Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Cheap Grace Bonhoeffer was born in Breslau (German) on February 4th, 1906, the son of a university professor and leading authority on psychiatry and neurology, but from the age of 12 lived in Berlin. At the age of seventeen he entered Tubingen University and a year later attended courses at Berlin University, and sat at the feet of Adolf von Harnack, and other biblical scholars. He also attended and became an outstanding student at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He because a lecturer in Systematic Theology in Berlin University. Bonhoeffer was one of the few who quickly understood, even before Hitler came to power, that National Socialism was a brutal attempt to make history without God and to found it on the strength of man alone. Therefore in 1933, when Hitler came to power, he abandoned his academic career. In February 1933 he denounced the political system which corrupted and grossly misled a nation and made the “Fuhrer” its idol and god. In October of 1933 he decided to leave Berlin for London where he served as the preacher for two congregations. In 1935 he returned to Germany to direct an illegal Church Training College. This college was finally closed down in 1940 by the Gestapo. When war was inevitable, his friends urged him to leave Germany, and his American friends got him out of Germany. But, he soon saw the need to return so that he could minister to his people. He said, “I shall have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people…Christians in Germany will face the terrible alternative of either willing the defeat of their nation in order that Christian civilization may survive, or willing the victory of their nation and thereby destroying our civilization. I know which of these alternatives I must choose; but I cannot make this choice in security.” Bonhoeffer, his sister and her husband, were arrested by the Gestapo in the house of his parents on April 5th, 1943. While in prison and concentration camps his courage, unselfishness, and goodness, inspired all who were around him. He even inspired his guards with respect, some of whom became so much attached to him that they smuggled out of prison his papers and poems written there, and apologized to him for having to lock his door after the round in the courtyard. In February of 1945, when the Gestapo prison in Berlin was destroyed by an air raid, Bonhoeffer was taken to the concentration camp of Buchenwald and from there to other places until he was executed by special order of Himmler at the concentration camp at Flossenburg on April 9th, 1945 just a few days before it was liberated by the Allies (The Cost of Discipleship pp. 11-21 – more information on this book given below). Although he was mistaken about several important biblical topics, he had a great understanding of what it meant to be a disciple and the idea that the grace of God was not cheap. Note what he said about grace in the following paragraphs. Let the Christian enjoy the consolations of his (Christ, GWB) grace! 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 not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. 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. Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such 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. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God. Costly grace is the sanctuary of God; it has to be protected from the world, and not thrown to the dogs. It is therefore the living word, the Word of God, which he speaks as it pleases him. Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. 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.” Grace Wayne Jackson has a good summary about grace that he makes in several short statements. These are listed just as he has them in order to help us understand God’s wonderful grace. To really grasp what Jackson is saying please take the time to read the biblical reference he gives. There is great New Testament stress upon the fact that salvation is the result of God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), but there are several important aspects to this matter that must be viewed in concert. (a) Heaven’s grace is made available to “all men” (Titus 2:11), contrary to the claims of Calvinism, which alleges that it is bestowed only upon certain “elect” ones. (b) Divine grace is accessed by means of a system of intellectual instruction (Titus 2:12; cf. John 6:45); it is not arbitrarily bestowed. (c) Grace is not extended unconditionally (cf. Genesis 6:8; Hebrews 11:7) – again, contra Calvinism. The Ephesian Christians had been saved “by grace” (Ephesians 2:8), but their salvation occurred at that point in time when they were “cleansed by the washing of water” (Ephesians 5:26), a reference to baptism. (d) Grace excludes merit and salvation can never be earned (Romans 6:23; cf. Matthew 18:24-27, but grace must be “accessed” (Romans 5:1-2; cf. 6:3-4, 17). (e) By grace we can be at peace with God (Romans 5:1-2) and, achieving that, we become heirs of “the grace of life” (I Peter 3:7). (f) It is imperative that the child of God “continue in the grace” he has received (Acts 13:43), and “grow” therein (2 Peter 3:18). If he does not, he will “fall away” from divine grace (Galatians 5:4; cf. Hebrews 12:5), and the grace previously received will have been “in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1; cf. I Corinthians 15:10)” Before I Die pp. 209-210.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 09:25:21 +0000
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