Cheap Grace vs Spiritual Struggle: The Cross in Orthodox Life

Imagine, for a moment, that you are a young man or woman just out of college or grad school. You've composed a wonderful resume and have gone through a slough of interviews and, now, you've just been hired by a prestigious company. It looks as if you will have the career you've always dreamed of.

Now, imagine you arrive for your first day of work only to met by the boss who says, "Why are you here? We hired you didn't we? Go home and wait for your paycheck!"

There is something wrong with this story, don't you think?

In real life, when someone is hired by a prestigious company, it is usually with the understanding that he or she will start at an entry level position and will have to work very hard to prove that he or she is capable and worthy of the position. Only then can there be any hope or expectation of a promotion.

So, why is it that some people believe that once they have "accepted Christ" and confessed the saving power of His cross they no longer have any real work to do?

Such thinking is contrary to nature and unfounded in the Scriptures! Being a Christian--certainly being an Orthodox Christian means knowing that once we are united with Christ and have accepted Him as our Savior the real work begins. It is not enough to be "hired" (brought into the Church), we have to "prove" our worthiness through our actions. And to act rightly we have to acquire the necessary skills--learned through fasting, prayer, almsgiving, and constant repentance. The grace of God is freely given, but it isn't cheaply maintained!

When we contemplate the Cross of Christ, we are reminded that the salvation of the universe, and our own personal salvation, was purchased at a price--the price of the innocent blood of Christ, who carried the weight of the universe, from the beginning of time until the end of the ages, on His shoulders. We, who would be His disciples, are told explicitly that we must take up our own cross and follow Him.

Yes, He will bear the weight of our cross, too. He will help us when we stumble and fall, but He will still demand that we put in the effort. We cannot simply expect to "collect" without working!
Again, this is grounded explicitly in the Scriptures---in the words of Jesus Himself!

In the end, who would want cheap grace? Who wants anything that is cheap and easily attained? We value and revere those things that are won through hard work and the labor of love. The Cross teaches us the price of love and the work set before anyone who would call himself a Christian.