Christmas Forever Does Away With the Idea of Cheap Grace

THE INDESTRUCTIBLE GRACE AND FORGIVENESS  GOD OFFERS US THROUGH HIS SON IS NOT LIKE WHAT SANTA  DELIVERS WITH SHORT-LIVED PRESENTS AND THRILLS THAT CAN  NEVER LAST

CHEAP GRACE IS THE ENEMY OF THE CHURCH. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth...an intellectual assent to that idea is held to be itself sufficient to secure remission of sins. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance...grace without discipleship, grace without a cross....Costly grace is the gospel [of the real church]...It is costly because it costs a man his life, and 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...it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God....When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die. That is why the rich young man was so loath to follow Jesus, for the cost of his following was the death of his will. In fact, every command of Jesus is a call to die, with all our affections and lusts.

— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Too many people think of Jesus as a glorified Santa who will give us whatever we want if we come to Him in an external and superficial way and just go to church and be fairly good---or not do anything really bad.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The reality is that before we can accept the incomparable gift of Jesus as our Savior, we must come to know, really know, that we need it. And Him.

In other words, we have to accept the really bad news about ourselves and begin to repent (a life-long process) before embracing the Good News of Jesus Christ.  And by the way,  we ALL are sinners in need of hearing the bad  news---and that's the main issue I have with Phil Robertson's message. Everyone of us sins daily in the eyes of God, if only in our hearts which is just as much sin as acting it out.

Sin is about so, so much more than sexual sin.  It's so much broader, deeper and more pervasive.

Merry Christmas!  And thanks for coming by.

Thanks to Redeemer Presbyterian, Manhattan, Eastside

UPDATE:  FIVE TRUTHS ABOUT THE INCARNATION