Page 11 - CC Life 14 2015 Fall

ACADEMIC SECTION

“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 for 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. 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. It is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “’ye were bought at a price,’ and
what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us.” (Bonhoeffer, 1966 p.47)

In this same book, Bonhoeffer emphasized the relationship between a Christian and the cross.
“The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering that everyone has to experience is
the call which summons us away from our attachments to this world. It is the death of the old self in
the encounter with Jesus Christ.” “The call of Christ, his baptism, sets the Christian in the middle of
the daily arena against sin and the devil. Every day he encounters new temptations, and every day
he must suffer anew for Jesus Christ’s sake. The wounds and scars he receives in the fray are living
tokens of this participation in the cross of his Lord.” (Bonhoeffer, 1996, p.99)

Second, Dr. John Sung’s “repentance”: Sung’s preaching mainly focused on repentance. He
talked about being reborn, being saved and walking the walk of the cross. This is how Yih-Liang Liu
described the effectiveness of Sung’s preaching:

“When he asked the crowd to kneel down to repent if anyone refused to kneel down, he would pick

up the conductor’s baton and point to the individuals saying, ‘Why don’t you kneel down
and repent? Wasn’t it a sin when you stole your mother’s money? And you, who looked
at others’ answers last month during the math test. Wasn’t it a sin?’ Those to whom he
pointed all knelt down and wept.” (Liu, 1982)

Shaoqi Tsai (2009) describes Sung’s preaching as, “Preaching on sin and condemning the
sins in churches. Only when sin leaves, the living water will come in.” Sung in his diary
says, “Sin really affects our work. If I confess my sins, God will also make all listeners
confess their sins. If I am holy, I’ll bear good fruit wherever I go. From now on, I have to
examine my sins and ask for God’s forgiveness every day. Then it will not be hard to lead
the Chinese world to Christ.” In Sung’s diary, he emphasized, “Those who have already
accepted Christ should examine their sins often so they won’t become like Pharisees. So
they can be saints when their coffins are opened. Those true saints won’t fall, but will
become the cornerstone of the churches.” (Tsai, 2009)

Third, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and John Sung’s Apocalypse of the Cross

Bonhoeffer and Sung both emphasized frequent confession of sin. The old self should
be nailed on the cross and fading away. The cross is a mark of ugliness, punishment, and
death. Christ’s death has turned the cross into a mark of salvation, but this transforming
grace was purchased at great cost (Lin, 2012). To echo Bonhoffer’s words, “what has cost
God much cannot be cheap for us.” The one accepting this grace must repent and be holy.

9