Cheap Grace

"For the redemption of their soul is precious..." - Psalm 49:8

"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." - 1 Peter 1:18-19

When you hear the term "cheap grace", what do you think of? Easy-believism? Using the grace of God as a license to sin? Antinomianism? The term "cheap grace" was first coined by the young German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer in 1937 in his book, The Cost of Discipleship, and since then it has been a commonly used phrase to describe the type of preaching that promises forgiveness of sins without the requirement of a changed life. This, however, was not what Bonhoeffer was saying, who criticized the promise of grace without the consequence of a changed life. He might better have called it "abused grace" or "vain grace" rather than "cheap grace", which does not accurately represent the true meaning of the term. While the misuse of grace pertains to the consequences and effects of the grace of God in a person's life (what happens "after" grace is come), the cost of grace pertains to the price and requirement of obtaining grace in a person's life (what must happen "before" grace comes).

If there is one thing we learn throughout all the Scriptures, it is that THE PRICE OF OUR SALVATION IS EXCEEDINGLY PRECIOUS. The Psalmist, in the 49th psalm, calls our attention to the fact that gold and silver cannot redeem our souls from the grave; that Death, the great wages of sin, ceases not to swallow up all the 'sons of Adam' without distinction, whether rich or poor, wise or foolish; all die, and there is no means found (even religious) to reverse this. Men are perishing, and what solution can be offered by them? "None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." (v. 7) To sin against God is so atrocious, and the penalty so demanding, that no earthly riches, carnal wisdom or deficient morality is sufficient to make restitution for the cosmic damage that has been done. What could possibly be given to make right all the wrongs committed against God, past, present and future? Precious indeed is the redemption of the soul... [too heavy, valuable, rare] for any man to recompense.

No doubt the Apostle Peter had this very Psalm in mind when he wrote that glorious truth of our redemption in Christ: "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." (1 Peter 1:18-19) Here is the answer to the Psalmist's question, and here is the fulfillment of the Psalmist's hope: "But GOD will redeem my soul from the power of the grave." (v. 15) But God! What man cannot do, God will do. What is impossible with man is possible with God that, through Christ, God may be glorified. There is absolutely nothing in all the world nor of all that exists that could ransom man from the curse which he had brought himself under but the ransom of the perfect, spotless, sinless blood of the eternal Son of God. "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all." (1 Timothy 2:6) Only an infinitely Divine sacrifice could satisfy an infinitely Divine justice. Divine anger requires Divine pacification. Divine wrath requires a Divine object. Divine love requires Divine lavishing. All these find their end in nothing but the sweet smelling offering of the eternal Lamb of God.

It is because of the price that God Himself paid that we can be offered the free gift of God's grace. The forgiveness of sins is freely given to us, not because it has no value, nor because it is cheaply given, but because Jesus Christ already paid the price of redemption. As a man who buys an expensive necklace to give to his wife freely, so God shed His precious blood to give to men eternal salvation. Free grace, yes! Yet infinitely costly! "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:24)

Those modern Pharisees who accuse Christians of preaching "cheap grace" because they believe "that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law" (Romans 3:28) claim that by simply believing in Jesus Christ for salvation Christians cheapen the grace of God and make it's value trivial. "It's too easy to be saved;", they presume, "Too inexpensive." "You must be a good person!" "You must offer to God good works!" "You must be worthy to receive grace!" By excluding the necessity of good works for justification, and by not preaching that men must stop their sins as a requirement for salvation, Christians are accused of making the law void and opening the doors for licentious lawless behavior. These are the very same accusations which were brought against the Apostle Paul for preaching the gospel of free grace in the 1st century and they are no less lies today than when they were first uttered nearly two thousand years ago.

Christians believe in justification by faith without the necessity of works because they know that the price of redemption has already been paid. They believe that there is no moral requirement that they must meet in order to receive grace because they know the cost of grace is so infinitely above their ability to recompense. As Isaac Watts, the famous English hymn writer, wrote so well in the immortal hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross":

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small

Or, as the godly Augustus Toplady penned in his famous hymn, "Rock of Ages":

Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Let it be known that those who would preach that the forgiveness of sins is conditional upon the moral worthiness and merit of men cheapen the grace of God and treat with contempt the precious sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ who shed His sinless blood to satisfy the divine legal demands of a Holy and Righteous God. Do they presume to accuse Christians of cheapening God's gift because Christians agree with God that the blood of Christ is the one perfect and sufficient price of redemption, while all along they assert that the eternal sacrifice of God was not enough to complete the payment; that our imperfect works must be added to make it complete? Madness! In truth, they are the ones who are guilty of preaching 'cheap grace', by relegating the divine requirement down to the wanting realm of human power and facility. God forbid! That alone which is incorruptible, uncontaminated, immutable, will suffice... nothing but the precious blood of the spotless Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world!

