Sunday, September 18,
2011 am
“COMFORT DOCTRINES” (9)
Conclusion - How Can I Find True Comfort?
With this lesson we bring our study of “Comfort Doctrines” to
its conclusion. As we have
noted, a “comfort doctrine” is a teaching designed to give one comfort
or remove the fear of consequences to one who refuses to repent of
sinful activity. It includes
popular doctrines such as “there is no hell” and “once saved, always
saved”, “my good works will save me” (we made distinction between
meritorious works and works of obedience), “God overlooks sins of
weakness and/or ignorance”, “As long as I am sincere I am fine”, “It
doesn’t matter what we believe” and “The Bible doesn’t say that”.
IN the process of this study we have examined numerous foundational subjects including: the reality of consequences, accountability, grace, faith and works, obedience, the integrity of the Bible, Biblical unity and respect for the authority of God’s word, etc. Today we want to conclude our study by understanding how we can have TRUE comfort when we serve Him.
I.
“Cheap Grace”
a.
My goal has been to
impress in our minds that sin is NOT acceptable to God.
While we will all sin, we must NEVER reason that we can willfully
commit sin and not seek to deal with it.
There is just too much danger in that attitude – namely, the
tendency to dismiss or minimalize certain sins which removes or lessens
the incentive to change.
But the other concern is how such an attitude deals with one’s
perception of God. Because
the primary factor in our salvation is the grace of God, espousing
comfort doctrines has a tendency to cheapen God’s grace.
Appealing to the depth of His grace, man reasons that he can do
whatever he wants because God’s grace will take care of it.
Paul dealt with something very similar as he wrote to the Romans.
Having explained that all men need the grace of God because we
have all sinned, and how His abounding grace trumped sin, he expressed
concerns about its abuse.
In Romans 6:1 we read, “What shall
we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?”
Even as Paul wrote about the wonderful grace of God he saw the
potential for abuse and thus he needed to reign them in.
Thus he answered, “Certainly not!
How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (6:2)
He then proceeds to remind them that when they obeyed the gospel
by putting to death the man of sin by being “buried
with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from
the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life” (Rom. 6:3-4) that they are NOT to live in sin any
longer (cf. vs. 12 – “Therefore,
do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies.”)
It seems that some were reasoning, since where there is sin we find the
grace of God, let us sin more so that we can enjoy the grace of God more
abundantly. Isn’t that
similar to one’s attitude who appeals to some “comfort doctrine” so that
he can persist to live in sinful conduct?
Is not one saying, “O well, God is going to cover it anyway, so
it must be ok to keep doing this”?
Perhaps they place limitations upon such behavior (i.e. “Until I
can get it under control” – weaknesses, or “I’m trying to do better! At
least my heart is in the right place” – sincerity), but in essence they
are seeking the grace of God without being willing to TOTALLY submit to
His terms. Thus they have
CHEAPEND God’s grace to permit them to persist in their sinful conduct.
Paul’s answer was that we CANNOT persist in sin and still be pleasing to
God.
b.
“Cheap grace” –
In 1937, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran minister in Germany, published
a work entitled, “Discipleship.”
Bonhoeffer is known not only for his writings, but his resistance
to Hitler and the Nazi regime.
In 1943 he was arrested and executed by hanging in April 1945,
just 23 days before the Nazi’s surrender.
His book, was republished in 1949 under the title “The Cost of
Discipleship.” His
book begins by addressing the subject of “cheap grace”.
Here is an excerpt from that book that explains what I have been
talking about in this entire study.[1]
i.
"Cheap grace means grace
sold on the market like a cheapjack's wares. The sacraments, the
forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at
cut-rate prices. Grace is represented as the Church's
inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous
hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without
price; grace without cost! And the essence of grace, we suppose,
is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been
paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was
infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite.
What would grace be, if it were not cheap?
. . . In such a Church the
world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required,
still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. . .
Cheap grace means the justification
of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does
everything, they say, and so everything can remain as it was before.
{ p. 42}
ii.
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring
repentance, (it is) baptism without church discipline, Communion without
confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is
grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus
Christ, living and incarnate." { p. 43-4}
iii.
✦Cheap
grace is the idea that "grace" did it all for me so I do not need to
change my lifestyle. The believer who accepts the idea of "cheap grace"
thinks he can continue to live like the rest of the world. Instead of
following Christ in a radical way, the Christian lost in cheap grace
thinks he can simply enjoy the consolations of his grace. [2]
iv.
Bonhoeffer then
contrasted this with what he called “costly grace”.
Here is an excerpt about that:[3]
"Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake
of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the
pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods.
It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake of one will pluck out
the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at
which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
Costly grace is the gospel which must
be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at
which a man must knock.
Such grace is costly because it calls
us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus
Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is
grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly
because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner.
Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye
were bought at a price," and and what has cost God much cannot be cheap
for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son
too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. . .
. . . Grace is costly
because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him;
it is grace because Jesus says: "my yoke is easy and my burden
light." { p. 45}
This VERY succinctly explains the point I have been trying to
make as to what man has done in seeking to excuse sin in any way shape
or form.
c.
Interestingly, many
conservative theologians in the denominational world recognize that TRUE
grace is not cheap and they seek to challenge their followers to take
God and His word seriously, BUT the doctrines we have discussed and
others come with consequences.
You CANNOT teach that that God will overlook or fail to hold us
eternally accountable for our sins and then condemn those who refuse to
totally submit to Him, having claimed to receive Him!
d.
Is the idea of comfort
doctrines closer than it ought to be?
i.
Do we say ‘Amen’ to
sermons like this, but secretly excuse sin in our lives?
Do we see ourselves as God’s exception?
ii.
Do we use faulty
reasoning to justify ourselves?
iii.
Do we take the words of
our preacher or some cherished person without investigating the truth
for ourselves?
iv.
Are there subjects in
God’s word that we are afraid to approach because of the possible
consequences they might yield?
v.
Living in our prosperous
society, is there a little bit of materialism and/or worldliness in our
lives? How much have these
things affected our thinking?
II.
What do I need to do?
a.
Know that God CAN be
pleased!
i.
There are examples –
Psalm 149:4, “For the LORD takes
pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.”
Heb. 11:5, Enoch, “pleased God”.
Matt. 25:21, “Well done good and faithful servant.”
Heb. 13:16, “with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”
ii.
IF God can be pleased,
then His expectations are not impossible.
iii. 2 Cor. 5:9 says, “Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present or absent to be well pleasing to Him.” The question is, HOW do we please God?
To be concluded
And thus we conclude our study of comfort doctrines.
May we find comfort in KNOWING that God is pleased with us
because He is the priority He ought to be in our lives.
Having said all these things, one might think there is no hope
and it is impossible to please God.
That is simply not true.
We are not speaking of perfect law keeping!
That is impossible for us.
AS I have stated more than once in this study, I do not believe
that God is in heaven waiting for us to stumble so that He can condemn
us. BUT He does care what we
do! WE must seek to serve
and obey Him to the best of our ability.
That is what God expects and that is what we can do.
Will we?