Costly Grace

Much is said today about grace. But what does it actually mean? One of the best descriptions of it came from the German Lutheran pastor, theologian, and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945).

As a vocal antagonist of Hitler’s regime, Bonhoeffer placed himself in an extremely dangerous situation in a time when most German religious leaders remained silent. Bonhoeffer was arrested on April 5, 1943, by the Gestapo and executed by hanging on April 9, 1945, just two weeks before the concentration camp in which he was being held prisoner was liberated. He lived only thirty-nine years but left a valuable literary legacy. In chapter 1 of his book The Cost of Discipleship (1937), Bonhoeffer contrasts cheap grace and costly grace: Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church... That is what we mean by cheap grace, the grace which amounts to the justification of sin without the justification of the repentant sinner who departs from sin and from whom sin departs... Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.5 In contrast, costly 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. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: ‘ye were bought at a price,’ and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us... 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”. In addition to being a costly grace, God’s saving grace is also an active grace that liberates us from the bondage of sin and gives us the right motivation for true obedience. As stated by Paul, salvation by grace through faith is “not of works” but “for good works” (Ephesians 2:8–10).

Christ is the incarnation of God’s grace.

Therefore, to have Christ means to have God’s wonderful grace with us.