Understanding God’s Grace Better

Bulletin

Dan Peters
01/05/25 - Grace

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), used the term “cheap grace” to describe a form of Christianity that emphasizes the benefits of salvation without the necessary costs or requirements. In his book “The Cost of Discipleship,” - 1937, Bonhoeffer defined “cheap grace” as “the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.”
Jesus explained the kingdom of heaven in a parable. In this heavenly parable, there was no heavenly forgiveness found inside a man. For this man received the grace of God in vain. He was forgiven temporarily (Mat. 18:27), but felt no indebtedness to God. He also didn’t realize that the forgiveness granted came with a great price. So the man was unforgiving. At the end of this heavenly parable, Jesus said, “You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.‘ Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.“ My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”” (Mat. 18:32-35).
I know this man was forgiven, for God said, “I forgave you all that debt”. But at the end of the heavenly parable, that forgiveness was temporary and conditional. We read statements many times about God’s forgiveness, and grace that “seem” unconditional and permanent. Such as,
“ AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN,
    AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’
    FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME,
    FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.
      “ FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES,
     AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.”” (Hebrews 8:11-12)
We hold onto the promise, “remember their sins no more”, but we forget that these people “know the Lord” (8:11). The man who would not forgive his fellow servant in the heavenly parable didn’t “know the Lord”, nor did he know how to imitate God. Those who receive God’s wonderful grace must learn to be wonderful and gracious. “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32). May the grace of God make us truly wonderful and gracious people.      Dan Peters