“ Salty Grace”

            Salt is utilized as a preservative, and it also adds flavor to some of the world's favorite foods like French fries. It improves the taste of the food. Similarly, grace adds to the quality of our lives, but it has to be applied under the right conditions. By distinguishing between living by cheap or costly grace in The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer suggests that it is pertinent for Christians to evaluate their devotedness to the call of discipleship. In the end, costly grace preserves the church, while cheap grace harms the church by undervaluing God's gift of grace.

            Bonhoeffer suggests that people live according to two interpretations of grace – costly or cheap – however, only one of them leads to forgiveness of sin. Bonhoeffer states that disciples who obey God's calling understand that, "Costly grace is the only pure grace, which really forgives sins and gives freedom to the sinner" because they are no longer bound to their sins but forgiven and therefore, they act obediently out of love because of the gift God has given them (53). He also says, "You can never escape the toils of the world or from sin ... [if you] sin and rely on the grace which God has given" (52). The believer of cheap grace believe they can act however they want, and God will forgive them, but Bonhoeffer proposes it is a flawed understanding of discipleship, and God will not forgive them for their sins if they live by cheap grace. As he said earlier, costly discipleship is the only way to receive the grace that covers one's sins. He concludes his explanation of grace by saying, “Grace is costly because it calls us to follow" (45). Costly grace requires people to take up their cross and live for God in absolute service to him alone. If a person begins to serve the world, then they are no longer living by costly grace. Similarly, he explains that "cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, [and] grace without Jesus Christ" (45). God's grace can either be accepted or rejected through the actions of the potential disciple. There is no in-between ground. A person either lives according to costly or cheap grace, and it is made evident through their acts of devotion to God or themselves. 

            Therefore, it is evident that grace elicits action from believers in the form of devoted actions which vary in degrees according to what the person desires or according to the calling that is placed on their life by God. He also states that "the call to discipleship is a gift of grace" (51). God did not have to provide humanity with grace, but he did because he is a loving God. Therefore, people should demonstrate gratitude through their actions by being living imitations of Christ. Bonhoeffer also claims that a person "cannot kick against the pricks [because ] this call, this grace, is irresistible" (61). He illustrates to the readers that the call cannot be avoided by the ones who are called to follow Christ. They can try all they want to resist the call that God has placed on their life, but the gift of grace is impossible to resist because it is God's will that they would follow him. He goes on to say that "only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes” (63). Beliefs are accompanied by action. In the case of believers living under costly grace, they act in obedience to the best of their ability. They do not use grace as an excuse for lack of obedience. Grace, in their case, is costly and is used to cover the sins that they commit despite all they sacrifice to uphold God's commands. He also says, "If men imagine they can follow Jesus without [acting obediently], they are deluding themselves like fanatics" (63). Discipleship requires obedience from the disciple. Bonhoeffer illustrates that any man who thinks he can be a believer and not obey God is foolish. Thus it can be concluded they have misunderstood the message of God's calling. The calling elicits obedience. Therefore, disciples who are acting obediently are the ones who will be seen living according to costly grace because they will sacrifice their easy life to live the difficult life of Christ since "no man can choose such a life for himself" without being called by Christ (60).

            It is important for people seeking to follow God to correctly apply grace to their lives. If they do not understand the true implications of living by costly grace or cheap grace, then they could be in opposition to God instead of in a relationship with him. Bonhoeffer states that cheap grace will close the “way to Christ” instead of  “opening up the way” (54). A church functioning under the doctrine of cheap grace will not be in relation with God because they have misinterpreted the meaning of grace through Jesus. It creates a spiritual block between the church looking towards God for forgiveness and God because he cannot commune with people constantly living in sin. His forgiveness of sin only occurs for the people honestly seeking to follow Christ’s example. Bonhoeffer states that disciples who are living according to costly grace will be “dragged out of [their] relative security into [lives] of absolute insecurity” because Christ’s life did not reflect what the world looks like (58). Christ stuck out because he lived a sinless life by not conforming to the world’s status quo. Likewise, the church should not resemble the world. If it does, then one should reevaluate what the church believes about living by grace. Thus, if a person is to be a disciple of Christ living by costly grace, they will have to abandon the comforts of the world and be bold enough to stand out in a crowd. Bonhoeffer concludes that "discipleship without Jesus Christ is a way of our own choosing" (59). It is crucial for a would-be disciple and for the church to understand that they cannot be disciples and live by their own standards. They have to obey the standard that Christ set up to be called true disciples of Christ. The church living according to costly grace will be preserved in their faith because of their correct application of grace to their lives.  

            Bonhoeffer illustrates how important it is for Christians to evaluate their response to the call to determine if they are living in relation with God through costly grace or if they are living under cheap grace according to their desires. If a person is going to be a disciple of Christ, their life should appear different from the peoples' lives living in the world. If it does not look different, then they are not living according to the costly grace that God's calling elicits from his disciples. Consequently, grace should improve the quality of a disciple's life.