THOUGHTS ABOUT GRACE

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

This summer the lovely and gracious Helen and I have had the privilege of hosting an intern.  Daniel is a pastoral student working with the Sutherland Church of Christ, and we are enjoying having him stay with us.

One of the things we, the church, are having Daniel do is lead a Thursday evening worship service.  We believe that a Thursday evening service might be helpful with evangelism and serving those who will not be available over the weekend.  Daniel's theme for these Thursday evening worship services is 'The Living Room of God's Grace.'

Daniel's preaching about grace has spurred me to do some thinking about the universe and the boundaries of God's grace.  First, I am going to share some thoughts from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book, The Cost of Discipleship,  Bonhoeffer, was a Lutheran pastor who was hung by the Nazis because of his vocal and active opposition to them and their policies when other Christian voices were virtually silent.

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 a cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

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 is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.  It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.

Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: "my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

I hope these quotes from Bonhoeffer have precipitated some thinking about grace.  In the days to follow I will share some of my own thinking about grace in light of Daniel and Bonhoeffer.

Our Father's Love,
Tom