And what, therefore, does the knowledge of such lavishing love do to the person who has been truly apprehended by its wonder? What is the consequence of grace? Carelessness? Slothfulness? Apathy? (As some would imagine!) Certainly not! The faith that is born of God casts its gaze upon the transforming vision of the risen Savior and immediately the soul is energized, instructed, and set in motion. There is no other response to the shedding abroad of the love of God in the heart than that which is produced by the glorious constraining power of that love (2 Corinthians 5:14-15); so that we, with Paul, can truly declare: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

There is nothing cheap about the grace of God. It is only that which man invents and imposes in the name of God that finds itself out to be cheap and profane. You and I are tremendous sinners, and the penalty for sin is equally as tremendous. There is an infinite justice that seeks infinite satisfaction for an infinite crime, and God will not be satisfied with anything less than that which is eternally righteous. Who can redeem the soul? Who can pay so much? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Such is the cost of grace. Dare we call it cheap?

The Law Established Through Faith

"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." - Romans 3:31

This message was preached on August 10, 2008 at the Evangelical Free Church in Logan, Utah, and addresses the charge of Antinomianism that has been leveled at the gospel for nearly two thousand years. To the carnal religious mind, the gospel is the height of offense and foolishness, and those who believe it are not only ridiculed, but put to death in the name of God. Antinomian means "against the law", but we will see that those who accuse Christians of being against the law of God, because they believe in justification by faith, are themselves the true Antinomians. Click below to listen:

Eli Brayley - The Law Established Through Faith

Back to New Brunswick!

Hello dear brothers and sisters!

It's hard to believe that it's already been six months since moving to Logan this last January. As I've said to many people, Utah was the last place on earth I expected to find myself living. God has been most gracious to me by bringing me here: not only is there an abundance of gospel work to be done, there is an abundance of opportunity for me to grow and mature as a child of God in Christ. Serving alongside brother Brad Scheelke has been a privilege I think could seldom be matched. I've secretly nicknamed Brad, "the apostle of love", because of his endless self-giving and servant heart for people. Jesus Christ loved people, and Brad has demonstrated, by grace, this "greatest of all" (1 Corinthians 13:13), challenging me to no end. There are so many individuals in all our lives that desperately need to be shown the love of God through willing saints of God who have themselves tasted of the goodness of the Lord. May God challenge us all more and more to radical Christ-likeness.

"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:35)

The last few months have been increasingly more busy in our preparation for the campus ministry quickly approaching us this fall. We recognize that having a bold Christian witness up on campus will create no small stir in this little valley that makes up the highest concentration of Mormons in the world. Your prayers are eagerly coveted in this crucial hour. Jesus told the parable of a lost sheep that went astray from its fold in Luke chapter 15: Christ, the good shepherd, notices when one little sheep is missing from the ninety-nine. He cares enough to go out of the way to find it. He seeks diligently until He finds it, never giving up or turning back around until He's got that little sheep on His shoulders and has brought it safely home. Do we notice the lost people all around us? Are we too busy to care? Do we search diligently for the souls of our fellowmen, not content until we find them safe in the grace of God? There's only one thing worse than being lost: being lost, and nobody looking for you. Saints, pray for us as we take the gospel to the Mormon population in Utah; join the search by interceding for the lost!

Brad and I had been praying about starting a Bible study up on campus for anyone who would like to attend, inviting all who hear us open air preach or watch our television program, etc. While we weren't exactly sure how we would get a building to use, the Lord has provided marvelously for His work. Recently, and without warning, a board member from the ACMU (Agency for Campus Ministry Utah) walked into the bookstore, sat down, and said, "We've got a building up on campus not being used for anything, and we would like you both to do a Bible study in there, anytime you want. And we've also a got a load of money sitting around doing nothing; we want to throw it your way." Yes, God has provided marvelously! Not only will we have a building, but we will have money to finance the book table we set up in connection with the open air meetings and give away hundreds of books, which is very expensive. God is already way ahead of us!

