Grace Is Free, but It Isn’t Cheap

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When Jesus walked the earth, rather than expressing anger toward cheating tax collectors and prostitutes, He gently urged them to walk away from their sins. Jesus saved His wrath for the hypocritical Pharisees who pretended to offer grace but only demanded adherence to their endless rules.

Today, Pastor David Tomberlin says, some preachers offer another kind of grace that’s just as damaging—a cheap, “greasy” grace that says there’s no need to repent because Jesus paid for all of our sins on the cross.

“Fake, cheap, greasy grace doesn’t transform,” he says. “It doesn’t set the captive free; it pats the captive on the back reassuringly on his road to destruction. Therefore, those ensnared in sin stay stuck while heaps of feel-good words pile on them.”

In Grace Is Free, But It Isn’t Cheap: Challenging Today’s Watered Down Version of Christianity, Tomberlin takes up the clarion call once voiced by Dietrich Bonhoeffer for believers to appreciate the high cost Christ paid for the salvation of humankind and pursue a life of following Him.

This pursuit requires a true appreciation of the cost of grace and a nuanced understanding of the dynamics of liberty and accountability.

“The greasy grace movement tries to represent God without actually knowing Him,” Tomberlin says. “True grace, lavish grace, doesn’t tell someone they are okay when they aren’t; it empowers them to overcome their sin and get truly free.”

Claim your inheritance as a beloved child of the King, and discover what it really means to follow Christ.