Do you sometimes wish you had a “Get Out of Hell” card that God would honor? Does God’s grace qualify?

The church I grew up in believed you could “fall away” from the grace of God. The idea of eternal security--where God never disowns any of His family--was strongly opposed. In fact, it was not unusual for that idea to be mocked.

It was derisively called “cheap grace”. This meant that grace wasn’t worth much if we didn’t lose something--like our relationship with God--when we messed up. It also meant that we would probably feel free to mess up all we wanted because there would be no eternal consequences.