Continue also to pray for the television program. Next week we will be recording our sixteenth episode of "Practical Christianity" which is played throughout the valley as well as on the university channel. Our messages are always strongly evangelical, and the potential is there to reach many souls in the valley with the gospel who could otherwise not be reached. Please pray!

Pray for our mid-weekly Bible studies that we conduct in the bookstore. People have been coming in from the streets and others who have read our tracts and have been joining us as we are reading through Romans. One young man God has saved, and we are trusting Him for many more. Pray that people would continue to come into the bookstore to talk to Brad and I, that hearts would become anxious concerning their eternal welfare. Pray that God would give Brad and I wisdom and kindness to share the good news with everyone who comes in.

"And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles." (Acts 14:26-27)

Lastly, and the reason I'm writing this, is to let you all know I'll be coming home to New Brunswick for two weeks this month, July 15-28, and hope to see some of you when I return to Fredericton shortly! I have missed all my brothers and sisters back home and have not stopped thinking of you. America is great, but Canada is my "home and native land"! (by the way, happy late Canada day!) I'm definitely looking forward to this visit, to see my family, and to recuperate for the coming challenges ahead.

Until then, may the Lord richly bless you and keep you; may He cause His face to shine upon you and fulfill the plans He has prepared for you since the foundation of the world.

To God alone be all the glory,
-Eli

Spiritual Service

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:10

There are a lot of people who want to do something for God. I was like that. When I was 18 years old I stood up on a make-shift soapbox and delivered my first open air sermon. I'd like to talk to you about why I did that.

If you were to ask me at the time why I did that, I would probably have answered you something like this: "God has called me to preach His word. I do this I out of love for the lost and for the glory of God. We must preach the gospel to a lost and dying world!" This, of course, would have been partly true. On the one hand, I know today that I was indeed called to preach the gospel, and the desire of my heart to serve God and my neighbor was real and sincere. But on the other hand, I hardly knew what it was to love the lost and to glorify God (though I thought I did), and I thought that God needed my services. Let it be known to all those who desire to serve the Lord: a calling itself is not enough: there must be a preparation in the one that is called, a spiritual maturation within the heart whereby the one who is called is utterly persuaded of his natural inabilities and of the impotency of his flesh (that which issues out of self) to procure anything of value for God, so that he comes to solely rely upon the Spirit of God that is within him to do the work for which he's been called.

In the Old Testament, consider Moses. Moses knew that he was called to deliver Israel from the tyranny of the Egyptians, and he thought everybody else knew it too. "For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them." (Acts 7:25) Moses was called, but he was not prepared. At 40 years old he was "mighty in words and in deeds" according the flesh, but at 80 years old he was "mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds" according to the Spirit. God Himself dealt deeply with the heart of that dear saint through forty years of solitude and failure, withering up the fleshly confidence he had within himself that clung so deep. When God finally sent Moses forth to fulfill his calling, Moses' answer was: "O my Lord, I am not eloquent... I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." (Exodus 4:10) So withered was he, that he was even reluctant to fulfill his original calling! There was no more confidence in his flesh. So it is that the men whom God uses to do the greatest things for heaven are first the "meekest men on earth".

In the New Testament, consider Peter. Peter had received one of the highest callings a man could receive from the Lord: "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church." (Matthew 16:18) He would be one of the great pillars and shepherds of the Church, the flock of God, but first he had to undergo a severe humbling in self-realization. Wanting to do something for Jesus, Peter, in the power of the flesh, vowed, not to deny, but to die with Christ that climactic night of nights. What ended up happening? He slept during the very hour Jesus needed him most, was rebuked for nearly killing somebody, and betrayed the Lord of glory three times, with a curse. He was a complete failure. "Peter went out, and wept bitterly." (Luke 22:62) He went out: out from a high opinion of himself into the depths of humiliation and helplessness; out from the notion of spiritual heroics into the realm of spiritual dependency; out from the confidence he once had in human willpower and strength into the place of weakness where God's strength is made perfect. When the day of Pentecost had fully come, Peter was fully prepared to fulfill his calling (though he may not have felt so), as one whose flesh had been thoroughly dealt with by God.

So why did I do what I did? I was going to do something for God: "This world is going down, but not me! I'll stand up for truth even if nobody else does! I will serve you, Lord!" Called? Yes. Sincere? Yes. Prepared? No.

