Jesus Doesn't Believe in Cheap Grace

It's easy to say that salvation is free. It's easy to go to seeker services and feel good, pumped up spiritually for another week.  It's easy to hear what we want to hear.  It's easy to separate what Jesus actually said and did from our lives and claim a superficial Christianity.

But Jesus didn't allow for any of that.  He isn't interested in being people's savior without being their Lord.  He'll only accept people as His when they are willing to make the greatest sacrifices.

• Jesus said we have to "hate" our family and friends.
• Jesus said we have to surrender our possessions.
• Jesus said we have to give up on selfish ambition.
• Jesus said we have to stop looking for ways to promote ourselves.
• Jesus said we need to sacrifice ourselves for others.
• Jesus said we need to accept homelessness, rejection, persecution and death.
• And Jesus said that if we ignore any of these, then we cannot be his disciple.  We cannot truthfully call him Lord.

Jesus requires these difficult requirements because in this world it is easy to get distracted by the things that will cause the world to implode.  To love wealth is to destroy others.  To have the destruction of innocent people as a tool is your belt is evil.  To see other people as less than human undermines the world.  To be so loyal to family or friends to stand with them as they do wrong is to do wrong. To get ahead by any means possible is the destruction of the weak.  To  be with Jesus is to be against all of these.

Following Jesus isn't pretty.  It requires tough minds, tough wills and tough decisions.

Why does the Protestant church insist upon free grace?  Because it is available to anyone, no matter what they've done in the past.  It's available to anyone, no matter who they are or how much money or time they have.

However, once we have committed to Jesus as Lord, we need to see how we can best follow him by the power of the Holy Spirit.  We can't make a firm step in any of these areas without the Spirit.  But with God's power, we can do all this and more.

Clothes and Buildings (Mark 7)

Jesus was attending church in a local fellowship and some of the members noticed that his students were dressed in filthy clothes, and that some of them smelled.  (It is a tradition in many churches to dress up to worship and there are in some fellowships even an unspoken competition between people as to who could look the sharpest for Sunday worship.)  So the members asked Jesus, "Why do your students dress in such a lowly way?  It is disrespectful to God to not dress our best."

Jesus replied, "Isaiah truly spoke of you: 'This people respects me with their lips, but their desire is distant from me. Their worship of me is pointless and they hold human tradition to be doctrine." You have so many of your own rules, but you ignore the command of God.

"How often you avoid doing God's will for the sake of your traditions. The command of God is: 'Sell your possessions and give to the poor.'  Yet you tell your people that they must increase their giving to build your new buildings and to increase your staff's salaries.  Their wealth is dedicated to 'God's work' and thus God's people suffer. You erase God's word by your tradition, always putting your desires ahead of Gods'.

-Mark 7:1-13

Obedience To Jesus

From Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship

When the Bible speaks of following Jesus, it is proclaiming a discipleship which will liberate mankind from all man-made dogmas, from every burden and oppression, from every anxiety and torture which afflicts the conscience. If they follow Jesus, men must escape from the hard yoke of their own laws, and submit to the kindly yoke of Jesus Christ.

Does this mean that we ignore the seriousness of his commands? Far from it. We can only achieve perfect liberty and enjoy fellowship with Jesus when his command, his call to absolute discipleship, is appreciated in its entirety.

Only the one who follows the command of Jesus single-mindedly, and unresistingly lets his yoke rest upon him, finds his burden easy, and under its gentle pressure receives the power to persevere in the right way.

The command of Jesus is hard, unutterably hard, for those who try to resist it. But for those who willingly submit, the yoke is easy, and the burden is light. "His commandments are not grievous" (I John 5:3). The commandment of Jesus is not a sort of spiritual shock treatment. Jesus asks nothing of us without giving us the strength to perform it. His commandment never seeks to destroy life, but to foster, strengthen and heal it.

Living Word

The italicized parts are from Thomas a Kempis' The Imitation of Christ. The rest is my reflection of Kempis' work.


Speak, Lord, for I am listening.
Do not let Moses or the other prophets speak to me
But rather You, Yourself
who inspire and enlighten the prophets.

You alone, without them, can teach me perfectly:
but without You, they can do little for me.
The prophets can speak words
but they cannot convey the spirit of the words.


It is the Bible that gives us knowledge
But Jesus who gives us truth
It is the Bible who shows us law
But Jesus who teaches us love
The Bible teaches the letter
But Jesus gives us understanding
The Bible reveals spiritual mysteries
But Jesus unlocks the meaning
The Bible teaches us commandments
But the Spirit helps us to obey them.
The Bible points the way
But the Spirit gives us the strength to walk the way
The Bible works from the outside
But the Spirit illuminates and instructs the heart.

Therefore speak to me yourself, O living Truth,
so that I do not die without bearing fruit
being warned from the outside
but not warmed from within.

For I will be more strictly judged
if I have heard Your word
but have not obeyed it;
if I have known it
but not loved it;
if I believe it
but do not live it.

Therefore, speak to me Yourself,
for you have the words of eternal life.
Speak them to me and comfort my soul
Transform my life to your everlasting praise, honor and glory.