Cheap Grace in Christianity - Essay Example

Question Cheap grace refers to grace that each Christian can obtain easily. It is a system, principle and doctrine thatfocus on forgiveness of sins. The grace implies sin justification without justification for the sinner. The grace means that people have the ability of doing everything correctly. Cheap grace also implies preaching of forgiveness while not in need of repentance, communion that is not based on confession, baptism that does not adhere to the discipline of the church, and absolution, which is not based on personal confession. This indicates that cheap grace does not have discipleship and the Christians rarely adhere to Christ teachings of the law, incarnation and living. In contrast, costly grace implies something that Christians will often struggle to obtain. It refers to the gospel that one has to seek severally, a gift which should be sought and a door that man must knock to enter. Costly grace demands that man follows the teaching of the Jesus Christ. The grace depicts God’s sanctuary that Christians have to adhere to. The name cheap is used to imply grace that is not true to the living expectations of a Christian while costly is used to imply true grace that is practiced by Christians. Cheap grace is seen among Christians that pretend and preach water while drinking wine. Costly grace is seen among Christians that act according to their word. Question 2 Bonhoeffer was indicating that faith is something that Christians cannot ignore. There are different ways of expressing Christian faith. However, it is only the Christians who are true followers of Christ and uphold the concept of discipleship that have the ability of depicting true faith. Faith makes Christians to be obedient to the teachings of the Christ. Therefore, people who are not obedient to Christ teachings cannot have the ability of trusting on the word of God. Further, it is only the Christians that have the ability of knowing that the word of God exists and practice the teachings and are obedient to the word that are able to believe in the teachings of Christ. This implies that one can never be obedient nor believe in faith if such an individual does not recognize the existence of faith in Christ discipleship. Question 3 Son of Man is a phrase that is used to indicate the designation that Jesus used for himself. In this, the phrase illustrated how Jesus regarded himself as a close to God. Son of Man is also used to depict the divinity of Jesus. This includes an illustration of the human nature of Jesus. Jesus was born through the Virgin Mary and this phrase was used to indicate this humane nature of Jesus. Son of Man phrase is also used to refer to ordinary man in the Bible. The phrase also refers to the savior of people. This is through the sacrificial death of Jesus where Son of Man depicts Jesus role as a ruler of human beings in God’s Kingdom. Finally, Son of Man shows Lord’s Sabbath. Question 4 According to Ferguson, obedience to God’s call is a key trait of Christian faith. This is because one cannot be able to attest of having faith when he or she cannot obey on what the teachings of the law indicate with reference to having faith in Christ. Discipleship is another characteristic of faith. People have to uphold discipleship teachings as a means of indicating their faith. Believing is a characteristic that Christians who have faith have to show in modern society. Failure to do so leads to questioning of the strength of faith for such Christians. Finally, Christian faith means one has to follow the teachings of Jesus. Question 5 This is because one cannot be saved without having faith in Jesus Christ. Faith enables people to forgive sins and their sins are forgiven, which makes them to be saved. Commentators interpret this differently because faith is not supposed to focus on saving of people, but on their obedience, believe and discipleship to Christ teachings. Question 6 A God does not deny people the ability of speaking in tongues. This is based on the spiritual manifestation of people and their belief in faith and obedience to the teaching and call of God. Therefore, believers have the ability of speaking in tongues depending on how they relate to God. In John 4:23-24, Jesus argues that believers would speak in tongues. Luke 24:49 indicates a promise of Jesus that the Father supports people in speaking in tongues (Cortright 1). D The church should not accept monogamous homosexual practices. This is because man was created to procreation purposes (Rugh 2). Therefore, this is not according to the teachings of the law on how the church should run. It also paints a negative picture for the church. In 1 Corinthians 5:5 Paul argues that those who destroy their flesh should be delivered to Satan. Further, 2 Peter 3: 16 do not support homosexuality in church. Therefore, the church should not support homosexuality among individuals. E The New Testament does not allow women to have higher leadership roles over men. This is because women should be subordinate to their husbands and they should not focus on delineating duties to their husbands. Therefore, they have to be below men in terms of leadership roles. In Ephisians 5:21-33, the teaching in this scripture is that male have the headship. In 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul argues that women do not have the authority of teaching or any other authority over men. F New Testament does not distinguish between men and women. Both men and women are regarded as equal individuals who should share the body of Christ (Cosner 1). In 1 Corinthians 14:33-35, Paul argues that women are able to speak the way men can speak. 1 Timothy 2:8-15 claim that both men and women are regarded as the church. These two scriptures indicate that there is equal consideration of the roles of women and men in the New Testament. G Infant baptism is very essential for the children. It makes them to relate to the teachings of the Christ at an early age and interact with all people effectively. Early introduction of children to church teachings ensures that these individuals start comprehending the requirements of the law at an early stage. In Leviticus 16:23-24 and in Leviticus 8:5-6, baptism is regarded as a ceremonial purification. Since mothers after giving birth go to church as a thanksgiving ceremony and purification, infant baptism has to be supported. H The Bible recognizes faith based baptism. This is because Baptism that is not based on faith does not result in attainment of the key objectives of baptism to an individual. In Matthew 28:19 Jesus requested his followers to baptize people and make them disciples through “Father’s name, Son and Holy Spirit”. Acts 8: 16 advocates for baptism of people in Lord Jesus. This implies that only individuals that can be baptized in Jesus name as God approved can be regarded as baptized Christians. Works Cited Cortright, Michael. Why I Speak in Tongues. Web. 19 May, 2013. Cosner, Lita. The Bible’s High View of Women Grounded in the Creation Account. Web. 19 May, 2013. Rugh, Gil. Homosexuality: A Biblical Perspective. Web. 19 May, 2013. Read More