The Grace of God OR the world of the West?
That was the intriguing and provocative question raised by Mike Ovey in his outstanding address at the recent GAFCON gathering in Nairobi, Kenya*. He argues, most convincingly in my view, that large parts of the western church have distorted what the Bible really says about the grace of God and turned it into what the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer called ‘cheap grace’: “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance.”
Does that description not strike a chord? We are often slow, or even silent, in calling for repentance – perhaps out of a fear of being branded legalistic – when John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus and his apostles hardly seemed to be constrained by that fear! Meanwhile we bestow grace on ourselves and on one another: “Self-bestowed grace just assumes that grace will come and that it is inconceivable that God could do otherwise than as we want” (Ovey).
So, amid all the talk of grace in church circles – and there is much talk – let’s make sure it’s the real deal, the true grace of God, costly grace: the grace that cost the Father his Son and will cost us everything… and yet, amazingly, give us even more!