No Mere Cheap Grace

The following quotations are taken from a blogpost I read and are very helpful in understanding what it means to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Certainly, true Christians are forgiven; certainly God in his Word holds out to us the promise of eternal life.  But being united to Christ by faith also affords the believer real power over sin.  Here are the quotes:

"'Salvation,' instead of being construed as the gift of a transformed, abundant life in the now-present kingdom of God, begins to be equated with an otherworldly reward. More crassly put, 'salvation' is increasingly viewed as a fire-insurance policy - rather than the gift of new life in the here and now that stands confident even in the face of death, 'salvation' becomes a 'Get Out of Hell Free Card,' guaranteeing an escape from the fires of torment and ensuring the receipt of treasures in heaven."

"Jesus of Nazareth, the Gospel accounts relate, always comes asking disciples to follow him, not merely 'accept him,' not merely 'believe in him,' not merely 'worship him,' but to follow him."

"A 'disciple' is a 'pupil,' a 'learner,' an 'apprentice,' one who typically follows a master or teacher in order to learn how one should live and conduct one's life."

"For Paul, God's grace is always much more than mere legalistic forgiveness of sins; grace is not a mere forensic transaction in which the legal accounts are cleared so we will not be sent to hell in the afterlife. Grace is not merely pardon, but power: for Paul, the gifts of God's love are manifested not merely in forgiveness (though certainly in forgiveness, which we desperately need), but also in freeing us from lives of 'slavery,' freeing us to be the people God intends us to be, seen most fully in the incarnation of Christ."

"Grace that is merely 'forgiveness' is what Paul calls 'sinning that grace may abound' (Rom. 6:1). Or is is what Bonhoeffer called 'cheap grace.' Grace does not merely provide forgiveness so that we may be forgiven, but empowerment to be the people of God, to be the body of Christ, to continue the work and ministry of Christ in human history."

"The Pauline epistles do not depict a cheap salvation by grace by which w are 'forgiven' by giving mental assent to 'Jesus as my Lord and Savior,' but a gospel that proclaims the power of resurrection working among us and in us, that Christ himself now works in us."

Lee Camp, Mere Discipleship, 22, 23, 105 113, 114, 157.