Despite who you are
by Maria Rudolph
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But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
The 20th-century theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer explores the concepts of cheap grace as opposed to costly grace. What is meant by those two terms?
Maybe we need to start by asking ourselves, what actually does the term ‘grace’ mean? Before you read on, how would you describe it to someone? Grace is the pure mercy and forgiveness of God extended toward you as a completely free gift without any of your contribution. You see, when God extends a hand out to us, it is completely due to his love, grace and mercy. It is a free gift for us, one that we can’t earn and don’t even deserve.
Wouldn’t you say you treat free things often not with the same respect as you treat the things you have paid a lot of money for? Expensive things seem to have a special place and we treat them with a lot of care. If something is just given to us, it often seems a bit more … disposable. This even applies to activities, not just material items. Wouldn’t you agree that if you have paid $100 for a gym membership, you would try and get your money’s worth and attend as often as you can? But when you are offered a full membership for free, you might agree to come and then think it won’t hurt if you can’t make it for a couple of weeks or so, because there is no loss attached to it on your end. Or so we think.
Grace has been given to us freely. If we ponder on the meaning of grace for our life more often, it can help us understand how meaningful a gift it is, one not worth squandering.
Cheap grace is like saying, ‘God forgives me anyway. It doesn’t matter if I keep the commandments, if I bend the rules in my favour a bit or if I intentionally misbehave. God will wait for me with open arms anyway’.
Costly grace is realising how much it cost our Saviour Jesus Christ to earn this free gift for us. It cost him his life. It cost God his Son. Grace is beautiful and lovely, but it has been paid for with blood and tears. Even though it’s a gift that comes at no cost to us, it cost God everything. It’s not free at all. And as we start comprehending that and following intentionally the way of Jesus, we realise that, in fact, it costs us everything too. It costs us our whole life to follow Jesus. And yet God doesn’t force us into submitting to him. God gives us the free choice to do it, and he sends the Holy Spirit to work within us so we can respond to him in faith, love and trust.
God takes the first step toward you, while you are still a sinner. And God doesn’t do that as a once-off; he does it over and over as we also turn back to him. Make today yet another new beginning as you gratefully receive the grace God showers upon you.
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me while I am still a sinner. Help me to please you, and grant me your Holy Spirit day after day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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