There are two kinds of grace: cheap grace and costly grace.
Cheap grace is sold by some churches like cheap wine that we crave daily. It is a general truth that offers the world an inexpensive covering for its sins. Cheap grace avoids the Living Word of God and its personification of Jesus Christ. Cheap grace justifies sin without naming the sinner.
Cheap grace does not free us from the problems of sin; it is the grace we give ourselves. Cheap grace offers forgiveness without requiring us to repent, allows us to be baptized without expecting us to attend church, offers us the bread and the wine without requiring us to acknowledge our sins, and absolves our sins without requiring us to confess. Cheap grace does not need us to be disciples, does not need a cross, or for that matter, does not need Jesus Christ.
On the other hand, costly grace requires a man to give up all he owns to follow Christ. Costly grace is the call of Jesus Christ for the disciple to leave his home and follow Him. This type of grace needs to be constantly sought after, needs to be constantly asked for, and needs the disciple to always knock on Christ’s door. It costs us our lives and gives us the only true life. It condemns sin and acknowledges the sinner. It cost our Heavenly Father the life of His own Son. God did not think grace was too expensive but delivered His Son for us.
As God’s temple, costly grace must be protected from the world because it is the Living Word of God. Costly grace calls us to follow Christ, and it offers forgiveness for those with broken spirits and contrite hearts. Jesus said His yoke was easy, and His burden was light. Costly grace requires a man to put down his life for the yoke of Christ. The people who realize that discipleship comes from a life sprung from forgiveness and is a flowing fountain of mercy are truly happy people. They may be the only true Christians that walk on this earth.
Put more simply, forgiveness means you don’t get your way all of the time. Many people do not like change, but only by being willing to change can we be forgiven. Forgiveness requires us to accept the truth and not to run away or to stop talking. Cheap grace is for those who think they can do no harm, whose words cut to the bone like a surgeon’s hands, and who never step foot in a church because that requires energy. Costly grace requires us to focus on Jesus Christ’s call to follow Him. It means our true happiness lies in the One, the rose, who paid for our sins on an agonizingly bloody cross on a hill with two sinners, two thorns, one whom Christ forgave and offered Eternal life and the other who thought that death was too much of a sacrifice.
Jesus Christ is the bread of life. We shall not hunger when we come to Him, and we will not thirst when we believe in Him. No one can come to Christ unless God calls us. In reaching beyond ourselves to love as He has loved, we find His heart. Christ is the resurrection and the life. He will raise all who truly believe in Him on the last day. Christ’s grace is not cheap, and it is truly costly.
Anna Hartt
