cheap grace?

'cheap grace' was coined by the pastor/author Dietrich Bonhoeffer; you can read about it on the web.  unlike many pastors of his day, Bonhoeffer apposed Hitler and was locked up; he is highly respected for doing so.  to give him as much grace as i can, i imagine that he saw Christians turning their backs on the peoples Hitler hated, peoples that God loved; i imagine that many Christians turned their backs because they were afraid of the worldly consequences (getting locked up or killed).  
if i was in nazi germany and as bold as Bonhoeffer, i imagine that i too would want those Christians to change their behavior...i imagine that my desire might get the better of me and, apart from my best judgement, i too might criticize them with this 'cheap grace' idea....instead of encouraging them with the 'full gospel'.


the rest of this post is not about Bonhoeffer or Christians in nazi germany; it's about the Christians i know in the uber-comfortable USA.

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the phrase, 'cheap grace', does not appear in the bible.  grace is abundant, grace is spreading, grace is abounding, grace is surpassing, grace is sufficient, grace is manifold, but grace is not described as 'cheap'.  (Romans 5:17, Romans 5:20, 2 Corinthians 4:15, 2 Corinthians 9:8, 2 Corinthians 9:14, 2 Corinthians 12:9, 1 Timothy 1:14, Peter 4:10)   
...why, then are we talking about 'cheap grace' instead of 'abounding grace'?  why are we focused on something bad instead of something good?

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it scares me that people use the term 'cheap grace' to express their distaste with the actions of others. 


'grace' cost a lot of God, so no one can argue that grace is cheap.


unfortunately, the words 'cheap grace' leaves people with a fear that grace can run out, that grace is scarce, that grace is in limited supply.  expensive things are scarce things; scarce things are expensive things; if grace is expensive, it must be scarce; if grace is scarce, i had better be awfully careful with the way i act.  the term, 'cheap grace', leaves people here...without enough grace.  and that is scary.


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here are three things that i think the 'cheap grace' crowd could emphasize instead:

1. indeed, grace DID cost God much, but the price has been fully paid already; grace costs Him nothing more than what He has already paid; as Jesus said - 'it is finished'.
2. grace is infinitely abundant.  God has grace enough to forgive us of all things, of anything.  we cannot out-sin the grace of God.  ...when we sin, grace simply increases all the more [check Romans 5:20 and Romans 6:1].  believing in the grace of God means that we revel in it, that we soak in it, that we breath it and drink it and eat it; God's grace is abundant.
3. grace IS expensive, but it gives God what He wants - and what He wants is us, His children.  grace IS expensive, but He bought us...and He was happy to buy us.  the price (grace) was less than what we are worth to Him.
4. it is probably more accurate to say that 'grace WAS expensive and IS valuable' than 'grace IS expensive'.  i suppose it might be how a married couple feels about their engagement ring...the ring WAS expensive and IS valuable.  it is like a family heirloom passed down through the generations...it WAS expensive and IS valuable.  though this gift WAS expensive for the Father, it IS now valuable and free for His children.

this all makes the grace of God so completely different from anything we humans naturally understand from our experience in life; we can only understand grace supernaturally.  grace is expensive, but is abundant; grace is expensive, but more grace costs nothing more; grace is expensive, but God's children are worth even more; grace WAS expensive, but IS valuable.   ...now that's amazing grace!


i believe that people worried about 'cheap grace' are focused on sin instead of God.  furthermore, i firmly believe that focusing on sin will get you nowhere, and it certainly will not result in less sin.   ...sin reduction is a side-benefit that results as believers keep looking to God and His grace, as believers believe all the more in God's finished work, God's grace poured out on us.  
you cannot reduce sin, which is the reliance on your self-life, by exerting your self-life....your self-life remains just as strong as before.  while you might stop certain obvious self-life-sins via your self-life-effort, hidden self-life-sins will just step in and replace them; you will stop drinking and carousing and lying only to find yourself more proud, more judgmental and more legalistic.  while you were attempting to escape your old bondage, you will find yourself in just as much bondage as before; it is the rare person who will see this new bondage in themselves...most will think they are 'doing good'.  ...as if (obvious) drinking and lying are 'worse sins' than (hidden) pride and legalism.  so sad.
the key to sinning less is not will-power and disciplines, but simply believing God.  you get reborn when you believe God and give up on your self-life; you also grow when you believe God and give up on your self-life; this is the kind of growth you really want.




Takeaway
grace is expensive, but the expense is less than what God received.  grace is abundant, and ever increases at no further cost to God; we are forgiven - it is finished; we are worth more to God than what grace cost Him.  grace WAS expensive and IS valuable.
believing God is the key to growth.  you didn't get saved via self-effort; you don't grow via self-effort either.
Application
it is suitable to not talk about 'cheap grace' or even 'expensive grace' anymore...it is suitable to talk of 'valuable and abundant grace, which ever increases at no further cost, and cost less than what we are worth...a great mystery of the faith'.
it is suitable to give up on changing our behavior through our self-life/ self-effort and to simply believe God.