One of the things Christians are accused of is promoting a religion that’s too demanding. People thought that they could go to church soemtimes, have a nice time, be served a custard cream after singing a few hymns and then end up in heaven.

And then they come across these Christians – maybe members of a Christian Union when they go to university – who have this all-emcompassing, life-changing thing labelled Christianity.

And they don’t know what to make of this.

They thought that all they needed to do was to be vaguely a good person and because they put down their religion as Christian on application forms they are all right with God.

Maybe earlier in their lives they went to church and they believed they were “saved”. But as they became teenagers they stopped participating. Christianity became less revelant. Now, faced with Christians who take the Jesus seriously, they find themselves conflicted between the Bible and how they would like to centre their lives.

They are like the rich young man in Matthew 19 who “went away grieving” because he did not want to do what Jesus asked of him.

Christianity does not teach that someone can claim to be a Christian, spend a life ignoring God and then get a good outcome after death.

That would be “cheap grace”. And what is that?

Well, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (pictured above), the German pastor hanged by the Nazis, wrote in his book Discipleship:

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 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…

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.

The misunderstanding people have is that they think Christianity is just a way to get to heaven that they receive almost as a birthright. But the message that Jesus had, in Matthew 28, was that Christians need to become disciples and “obey” his teaching.

That’s not cheap grace.