What is cheap grace? How does it put you at risk?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, cheap grace isn’t true grace (or salvation) at all. It’s dangerous because the illusion of cheap grace can lull you into a false sense of security, causing you to be sure of your salvation when it isn’t sure at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read more to learn about cheap grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is probably best known for criticizing what he called \u201ccheap grace,\u201d and contrasting it with what he called \u201ccostly grace.\u201d Bonhoeffer subscribed to Luther\u2019s view that people can receive salvation only by trusting in God\u2019s grace (not by earning God\u2019s favor through righteous works). Thus, he treats \u201cgrace\u201d as being synonymous with \u201csalvation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Dietrich Bonhoeffer, cheap grace is essentially fake salvation, as real salvation requires a serious commitment. And fake salvation is dangerous, because it lures you into a false sense of security until you find yourself losing out on eternal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n[Shortform note: \u201cSalvation\u201d in Christianity primarily refers to being saved from condemnation in the afterlife. If you commit sins (offenses against God or against your fellow man) during your lifetime, God will punish you for your sins in the afterlife, unless your sins have been forgiven. Most Christians believe it is not possible to make it through life without committing any sins, so you need God\u2019s forgiveness in order to receive salvation. Bonhoeffer accepts this view of salvation, although he offers a unique perspective on how you obtain<\/em> salvation, which we\u2019ll discuss later in the guide.]\n\n\n\n On the one hand, Bonhoeffer expresses concern that some churches turn people away from Christianity by making it seem too difficult with their rituals and dogma. Yet, on the other hand, he expresses concern that in trying to make Christianity easier, other churches have lost the truth about salvation. These churches give people a false sense of security, because they administer sacraments and assure people of their salvation without teaching them to be disciples of Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: Bonhoeffer\u2019s criticism of the church follows in Luther\u2019s footsteps: Luther objected to the sale of \u201cindulgences,\u201d certificates issued by the church that allegedly pardoned the buyer\u2019s sins, and to other practices of the day through which, in Luther\u2019s view, the church gave its members false assurance of forgiveness.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Bonhoeffer\u2019s view, only disciples of Jesus Christ receive salvation, so to receive God\u2019s grace, you must be a disciple. Furthermore, a correct view of discipleship remedies both these problems: Not only does true discipleship result in true salvation, but true discipleship is a dynamic relationship, not a burdensome ritual. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, Bonhoeffer also asserts that being a disciple generally entails voluntary suffering through fasting and asceticism, voluntary poverty<\/a>, voluntary forfeiture of your civil rights, and persecution from unbelievers. Being a disciple costs you dearly, which is why Bonhoeffer says God\u2019s grace is expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n[Shortform note: Others who share Bonhoeffer\u2019s point of view have put a more positive spin on the idea of expensive salvation. For example, missionary Jim Elliot<\/a> is credited with saying that it\u2019s easy to justify giving up things you can\u2019t keep (such earthly possessions or opportunities, which you can\u2019t take with you into eternity) in order to gain things you can\u2019t lose (such as salvation, which can\u2019t be taken away from you). Elliot didn\u2019t publish this view himself because he was killed early in his career, but his widow preserved it in a biography titled Through Gates of Splendor<\/em><\/a>.]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What is cheap grace? How does it put you at risk? According to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, cheap grace isn’t true grace (or salvation) at all. It’s dangerous because the illusion of cheap grace can lull you into a false sense of security, causing you to be sure of your salvation when it isn’t sure at all. Read more to learn about cheap grace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":57431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,6],"tags":[559],"class_list":["post-57428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","category-spiritual","tag-the-cost-of-discipleship","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Problem<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Solution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n