Grace - Free But Not Cheap
By Jon W. Quinn
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him, and cried out, saying, 'This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:14-17). The word “grace” means “unmerited favor.” It is something good one receives that is undeserved and unearned. The idea of grace being “free” means that it became available to us without cost to us. It does not mean it was without cost at all, for it cost God plenty to offer it to us without charge to us. But grace is costly. We are correct to say it is expensive. In fact, it is priceless, but Someone else paid the price because we could not afford it. Grace is Costly Because it Calls Us To Follow Jesus We are permitted the privilege of choosing the way of grace and become disciples of Jesus. To be a disciple means to follow after the Teacher. Of course, while I am given the opportunity by grace, I cannot follow through and take advantage of it without cost. Jesus said so. To follow Jesus means to put His kingdom and righteousness first (Matthew 6:33) so this means one cost of discipleship is that I must put other things second, third and so forth. Another cost associated with discipleship is picking up and bearing a cross (Matthew 16:24). I cannot be His disciple if I refuse to do this. I cannot be Jesus' disciple if I insist on speaking bitterly against and reviling those who have reviled me. Whew! Now that is a heavy cost of discipleship because when someone speaks ill of me I would love to reply in kind. But as the Scriptures state, “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps...” (see 1 Peter 2:21-24). We need to understand that it is a privilege without cost to us to be able to become disciples of Christ. We do not deserve the opportunity of being called His people. But when we choose to walk after Him, there will be costs to faithful discipleship. For that reason, He told us to calculate the cost (see Jesus' parable about this in Luke 14:25-30). Grace is Costly Because it Costs a Person His Life We immediately think of how Jesus gave His life for our sins so that grace could be freely offered by a righteous God to sinners. But to receive grace, you and I must give our lives as well. Please understand that there is more than one way to “give one's life” for a cause. One can give his or her life by dying for a cause, but one can also giver his or her life by living for a cause as well. If one truly follows Christ as His disciple, there will be a life given to Him. Jesus said, "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds.” (Matthew 16:25-27). Make no mistake, as some do, that 'grace” means we are saved without regard to our deeds because grace is free. Jesus says we must give our lives to Him, and this will effect the deeds we do, and this will effect how we are recompensed in the last day. Paul, in Romans 6:1-8, likens one giving his or her life to the Lord as a death of one life and the beginning of a new life. The old person is figuratively crucified (the old way of sin is repented of) so that when one is raised up with Christ from baptism he or she might begin to walk “in newness of life.” But remember; not only is life given, but life is also received. Jesus calls it an “abundant life.” (John 10:10). Everyone who gives receives much more. This life is a gift in that it is offered to us freely, but we must be “in Christ” to receive it; “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23; note 6:3 for information on how to get “into Christ”). Grace is Costly Because It Condemns Sin Grace does not make sinful acts not sinful. Grace is not a license to sin. We cannot sin under God's grace and our sins be counted as righteous, or even neutral, acts. Some apparently have the idea that God no longer views their sin to be sin because they are under grace. This is wrong (Revelation 21:27; Hebrews 10:26-27). Grace justifies sinners - not their sins! Grace does not make lying, adultery, or greediness less sinful. What it does freely offer is conditional forgiveness. All have sinned (Romans 3:23) and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Grace brings the potential for forgiveness to those under this sentence of death. But we must continue in the grace of God (Acts 13:43) and grace teaches us to deny ungodliness (Titus 2:11-13). Grace is Costly Because It Cost God The Life of His Son Grace is not cheap. We are told that the church was purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). We are reminded to glorify God in our bodies because we “have been bought with a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:20). This is grace because we could never have deserved this most kind and merciful act. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). Who could ever claim “Jesus died for me because I am worth it.” No, we are not worthy of His grace. That is why it is grace. We can walk in a manner worthy of our calling (Ephesians 4:1) and conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ (Philippians 1:27) and even partake of the Lord's Supper in a worthy manner (1 Corinthians 11:27-29) but we cannot be worthy of His sacrifice. Grace is free, but it is not unconditional. If it were, then everyone would be saved. But it is conditioned upon us responding to it. In the Bible, our response to God's grace is called “faith.” That is why we are said to be “saved by grace through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). God is to be praised for His wonderful grace. Reprinted From the Bradley Banner Bradley Church of Christ Bradley, Illinois February 18, 2001
