Costly Grace

Excerpts from Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship.

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 of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins.

Yet it is imperative for the Christian to achieve renunciation, to practice self-effacement, to distinguish his life from the life of the world. He must let grace be grace indeed, otherwise he will destroy the world’s faith in the free gift of grace.

That is what we mean by cheap grace, the grace which amounts to the justification of sin without the justification of the repentant sinner who departs from sin and from whom sin departs. Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves.

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace iscostly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.

Happy are the simple followers of Jesus Christ who have been overcome by his grace, and are able to sing the praises of the all-sufficient grace of Christ with humbleness of heart. Happy are they who, knowing that grace, can live in the world without being of it, who, by following Jesus Christ are so assured of their heavenly citizenship that they are truly free to live their lives in this world. Happy are they who know that discipleship simply means the life which springs from grace, and that grace simply means discipleship. Happy are they who have become Christians in this sense of the word. For them the word of grace has proved a fount of mercy.

to look and see

“If I am capable of grasping God objectively, I do not believe, but precisely because I cannot do this I must believe.” Soren Kierkegaard

Was listening to a one-sided discussion on the radio this morning regarding same-sex marriage. It was painfully clear that for one’s views to be accepted prima facie these days one must be subjective or at the very least give an air thereof. One’s innermost beliefs are politely prefaced with “I feel” or “To me…” The words we use civilly to tolerate all beliefs simply do not line up with the heart.

Language makes public our private worlds. Though our opinions are prefaced for favorable reception, language betrays with the one word: “ought.” Here is the decisive point at which the domain of the argument slips from the subjective into the objective. In other words, what is true for you, you think ought to be true for me too. I contradict myself daily in this manner - thinking myself tolerant yet unable to shake what I believe universal. 

Postmodern tolerance is shockingly palatable and it is therefore no wonder that it’s a prevalent worldview.

Though I would be accused of lying even by those closest to me, I crave authority in this world. Human nature is feeble and transient. Would not most agree in their heart of hearts they are in dire need of some objective truth, real authority?

From Columbus Squirrel Rescue on domesticating squirrels:

Squirrels are creatures of pure instinct with very strong defenses. Their bodies are designed for trees and dirt, not houses and cages. They will shred your curtains, urinate and defecate anywhere they happen to be, claw the skin off your arms, bite you, and if kept in a cage will develop mindless routines of movement. You will become a warden tending a prisoner. There is nothing more heart rending than to see a squirrel hanging on wire or screens longing for something it cannot name but wants so intensely. The squirrel is driven by instinctive emotional and physical needs that cannot be satisfied in captivity and that cannot be changed.

I am a squirrel.