God uses our failures to bring us to a new place of maturity in Christ. It is the flesh that must die for the glory of the Lord to be revealed, and there's no greater weapon against the flesh than failure. When God lets us in on just who we are apart from Him, so that we shrivel up and die like a branch detached from the life of the vine, then are we ready to receive that power that comes from on high, the power of Christ's resurrection which issues out of the place of death. "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." (Zechariah 4:6) It is there that God alone gets all the glory; and it is there where our Christianity ceases to be the wisdom of man but the power of God.

All spiritual service is "of Him, and "through Him", and "to Him", to Him be all glory forever (Romans 11:36). God must destroy in us that which is inherently contrary to His glory that He might fulfill in us the works which He has called us to walk in. Can we say with the Apostle Paul, "But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (1 Corinthians 15:10)? Our God is jealous for His glory, and He will produce in us that same jealousy, for He will only move among those who are jealous for the same.

Let us learn this lesson of grace, and submit our flesh to be thoroughly dealt with by God, that we might grow up into Christ, and fulfill the works which God has called us to do. Amen.

The Pre-Regathering of Israel in Unbelief

The following is a response to a question that was asked me concerning the 1948 re-establishment of Israel to their land while in a state of unbelief. Was it was Scriptural?

The idea of Israel returning and being established in the land while in a state of unbelief is absolutely drawn from Scripture. First of all, consider that Israel as a nation has never once existed in a state of true covenantal obedience to God. As a people, they have not only broken the covenant of God which they bound themselves to under solemn oath (Exodus 24:7-8), but they have also rejected the God of the covenant who alone is the wellspring of life and the very enabler of the covenant. Their numerous captivities never once produced the change of heart that is required for them to be the inheritance God intends them to be: a nation of Him, and through Him and to Him. Consider the results of the Holocaust: Jewish sentiments after the people had just gone through one of the most appalling sagas of history was not "God, we repent", but "Never again!" And not a "never again because God will be with us", but because "we won't ever allow something like that to happen again. Our own arm will see to that." Not the disposition of contrition that we would expect necessary for Israel to return to the land after 2000 years! But they have returned. What does this mean in the light of Scripture?

The solution to the Jewish question is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Israel has been blind ever since they became a people; they have never truly known the God of their covenant, nor have they understood their election by grace. "Ye have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you." (Deut. 9:24) What is required for them to turn to God in spirit and in truth? What is determined by God to bring this about? Nothing less than the second coming of Jesus Christ following the unparalleled time of Jacob's trouble.

Jeremiah 30 and 31, which have to do with this event of tribulation and revelation, begins first with a command for Jeremiah to write the prophecy down in a book and seal it for the "days to come". I believe that those "days" refer to ours today. Such language signifies an extended period of time between the giving of the subsequent prophecy and its fulfillment, seeing past the Babylonian captivity and into the latter days (for none of the Jeremiah 30-31 prophesies were fulfilled in the Babylonian time; Jacob's trouble, Israel's regeneration, etc.). But what does God say immediately after this sealing (30:2-3), and immediately before the verses concerning Jacob's trouble (30:5-7)?

"For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it." (Jeremiah 30:3)

Here you'll find no language describing repentance, humility or a godly return to the land. There is no sense of Israel returning to an everlasting possession, as in Isaiah 60:21. It's just a fact. God is stating that they shall return to their land in the latter days immediately prior to the great tribulation.

Notice another, or second, regathering prophesied in 30:10, "Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid." AFTER the great tribulation, when Israel shall AGAIN be scattered from the land into the Gentile nations, as the Scriptures have foretold, Christ shall appear in glory and will gather them back to Himself and to His land. "He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock." (Jeremiah 31:10) Then, and only then, will Israel stand before God in bright shining righteousness, a nation redeemed from death by the blood of Jesus Christ, established in her covenant by her covenant keeping God. Thus there are two regatherings spoken of here in this one chapter: a return to the land in unbelief, and a return to the land in grace. A return in preparation for Christ's return, and a return in consequence of Christ's return.

Israel becoming a nation again in 1948 should cause every Christian believer to rejoice and lift up their heads for their redemption draws nigh. It is one of the greatest signs of the times, and though there are many very evil days ahead of us, whatever darkness there shall be is but a momentary light affliction in comparison to the weight of glory that shall be revealed when our Lord Jesus shall come. Praise God!

For Christ to come, first antichrist must revealed. For antichrist to revealed, first the temple must be built. For the temple to built, first Israel must be a nation again. That happened in 1948. When will the temple be built? Let us watch and pray, and occupy ourselves in preaching the gospel to every creature, that we may be found in Him, doing His will, patient in faith, waiting in hope.