoeffer argues that as Christianity\u00a0spread, the Church became more &#8220;secularised&#8221;, accommodating the demands of <em>obedience to Jesus<\/em>\u00a0to the requirements of society. In this way, \u201cthe world was Christianised, and grace became its common property.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But the result was the gospel\u00a0was cheapened, and obedience to the living Christ was gradually lost beneath formula and ritual, so that in the end, grace could literally be [<em>and was<\/em>] sold for monetary gain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for <u>costly<\/u> grace.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong style=\"font-size: 15px;\">2. <em><u>Costly Grace<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In contrast to cheap grace, \u201ccostly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: \u2018My yoke is easy and my burden is light.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again, again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Such grace is <em>costly<\/em> because it calls us to follow, and it is <em><u>grace<\/u><\/em> because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It is <em>costly<\/em> because it costs a man his life, and it is <em><u>grace<\/u><\/em> because it gives a man the only true life.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It is <em>costly<\/em> because it condemns sin, and <em><u>grace<\/u><\/em> because it justifies the sinner.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Above all, it is <em>costly<\/em> because it cost God the life of his Son: \u201cyou were bought at a price,\u201d and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Look at Peter. On two separate occasions Peter received the call, \u201cFollow me.\u201d It was the first and the last word Jesus spoke to his disciple (Mk 1.17; Jn 21.22). A whole life lies between these two calls. The first occasion was by the lake of Galilee, when Peter left his nets and his craft and followed Jesus at his word: \u201cFollow me.\u201d The second occasion was when the Risen Lord finds him back again at his old trade. Once again it is by the lake of Galilee, and once again the call was: \u201cFollow me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Between the two calls lay a whole life of discipleship in the following of Christ. Half-way between them comes Peter\u2019s confession, when he acknowledged Jesus as the Christ of God. Once that happened, Jesus began to teach Peter and friends <em>the way of the cross\u00a0<\/em>and fidelity to God\u2019s kingdom-values. These were costly disciplines Peter and all disciples of all times could not possibly learn in one teaching session, but must gradually gain interior conviction of over time. As we know well, the disciples were not faithful on Good Friday. In the courtyard of the Caiaphas the High Priest, even as Jesus was being religiously condemned, tortured, incarcerated and to be led away for the final Roman condemnation, Peter thrice denied Jesus! Most of the other disciples ran away. None of Jesus\u2019 select-disciples was at the beginning faithful. They had to learn slowly how to be faithful. Peter, the Gospels tell us, took a long time to become a rock. Jesus saw all that in advance, and even though he forgave Peter for his denials on his post-resurrection appearance on the beach, Peter still had to learn. An early legend has it that Peter was fleeing Rome during a time of persecution when he met Jesus going into Rome. He asked Jesus, \u201cQuo vadis? (Where are you going?)\u201d And Jesus replied, \u201cI am going to die a second time.\u201d Peter turned around and went to face death. At long last, by the end of a long journey in life, Peter became a faithful person. It took him his whole life. This grace was certainly not self-bestowed. This was grace divine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-size: 15px;\">It was the grace of Christ himself, <\/span><em style=\"font-size: 15px;\">now<\/em><span style=\"font-size: 15px;\"> prevailing upon the disciple to leave all and follow him; <\/span><em style=\"font-size: 15px;\">now<\/em><span style=\"font-size: 15px;\"> working in him that confession which to the world must sound like the ultimate blasphemy; <\/span><em style=\"font-size: 15px;\">now<\/em><span style=\"font-size: 15px;\"> inviting Peter to the supreme fellowship of martyrdom for the Lord he had denied, and thereby forgiving him all his sins.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In the life of Peter, grace and discipleship are inseparable. He had received the grace which costs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong style=\"font-size: 15px;\">3.<em> <u>Costly Grace and Christian Discipleship Today<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">How might we relate Bonhoeffer\u2019s \u201ccostly grace\u201d to Christian discipleship today?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">First off, we note that what we present as the <em><u>gospel<\/u><\/em>, will determine what we present as <em><u>discipleship<\/u><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If we present as the gospel what is essentially a theory of the atonement and we say if we accept this theory of the atonement, our sins are forgiven and when we die we will be received into heaven, there is no basis for discipleship.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But if we focus on the gospel of the <u>kingdom<\/u>, that we are invited <em><u>to live<\/u> <\/em>in the kingdom of God \u2013 with all the demands of kingdom-values &#8211; then the basis for discipleship becomes clear. It is <em><u>kingdom<\/u><\/em>-discipleship.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">That said, it is commonplace to talk of \u2018living in the kingdom\u2019 and \u2018following Christ\u2019. What does it actually mean?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Today, we live in a market driven society where there is the urge to \u201csell\u201d Christianity as a low-cost, low-risk commodity. But that is far away from how the New Testament defines as a disciple &#8211; \u00a0someone who is <em><u>with<\/u><\/em> Jesus and learning how to be more <em><u>like<\/u><\/em> <em><u>him<\/u><\/em>. That, to be sure, requires transformation, and the only thing that transforms us spiritually is the <em><u>action<\/u><\/em> of following the <em><u>way<\/u><\/em> of Christ.\u00a0The enemy in our time then, is not over activism, but passivity \u2013 the idea that God has done every thing and we only need to be a regular consumer of the grace of God. Understood in this mould, Christianity risks becoming a \u201ccheap\u201d <em>religion<\/em> where all that the adherents do is to go to Sunday Services \u201cto receive grace\u201d, instead of a \u201ccostly\u201d <em>faith<\/em> by which they live in proportionate commitment in hope and charity everyday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Copyright \u00a9 Dr. Jeffrey &amp; Angie Goh, November 2020. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You are most welcome to respond to this post. Email your comments to <strong><u><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"mailto:jeffangiegoh@gmail.com\">jeffangiegoh@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/u><\/strong> You can also be dialogue partners in this <em>Ephphatha Coffee-Corner Ministry<\/em> by sending us questions for discussion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Faith without Works Is Dead 14\u00a0What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?\u00a015\u00a0If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,\u00a016\u00a0and one of you says to them, \u201cGo in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,\u201d and yet <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=5781\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Dr. Jeffrey &amp; Angie Goh","author_link":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?author=1"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?cat=1\" rel=\"category\">From Our Perspective<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Faith without Works Is Dead 14\u00a0What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?\u00a015\u00a0If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,\u00a016\u00a0and one of you says to them, \u201cGo in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,\u201d and yet&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5781"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5781"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6673,"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5781\/revisions\/6673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}