Grace is not cheap

Years ago I read the book “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  I was reminded of this book in church on Sunday morning when our pastor spoke about people taking for granted what Jesus did for us on the cross.  He spoke about people wanting salvation on their terms.  They want the salvation without repentance, sacrifice, or a changed life.

Here’s what Bonhoeffer says "cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ."

Cheap grace is belief without obedience.  It is hearing without doing.  It is intellectual agreement without life changing commitment. 

Cheap grace says that you don’t have to worry about purity or holiness.  Jesus did everything for you and so you don’t have to do anything.  This is far from the truth.  Jesus died for us so that we could then live our lives for Him.

God’s grace enables is to have a relationship with Him.  It is His grace that makes us a new creation.  His grace makes us a child of God.  Cheap grace can never do any of this.

Cheap grace has you trying to justify your behavior.  Cheap grace will have you focusing on things in your life instead of God.  Cheap grace does not require that you die to sin or to yourself. 

Grace was not cheap to Jesus.  It cost him his life.  The sinless son of God was beaten and crucified for our sin.  It cost Jesus his pride, security, friends, and his connection with the Father.  Yet He lives to make intercession with the Father for us.

Jesus warned, however, "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).

Obedience is an expression of a right relationship with God. It's a relationship of love.  Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). If one really knows and loves Christ, it's bound to show in their actions.  When someone doesn’t live his life in obedience to God, there is ever reason to question whether that person is truly a Christian.

Paul taught, “"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:9-10).

Without question, we are saved by grace through faith alone in Jesus and what he did on the cross for us.  However, a genuine conversion experience results in good works -- obedience to what God commands us to do.

Anything else is just cheap grace. And cheap grace is no grace at all.

Blessings

 

I’ve had a hard month.  Sometimes I wonder why things happen.  Listen to the lyrics …

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching(s) of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

Lessons from the Three Little Pigs

 

Watch the whole way to the end …

You are more ....

I've heard the song before but this video tells a deeper different story ...

Where are your friends?

Do you have a couple of special friends that you believe will stand with you no matter what happens.  Jesus had friends like that or a least he thought he did.  Jesus was tight with Peter, James, and John.  They went a lot of places together.  They were together at the transfiguration. Jesus called on his friends when he went to the Garden of Gethsemane.  He was at a low point in his earthly life.  He needed the support of his friends.   He needed them to be with him and to pray for him.  As they entered the garden, he asked them to wait and to pray as he went on.  When Jesus came out, what did he find?  He found his closest friends had fallen asleep. They couldn't even stay awake and pray for him for an hour.  Jesus was upset.  He felt left down by his closest friends.  

Two thoughts immediately come to my mind. 

1. Would my friends stay awake and pray for me if I asked them to?  Have I chosen good friends that can be counted on? Do I have friends with that kind of relationship with God?

2. Would I have fallen asleep when Jesus was counting on me?   Do I spend time praying for the needs of others?  Can I be counted on?

What about you?  Think about who your friends are?   Have you ever had to go to them and ask them to pray?  Who is the best prayer warrior you know?

How much time do you spend praying for others? 

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Can’t see God

God is always there.  God is always good.  God loves you.

Sound familiar?

Do these kind of sayings comfort you?

Sometimes I feel like I can’t see God.  I can’t feel his presence.  Guess whose fault that is? 

When I can’t see God, it is because I have closed my eyes.  It is because I have refused to look.  God is all around me all the time.  His creation shows his majesty. 

The world teaches me things like – “I am the most important thing.”  “It’s all about me.”  “There’s nothing you can’t accomplish if you put your mind to it.”

All of that sounds good but is not true.  It’s a form of humanism.  It’s no wonder when we encounter problems that we try immediately to solve them ourselves instead of turning to God. 

The Bible is full of stories about men and women who thought they had all the answers.  Then they discovered they couldn’t make it on their own.  God’s hope for all of us is that we will will eventually realize that we need him.

I don’t have to look far to see faithlessness.  I simply need to look at my own life.  I need to trust fully in God’s presence in my life and his love for me.  I need to seek immediate and constant help from God. 

The Bible describes faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  (Hebrews 11:11) 

Get to know God.  Get to know his character.  Then cling to tightly to the promises that he has given you.  He who has promised is faithful.   (Hebrews 10:23)

Now to press on with the journey.  I am sure lots of opportunities will present themselves along the way.  Opportunities to show my faith.  Opportunities to choose to see God and to seek his plan and his wisdom.  Help me keep my eyes open and see God in the midst of everything.

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Grace

I’ve been giving some thought to the idea of God’s grace.  I’ve heard about grace for my entire life but I am not sure I really grasp it completely.

I’ve heard the definition that grace is God’s unmerited favor.  Something we get that we don’t deserve…like a gift.  Grace then ties into forgiveness and eternal life.

It is through the death of Jesus on the cross that we obtain eternal life.  Do I really understand what Jesus did for me?  Do I grasp that Jesus willingly gave up his life on the cross for me.  He never sinned and didn’t do anything to deserve death. 

Take a look at what Paul has to say to Timothy:

“He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”  2 Timothy 1:9-10

We are saved because of his grace!  What does that mean to me?  Am I thankful for grace?  Do I live like I am thankful?  Do I extend grace to others?  Just like I need grace from God and forgiveness, others need me to extend grace to them.

Today’s challenge is to look at your life and see who you can extend grace to. 

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