CHEAP GRACE
(defined and adapted from Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
a). Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace.
b). Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian "conception" of God.
c). Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything they say, and so everything can remain as it was before. "All for sin could not atone." Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world’s standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin. d). Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession.
e). Cheap grace is ultimately belief without obedience, hearing without doing, intellectual assent without life commitment.
f). Cheap grace says you don’t have to be concerned about purity, holiness, and obedience—Jesus already did all that so that you don’t have to. Absolutely not! He did all that, empowered by the Holy Spirit, so that His life could live again through us. God’s grace has everything to do with our position in Him, our relationship with Him, our salvation in and through Him, our standing before Him, and our identity as new creations in Him.
g). Cheap grace operates not in those things, but in the deceitful workings of a person’s behavior. Cheap grace can never accomplish what God’s grace can. Cheap grace allows you to justify your behavior; God’s grace justifies your person.
h). Cheap grace will center its focus and attention on the "things" of God, and not God Himself. It will focus on "behavior" instead of relationship. It concentrates on a "life-style" instead of a life of obedience. The grace we bestow on ourselves is ultimately self-centered no matter how "Godly" it may appear. So when someone says that grace is just a license to sin, that is correct assessment of cheap grace.
i). Cheap grace is grace that does not require death, that is death to the flesh and the self-life.
This is the problem facing the Ephesians and the problem facing the church today. Let me quote from Bonhoeffer again: “Cheap grace says you don’t have to be concerned about purity, holiness, and obedience…” but the Bible makes it clear that God’’s will for us is a life of purity. How can we do this? Let’s look at the passage before us and see what Paul says is the Pathway to Purity.
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“Pathway to Purity”
Ephesians 4:22-23
Scripture Reading
Ephesians 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
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I. The Condition of the Unbelieving Mind
a. Paul’s exhortation – “…testify in the Lord…” Paul’s authority for what he was about to teach came from the Lord. Those who teach and preach that believers ought to live pure lives can do so based on the authority of Scripture!
b. Paul’s examination – verses 17b-19
1. Powerful thinking – Here he speaks of the vanity of the mind as the source of the problem. The way one thinks affects the whole personality and action. Vanity suggests “worthlessness, emptiness, ineffectual thinking.
2. Problematic thinking – A darkened mind cannot perceive truth therefore the unbelieving mind is literally “in the dark” so to speak and the sense of moral distinction is blurred! They cannot discern between right and wrong behavior.
3. Perverted thinking – Paul uses a series of clauses to illustrate his point. He speaks of “alienation” or estrangement from the “life of God”, their “ignorance” which refers to the ignorance of not experiencing God, “blindness” of heart refers to the fact that their hearts are non-responsive, insensitive and obstinate, “past feeling” means having lost feeling and being calloused to the pangs of conscious and given over to sin. The particular sins that men have given themselves over to are “lasciviousness” which refers to debauchery, indecency and unrestrained indulgence. This further leads to “uncleanness,” any kind of moral impurity, “covetousness,” the desire to have more, in other words greed for immoral experience! The point that Paul makes in all this that his readers must make a clean break with this way of life.
II. The Conversion of the Unbelieving Mind
a. They were saved by the truth – The word “so” means this way, and Paul makes it plain that the way he is referring to is what he has described in the previous verses. He is literally saying, “When you became disciples this is not the way you learned Christ.” The “way” of Christ is a walk of righteousness and purity!
b. They are sanctified by the truth – The word “taught” is connected to what they had “heard” or hearkened to when they were saved.
John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Ephesians 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
c. Their standard is the truth – “As the truth is in Jesus” indicates the standard that lies behind the teaching one receives when he becomes a disciple of Jesus. In the person and life of Jesus, the way that He lived while He was here on earth, we have the “truth” that we can live by.
III. The Change in the Unbelievers Manner
a. A rejection of the old man
Paul finishes this section with three infinitive phrases the go with “…you were taught…” Here he uses the figures of speech “…putting off…” and “… putting on …”, using the metaphor of taking off and putting on clothing. Putting off the old man means laying aside the old unconverted way of life. The old man is the person you were before you were converted. If you are still living the way you were before you were converted then there is only one conclusion to be drawn. You did not “put off” the old man!
b. A renewal of the mind
This phrase has a similar meaning as Romans 12:1-2 and Colossians 3:10. The action is ongoing (a present Greek infinitive). Not once for all like the other two actions but a continual renewal is meant. The mind is the way we think, regarding the way of thinking as the basis for the decisions that affect actual conduct and thus attitudes and values.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Colossians 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
c. A reception of the new man
As we can see from the text, the past actions are more general while the last phrase is very specific. Paul lays down a series of admonitions, both negative and positive, corresponding to the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new. There are five of these admonitions:
1. Truth for lying
2. Reconciliation for resentment
3. Generosity for stealing
4. Edifying for corrupting speech
5. Healing for disruptive relationships
We are called to be salt and light in this world therefore purity of life is of the utmost importance.
ILL: How valuable is salt? 40 million tons are required each year to fill our needs. Homer called it divine. Plato called it a "substance dear to the gods." Shakespeare mentioned salt 17 times in his plays. Perhaps Leonard da Vinci wanted to send a subtle message about purity lost when he painted "The last Supper." In that painting an overturned salt cellar is conspicuously placed before Judas. In ancient Greece a far-flung trade involving the exchange of salt for slaves gave rise to the expression, "...not worth his salt." Special salt rations were given to Roman soldiers and known as "Solarium Argentums" the forerunner of the English word "salary." Thousands of Napoleon?s troops died during his retreat from Moscow because their wounds would not heal--their bodies lacked salt. The human body contains about 4oz. of salt. Without enough of it, muscles won’t contract, blood won’t circulate, food won’t digest and the heart won’t beat a beat. Without a doubt, salt is the essence of life. And Jesus said, "Ye are the salt of the earth."
ILL: Keep yourself pure. Be an example of the believer in purity. This high calling is only possible with God’s help. Cynthia was invited to a slumber party with three of her high school friends. They were having a good time when one of the girls said, “Let’s invite the guys over for the night.” Her parents had left them the house. Cynthia couldn’t believe what she heard. These were her church friends; they all had Bibles inscribed with their names, a gift at baptism. She got her things and went home. Her wise parents never questioned why she was home a day early. Much later they heard the rest of the story. Cynthia chose to follow what she really believed. She made a decision based on God’s word rather than pleasure or the pressure of others.
It didn’t hurt her. Cynthia lives with no regrets. She attended college on scholarship; she became a lawyer. She later married a fine Christian man. They now have two children. They are a family keeping themselves pure. That’s the characteristic of people who know Him.
