Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it." Luke 9:23-24
“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.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1942
But, I thought grace came from God?
"Indeed it does. Bonhoeffer's
point is that grace does not dismiss human responsibility for making a
commitment to God and His ways. To accept His grace without accepting His will
is a contradiction." Doug Downs, 2014
Dietrich Bonhoeffer fulfilled Luke 9:23-24 in his life for Christ... Will you or I?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer fulfilled Luke 9:23-24 in his life for Christ... Will you or I?
“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses
his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Mark 8:35
Baptism in water for the
remission of sins is the culminating obedient act of faith to the gospel where
he or she dies to self in the burial. This sacred covenant with Jesus puts one
into Christ and His church, and occurs only once in life. Then as we are raised
from the watery grave, we have fellowship with Christ as Dietrich Bonhoeffer so
eloquently reminds us in his writings, and life… Oh what a blessing it is!
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“Jesus himself did not try to convert the two thieves on the cross; he waited until one of them turned to him.”
“Being a Christian is less
about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God's
will.”
