Quotessence
Home / Authors / Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes

Pastor

Filter quotes by topic

AllChristChristianJesusMenWorldCommunitySufferingIfsSinChurchDiscipleshipGraceKnowsWayCrossesHumansShouldChristianityJesus ChristPrayer

Famous Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes

“Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you’ (Matt. 7:6). The promise of grace is not to be squandered; it needs to be protected from the godless. There are those who are not worthy of the sanctuary. The proclamation of grace has its limits. Grace may not be proclaimed to anyone who does not recognize or distinguish or desire it. Not only does that pollute the sanctuary itself, not only must those who sin still be guilty against the Most Holy, but in addition, the misuse of the holy must turn against the community itself. The world upon whom grace is thrust as a bargain will grow tired of it, and it will not only trampled upon the Holy, but also will tear apart those who force it on them. For its own sake, for the sake of the sinner, and for the sake of the community, the Holy is to be protected from cheap surrender. The Gospel is protected by the preaching of repentance which calls sin sin and declares the sinner guilty. The key to loose is protected by the key to bind. The preaching of grace can only be protected by the preaching of repentance.”

SinGraceGospelBonhoeffer
Author:Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Create image

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.' These men without possessions or power, these strangers on Earth, these sinners, these followers of Jesus, have in their life with him renounced their own dignity, for they are merciful. As if their own needs and their own distress were not enough, they take upon themselves the distress and humiliation of others. They have an irresistible love for the down-trodden, the sick, the wretched, the wronged, the outcast and all who are tortured with anxiety. They go out and seek all who are enmeshed in the toils of sin and guilt. No distress is too great, no sin too appalling for their pity. If any man falls into disgrace, the merciful will sacrifice their own honour to shield him, and take his shame upon themselves.”

GodJesusSinGraceDignityMercyGuiltMercifulOutcast
Book:The Cost of Discipleship
Create image

“Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks' wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace 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. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap?... 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 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. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. 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: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. 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. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”

GraceCheap GraceCostly Grace
Book:The Cost of Discipleship
Create image

“But they all stood beneath the cross, enemies and believers, doubters and cowards, revilers and devoted followers. His prayer, in that hour, and his forgiveness, was meant for them all, and for all their sins. The mercy and love of God are at work even in the midst of his enemies. It is the same Jesus Christ, who of his grace calls us to follow him, and whose grace saves the murderer who mocks him on the cross in his last hour.”

LastsJesusChristHoursPrayerSinEnemyGraceJesus ChristCrossesMercyAnd LoveBelieverGod LoveMidstCowardFollowersDevotedMurdererDoubters
Book:The Cost of Discipleship
Create image

“The only man who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ. Such a man knows that the call to discipleship is a gift of grace, and that the call is inseparable from the grace. But those who try to use this grace as a dispensation from following Christ are simply deceiving themselves.”

KnowsMenTryingUseLeftChristGraceHe ManFollowingDeceivingJustifiedDiscipleshipInseparableFollowing Christ
Author:Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Create image

“Discipleship means adherence to Christ and, because Christ is the object of that adherence, it must take the form of discipleship. An abstract theology, a doctrinal system, a general religious knowledge of the subject of grace or the forgiveness of sins, render discipleship superfluous, and in fact exclude any idea of discipleship whatsoever, and are essentially inimical to the whole conception of following Christ....Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”

MeanIdeasWholeFactsFormChristReligiousSinChristianityGraceSubjectsObjectsFollowingTheologyAbstractConceptionDiscipleshipSuperfluousAdherenceForgiveness Of SinsFollowing Christ
Author:Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Create image

“The proclamation of grace has its limits. Grace may not be proclaimed to anyone who does not recognize or distinguish or desire it... The world upon whom grace is thrust as a bargain will grow tired of it, and it will not only trample upon the Holy, but also will tear apart those who force it on them.”

WorldMayDoeDesireForceGrowsGraceTearsHolyLimitsTiredThrustBargainsProclamation
Book:The Way to Freedom: 1935-1939, from the Collected Works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Create image

“Cheap grace is the idea that "grace" did it all for me so I do not need to change my lifestyle. The believer who accepts the idea of "cheap grace" thinks he can continue to live like the rest of the world. Instead of following Christ in a radical way, the Christian lost in cheap grace thinks he can simply enjoy the consolations of his grace.”

ThinkingWorldWayNeedsIdeasChristianLostEnjoyChristAcceptingGraceFollowingBelieverLifestyleRadicalConsolationNeed A ChangeFollowing ChristCheap Grace
Author:Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Create image

“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.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”

JesusChristChurchGraceDisciplineJesus ChristCrossesRepentanceChristian LivingConfessionPreachingDiscipleCommunionDiscipleshipBaptismCheap GraceChristian Discipleship
Book:The Cost of Discipleship
Create image

“Struggling against the legalism of simple obedience, we end by setting up the most dangerous law of all, the law of the world and the law of grace. In our effort to combat legalism we land ourselves in the worst kind of legalism. The only way of overcoming this legalism is by real obedience to Christ when he calls us to follow him; for in Jesus the law is at once fulfilled and cancelled.”

WorldWayKindRealEndsLawJesusChristSimpleEffortStruggleGraceLandWorstDangerousOvercomingSettingSettingsObedienceCombatFulfilledLegalism
Book:The Cost of Discipleship
Create image

“Christ became our Brother in order to help us. Through him our brother has become Christ for us in the power and authority of the commission Christ has given him. Our brother stands before us the sign of the truth and the grace of God. He has been given to us to help us. He hears the confession of our sins in Christ's stead and he forgives our sins in Christ's name. He keeps the secret of our confession as God keeps it. When I go to my brother to confess, I am going to God.”

Has BeensHelpingOrderNamesGivenChristSinSecretGraceBrotherAuthorityForgivingMy BrotherConfessionGrace Of God
Author:Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Create image

“Jesus says that every Christian has his own cross waiting for him, a cross destined and appointed by God. Each must endure his allotted share of suffering and rejection. But each has a different share: some God deems worthy of the highest form of suffering, and gives them the grace of martyrdom, while others he does not allow to be tempted above that which they are able to bear. But it is the one and the same cross in every case.”

GivingDoeDifferentAbleChristianFormSufferingJesusWaitingCasesGraceShareBearsHighestCrossesEndureWorthyRejectionDestinedTemptedMartyrdom
Book:The Cost of Discipleship
Create image