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The Cost of Cheap Grace: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Battle for the Fear of God

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a famous German Lutheran pastor who was executed for openly resisting Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime, fought aggressively against the exact cultural problem of "fearless religion" that we see today.

In his classic book Discipleship, Bonhoeffer attacked a concept he called "Cheap Grace." He defined cheap grace as the deadly idea that because God loves and forgives us, we can live sloppy lives without discipline, boundaries, or accountability.

Bonhoeffer understood that when you strip away the fear of God, your faith loses its backbone, your moral boundaries collapse, and your relationship with the Creator becomes completely unreal.

1. Fearing God is the First Command

In a powerful sermon he gave in 1935 as Hitler’s power was rising, Bonhoeffer told his congregation:

“‘Fear God and give him glory...’ That is the first command of the gospel. 'Fear God'—instead of the many things which you fear.”

He argued that you cannot truly experience the depth of God's love until you first bend your knee to His supreme authority.

2. Fear of God Eliminates Fear of Man

Bonhoeffer lived in a terrifying society where people surrendered their morals and compromised their ethics out of fear of a human tyrant (the Nazi government). He taught that the only way to find the courage to stand up for what is right is to swap our human anxieties for the fear of God:

• “Anyone who is still afraid of people is not afraid of God.”

• “Anyone who fears God is no longer afraid of people.”

3. Grace is Expensive

Bonhoeffer argued that true grace is "costly." It is costly because it forces a person to change their entire life, exercise self-restraint, and submit their ego to a Higher Power. He warned that when we treat God like a casual, comfortable friend without also respecting His ultimate judgment, we induce a state of spiritual amnesia.

If you want a faith that can withstand the pressures of the modern world, you cannot skip the baseline steps of relationship. You must return to the foundational anchor of fear.