1 John 2.1-6.
I’ve known various Christians who get really outraged by the phrase “cheap grace.” Grace, they insist, isn’t cheap!
Well of course it isn’t. But “cheap grace” doesn’t mean we think grace is cheap; it means others treat it as cheap.
Heck, what’s a thousand more? God’s given us a blank check of forgiveness! We can sin ourselves raw, and he forgives all! So why go to all the bother of cleaning ourselves up and sinning no more? Self-discipline is so hard. Easier to just do as comes naturally—and remain the same bitter, selfish wankers we’ve always been.
But we’re forgiven just the same! And still go to heaven!
Hence the popular bumper sticker:
Or window sticker, or button, or hat, or T-shirt; found at many a Christian bookstore.
Now yes, this message can be used to describe just how expansive and generous God’s grace actually is. You don’t have to be perfect to come to Jesus. He came to treat the sick, not the healthy;
But that’s definitely not the way Christians mean it. What we typically mean is, “Yes
Yes it is a requirement. Stop sinning, dammit!
True, we don’t enter
Obviously I’m basing this rant on 1 John, so here’s the relevant bible quote:
1 John 2.1-6 KWL - 1 My children, I write these things to you so you don’t sin!
- And when anyone sins, we have a aide with the Father, Christ Jesus. He does right by us too.
- 2 Jesus is the solution for our sins.
- And not only for our sins, but also for the whole world.
- 3 We know that we know Jesus this way: We keep his commands.
- 4 Saying we know Jesus and not keeping his commands:
- It’s a lie, and there’s no truth found this way.
- 5 God’s love is truly completed by whoever might keep Jesus’s word.
- We know we’re in God this way.
- 6 One who says they abide in Jesus is obligated to do this:
- Just as Jesus walked, they themselves are to walk like this.
If a person’s not even trying to keep Jesus’s commands, they’re not Christian. They’re not “in God,” not
So if you’re not keeping
Stop exploiting God.
When Christians quote verse 1, they tend to skip the first line and jump straight to the second: When anyone sins, we have Jesus!
1 John 2.1 KWL - My children, I write these things to you so you don’t sin!
- And when anyone sins, we have a aide with the Father, Christ Jesus. He does right by us too.
Which is understandable; it’s really good news. But back to the first line: John’s writing these things to his children (i.e. his students) so they don’t sin. Too many Christians in his church were likewise hopping on the cheap-grace bandwagon. They used a thousand loopholes, cop-outs, and misinterpretations to justify living in the dark.
Too many Christians talk about only having a contractual relationship with God. We have a covenant with him, they point out:
Yeah, they’re defining covenant wrong. They like to claim it means “an unbreakable contract”—if we violate its terms, it doesn’t void the covenant; God still holds up his end of it. But most contracts work like that: If you violate the terms of your credit cards, you still owe the bank money! If you defraud your business partners, you’re still partners… until you formally decide you’re not.
Not that adopted kids don’t sometimes take their parents as much for granted as biological kids. And lots of us treat God like that. Like an indulgent father who lets us borrow the car… and for fun we speed, sideswipe bicyclists, pick up sketchy hitchhikers, and slam into things. And every time he bails us out of lockup, bribes the judge to look the other way, replaces the car, pats us on the head, and says, “Please drive the speed limit. Please stop plowing into convenience stores. Please. I love you.” Gee thanks, Dad; love you too. But tomorrow all his requests are totally forgotten, ’cause our buddies wanna go drag racing.
That’s not love. That’s exploitation.
Relationships involve give and take. But all our contractual understanding does is take. We do nothing but violate God, and he has to suck it up because he loves us so desperately. This turns him into a codependent, and us into his abusers. But we don’t realize we’re his abusers, ’cause we figure he’s almighty, so he can take it.
If we love God, truly love him, we can’t do him like that! We can’t justify our sick behavior by claiming he’s obligated himself to accept the short end of the deal, ’cause that’s just how grace works. It’s absolutely not how grace works.
Grace is a free gift. Gift, not obligation. God’s not forced to grant it. We haven’t forced him; he hasn’t forced himself; his love doesn’t irresistibly compel him. (If it did, he’d save everybody, like he wants to.
See, those who are trying to not sin, trying to follow God, are clearly his. Jesus is here to help, and his forgiveness helps us out whenever we inevitably slip up. But those who aren’t trying: Jesus’s help isn’t yet for them. God’s forgiveness isn’t yet for them. They’re still in the dark. No
John knew Jesus personally, and knew what a legit relationship with Jesus entails: The Holy Spirit constantly takes us through a process of redefining and refining our lives to conform to Jesus’s will and teachings. The Spirit reminds us to follow Jesus. He regularly shows us practical ways to apply Jesus’s teachings. He corrects us when we go wrong. He points out relevant bible verses. He encourages us to do better, go farther, love more, grow a backbone, trust him more—and hey, don’t sweat the small stuff, ’cause grace.
Those who don’t really follow Jesus might know some of this stuff. Secondhand, though: They didn’t learn it by experience, but through sermons. Their “relationship” with Jesus is only memory verses, doctrines, enough Christianese for them to sound spiritual, and hypocrisy. They’ve never accepted a single challenge from the Holy Spirit. Why, he’d never challenge us to do such things; he’s a gentleman.
Saying we know Jesus but disobeying him: “It’s a lie, and there’s no truth found this way,” as John bluntly put it. How can Christianity be adequately expressed when we don’t follow Jesus? Well it can’t, and isn’t. Fake Christians provide pest-ridden fruit, and nothing in comparison with what God actually wants to achieve. Instead they offer sucky substitutes: Easy, casual practices. Warm fuzzy feelings of self-worth.
And none of it real. It’s entirely phony.
Wanna know you’re saved? Follow Jesus.
Which is understandable. Look at all the people who are neck-deep in other religions, and are entirely sure their religions are gonna save them. If Jesus is right… man are they boned. And if Jesus isn’t right,
So we’d kinda like some proof. Some evidence. Something other than happy thoughts. (Although, like I said, a lot of people are entirely sure happy thoughts work.)
Well, John pointed the way to it: When you obey Jesus, you know you’re saved.
1 John 2.3 KWL - We know that we know Jesus this way: We keep his commands.
No, not because
Those who don’t follow Jesus, or who try to achieve the bare minimum but never ask the Holy Spirit for help—or worse,
And once they have those other false assurances, they’re gonna presume once saved always saved, and live lives of cheap grace. A disturbing number of ’em even insist we shouldn’t follow Jesus. “That’s legalism.” Or “We’re under grace now.” Or “You’re following the wrong dispensation.” Or “He doesn’t literally mean for us to obey these commands; they’re just ideals he means for us to uplift.” You know, cop-outs.
No no no. If you wanna know you’re saved, your proof is gonna come by following Jesus. By
