Cheap Grace

After the last church service I was ask about what I thought about "cheap grace" and whether I would write something on the blog about it.   I responded with an answer that I really hadn't thought much about but it leaped from my heart. I said something like this, "there is no cheap grace, we only treat it cheaply.  After that answer I decided to write about it because I started to feel a little convicted about my own response to grace at times.

When people talk about cheap grace it usually means two things to me. The first is licentious behavior, which has very little (if anything) to do with grace. This sounds something like this, "since Jesus died for my sins, I can do whatever I want because He has forgiven me"  (Jude 1:4). The second thing cheap grace reminds me of and I am occasionally guilty of is "the little foxes."

These are the little foxes that ruin the vineyard as it is blooming (Song of Solomon 2:15). There are times in my life that I have lost patience and "I just want what I want and I want it now!!" Unfortunately, these are times when I most likely damage the chance for new growth in my life. I trade the "opportunity for change" (my definition of grace) with some momentary satisfaction. I have slowed down my rate of change. It is at these moments that I cheapen grace.  I have traded now for some later chance at grace that I did not buy or earn. God's amazing grace is free but not cheap. The price was the sacrificial life of God's son, Jesus. 

I show little honor at the cost of God's grace when I trade away an opportunity that I did not buy.  Every opportunity to be changed into the likeness of Jesus is a precious gift. The opportunity for change is always now.  Now is the time of salvation (2Cor 6:1-2).