How serious is our cavalier attitude toward sin? How pervasive are our assaults on God? We scarcely even know. Consider this verse.

“Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”

Romans 2:4 (ESV)

Romans 2:4 appears in a larger passage in which Paul is highlighting the universal need for God’s salvation. His question points to the mistaken idea that a person can continue willfully in sin and escape God’s judgment. More specifically, he addresses the person who claims to have received God’s mercy for salvation and then continues living disobediently under the presumption that this limitless mercy will expand along with his sin.

For a believer to continue in willful defiance of God’s standard reflects an unbelievable assumption about His kindness at best and a blatant contempt for it at worst. In other words, an assumption that God’s patience is rich enough to cover my continued, willful sin reveals a staggering misinterpretation of the text.

God’s longsuffering generosity toward sinful mankind is an instrument of repentance not continued rebellion. The person who genuinely experiences God’s mercy in the forgiveness of sin is compelled FROM sin not led TOWARD it.

And yet, even more is at stake. To continue in open rebellion to God reflects an arrogant disregard for His patience. In effect, a person shows a disdain for the reality of God’s kindness as he swaps it for a license to sin.

So, let’s take a moment to consider our attitude toward God’s kindness. Do I really like God’s kindness for what it really is? Or maybe we should ask the question differently. Have I looked to God’s mercy to ease my conscience regarding sin or do I look to God’s kindness as a means of carving sin from my life?

The following paragraphs are pieced together from the opening pages of an amazing book.

“Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting to-day for costly grace. . . . [Cheap] [g]race 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! 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. . . .

“Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as a Christian ‘conception’ of God. . . . [Cheap grace] amounts to justification of sin without the justification of the repentant sinner who departs from sin and from whom sin departs. Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. 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, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. . . .

“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 a man 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. . . .

“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. . . . 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. . . .

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, 1995, 3-5.

Cheap grace is wildly prevalent IN the Church today. Costly grace is wildly prevalent IN the Bible. Which grace is prevalent in your life?

On July 9, I presented part one of this series in which I wrote…

“The Bible and church history bear witness to the fact that particular people in particular places have experienced extraordinary movements of God.”

and

“Because I long to see this type of abnormal movement, I want to draw attention to one such season from the Old Testament and invite you to join me in pleading with God to bless us in this way.”

I return to this subject today to highlight another characteristic present during the season of extraordinary revival recorded in Nehemiah 8-10.

The people were moved by overwhelming grief over of their sin.

Twice in a little more than 3 weeks, the crowd gathered, listened to the reading of the Law, and responded with weeping and mourning because of their sin. On the first day of this extraordinary movement, Nehemiah interrupts their weeping to call them to celebrate a great festival. Yet the contrast of their disobedience and God’s holiness had immediately moved them to extreme sorrow and repentance.

On the 24^th day of the month, the people gathered again, heard from God’s Word, and once again began to weep, mourn, and confess their sin. Again, the contrast of their sin and God’s perfection overwhelmed them.

In an age when sin is commonly referred to as a “shortcoming” or a “mistake,” their reaction seems strangely foreign. Perhaps the reason we fail to see an extraordinary movement of God is our ordinary view of sin.

God, we ask You to penetrate our hearts with the gravity and severity of our sin. And we plead for You to give us an accurate view of our sin that will usher in an extraordinary renewal and rebirth.

“Paul… set apart for the gospel of God.” Romans 1:1 (NASB)

According to the New Testament, the gospel (or good news) is…

• All people sin by disobeying or refusing to conform to God’s perfect standard.
• Sin separates a person from God.
• Sin places a person under God’s righteous anger (or wrath).
• Sin results in physical death.
• Every person who dies faces God’s judgment for sin.
• Therefore, all people are under God’s wrath, will die, and will face judgment.
• God offers hope in the form of salvation in Jesus.
• Jesus died in our place.
• Jesus bore God’s wrath for us.
• Jesus paid the penalty for our sin.
• Jesus reconciles us to God.
• Jesus’ work must be received by faith.
• A person must trust in Jesus as the way of salvation.
• By trusting, God reconciles His fellowship with the person.
• God declares him righteous and provides escape from wrath.
• God gives him new life by placing the Holy Spirit in him.
• This salvation is available to all people who will receive it by faith.

These sentences are not new or especially well-written. They contain no secret meaning or fresh perspective. The truths they present are older than time. These truths form a story. The story is the gospel. The story is the good news.

The story is true. The story is universal. The story is foundational. The story is messy. The story is ugly. The story is beautiful. The story is sad. The story is happy. The story is confusing. The story makes perfect sense. The story is terrifying. The story is surprising. The story is powerful. The story is amazing. The story is life changing. The story is the gospel. The story must be told. For the story is the good news.

Good news for me. Good news for you. Good news for all people.

If your life has been changed by this good news, then follow Paul’s lead and live for this good news.