Responding to Grace

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.(Luke 14:33)


It is clear from this scripture and others that being a disciple comes with a price. Otherwise, we slip into the comfort of “cheap grace.” As Dietrech Bonhoffer wrote, “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate." (Cost of Discipleship)

It is a deep commitment to begin the walk of a disciple. It is a calling from our Lord that requires His Spirit to accomplish. I cannot be a disciple through willpower alone. If I attempt to be a disciple of Jesus without developing a relationship of prayer and dependency, I will fall into the trap of religious rules and performance based love. My failure to “abide by the rules” and the example of Jesus can lead me to self condemnation and crippling despair. This is the glory of grace. Jesus loves me as I am, yet yearns for me to be more than I ever imagined. He loves who I am and who I am becoming. How do I respond to this love and the expectations of discipleship?

First, I realize that my conforming to the image of Jesus is a process. Everything in my life (the good and bad) is designed and ordained by God to encourage my discipleship with Him. I praise Him in the good times and lean more on Him in the tough times. I am working on praising Him in the tough times but I’m not quite there yet. :)

Second, I realize that the discipline of my flesh takes time to perfect. This includes the abolition of old habits and the addition of new ones. There are so many spiritual disciplines to measure our progress that the list can be overwhelming. Prayer, bible reading, fasting, worship, service to others, solitude, submission, confession, etc. As Jesus said, discipleship comes with sacrifice. Here’s two indicators in my life that help give me a measure of where I am in following the example of Jesus: If I take control over what goes into my mouth (food, type and amount) as well as what comes out of my mouth(choice of words and loving delivery), then things are on the right track. Being a good disciple involves every aspect of my life, but when the mouth is under control, the rest of the body seems to follow (James 3).

We are all a work in progress (Phil 1:6). The grace of the Cross was not cheap and deserves our best response. Help us Lord!