Something For Nothing

We all seem to want something for nothing. It’s one of those “to good to be true” deals. Get a brand new Mercedes for $1000.00! Or better yet, a new SUV for free! We go play the Lottery with hopes that we can become millionaires without having to go through the hassle of working for the money.

Unfortunately, this idea of something for nothing is something that too many Christians think is their right. From the beginning of the Church age, we see that Christians were satisfied to do as little as needed to get the prize. People felt that as long as God was good and gracious, they didn’t need to worry about doing His will or His desires because it didn’t matter:

Romans 6:1-2, 15

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

The King James translates, “God Forbid!”. The New American Standard translates: “May it never be!” In all cases, we see that God is in disagreement with the way the Roman church members were behaving. In the Roman church, people who claimed to be Christians continued to live the same way they always lived. Remember, Rome was not exactly what you might call a conservative nation. They liked to party, to stretch the boundaries of good morals and see how much pleasure they could experience. These Romans had now come to know about the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross and they “believed”. But they didn’t change their behavior. They continued to live as if they were still part of the world. They continued to live as the old creatures that they were.

Paul tells them that just because they are saved by the Grace of God, through the work of Jesus, it did not give them the ability to continue to sin and that they needed to live like Jesus lived.

James 2:14, 17b, 19, 26

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Here in James, we see that the brother of Jesus says the same thing but more bluntly. He says that if their behavior was not good and appropriate, if they did not follow their faith with their actions, then their faith was dead – that they really didn’t have faith. James agrees that they might really believe that God is who He says He is, but so what? The demons also believe that – yet they are still on their way to hell! Just believing the truth or understanding the truth doesn’t mean that you have accepted that truth in your heart. And though only God knows the heart, even when we ourselves don’t know our own hearts, we are told that there is a way to understand, as best we can, whether we are God’s or whether we are the world’s – by our actions. Where is our heart? Is it with God? Have we given it to Jesus? Or are we continuing in our own ways, the ways of the world, the ways of our old self? Who is our priority? God or ourselves? What makes us more uncomfortable – doing what we know God wants us to do and skipping our own ways or doing what we want and what we desire and skipping what God desires for us to do?

Matthew 7:16-17
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

If we are truly Christians, we are not the same people we were but we are new creations! We cannot continue in our old ways and say, “It’s ok with God. He doesn’t mind. He is a gracious and loving God.” To use the words of Paul: “By no means!” So what are some of the things that we do that we should not be doing? And what should be actually be doing?

Gal 5:16-17, 19-21a, 22-23
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

See yourself in here? Are there things that you are doing that are not pleasing to God? Are you doing those things that God is telling you that you should be doing? We receive the Fruit of the Spirit by doing that which the Spirit desires, not doing what we desire.

In his book, “The Cost of Discipleship”, Bonhoeffer made a distinction between "cheap" and "costly" grace. Cheap grace is "the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession." On the other hand, costly grace calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It condemns sin and justifies the sinner on the basis of the great cost of the life of Jesus Christ given for us. It is not an encouragement to live a sinful life because all will be forgiven anyway, but gives both the comfort of forgiveness and the impetus to live the new life in Christ.

Speaking of Cheap Grace, Bonhoeffer says: Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world’s standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin.

In other words, if we want something for nothing, then let us have cheap grace – let’s live like the rest of the world lives, as if Jesus didn’t expect anything from us. Let’s model ourselves after what the world thinks is important rather than living under the priorities that God has given us. Let’s not try to live a different life now that we know we are saved, but let’s keep living the same life because God is so gracious. This is what cheap grace is. This is the promise of the lottery or the used car salesman.

Speaking of Discipleship, he says: Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ. It remains an abstract idea, a myth which has a place for the Fatherhood of God, but omits Christ as the living Son. … There is trust in God, but no following of Christ.

Discipleship means adherence to the person of Jesus, and therefore submission to the law of Christ which is the law of the cross.

In other words, discipleship is an essential part of being a Christian, it is essential for being who God needs us to be. Discipleship means being a disciple. A Disciple is someone who follows another. Being a disciple of Jesus was defined by him when he walked the earth. He said, “and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:38. But let’s not take this out of context. Jesus expects us to follow him. He expects us to carry our cross. But see what he says before this: Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; (v 37) and after: Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (v39). In other words, we must carry our cross, we must choose him over all things that we love most in this world and trust that he will make things work for the best and that we must lose our lives as we currently know it so that we can become the new creations that he can use and work with. And when we do this, then we will find our lives – we will find that all those things we thought were so important is under the control of the God who can do more with a swish of His little finger than we can do with our whole lives.

Bonhoeffer says: Suffering then is the badge of true discipleship. The disciple is not above his master… That is why Luther reckoned suffering among the marks of the true Church… If we refuse to take up our cross and submit to suffering and rejection at the hands of men, we forfeit our fellowship with Christ and have ceased to follow Him. But if we lose our lives in His service and carry our cross, we shall find our lives again in the fellowship of the cross with Christ. The opposite of discipleship is to be ashamed of Christ and His cross and all the offense which the cross brings in its train.

His point is that we must expect suffering. When we suffer, we show our fruit. It is the suffering that shows we are Christians. The great martyrs of the past are known for what they lost, as well as what they had. When we do what we know God desires us to do and place ourselves behind that, we will find suffering – the suffering of not doing what we want to do, of not having what we want to have. But this suffering ties us to Jesus, just as his suffering tied him to us. We need to have discipleship, to follow him, if we truly want to have a life worth living.

There is no such thing as something for nothing. If you want something, it will cost you. Will you choose to pay the cost and follow him? Are you ready to do this? Are you ready to give up your own life so that you can live the life that God has for you? Are you ready to suffer through the difficulties of not having your own way? If you are, if you are already suffering, then consider yourself a disciple of Jesus. He says to you today, as he did to his disciples of 2000 years ago - leave the things of your life behind and “follow me.”

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Last modified: May 23, 2007