Henk Binnendijk & cheap grace (1)

On the CIP website, there is an interview with former EO (Evangelische Omroep – Dutch Evangelical Broadcaster) presenter Henk Binnendijk (1934). I used to run into him regularly back then, since he lives less than a kilometer from our home in Rijnsburg. In interviews, he often speaks about his garden house where he spends many hours daily in “quiet time” with God. In the report of the conversation mentioned, he complains about “cheap grace” and “a religion that costs nothing.” He criticizes…

“…the preaching that all you have to do is believe that Jesus died for your sins in order to be a child of God. That is nonsense, it really is nonsense. (…) You must completely submit and give your entire life to God—only then are you in, and only then does the sacrifice of Jesus come into play.”

free

Henk Binnendijk combats “cheap grace” with “costly grace.” The result in both cases is: “grace” that is not grace at all. For grace means: for nothing. Grace is free and by definition costs nothing. “Somewhat free” is nonsense and babble. It’s as foolish as saying “somewhat pregnant.” The difference between cheap and expensive can be considerable, but from this perspective it’s always merely relative and marginal. By contrast, The difference, however, between free and almost free is a matter of principle. That is: the difference between free and a cost of 1 cent is greater than the difference between 1 cent and a million euros. Because whether something costs 1 cent or a million, in both cases it comes with a price tag. And that’s exactly where free differs from not-free.

all

What grace is, Paul describes in Romans 3:23–24:

“For all sinned and are wanting of the glory of God, and are being justified gratuitously in His grace, through the deliverance which is in Christ Jesus.”

Just as all sinned, so all are justified. Logically so, for it is “gratuitously.” Yes indeed, a price has been paid. A “ransom for all,” as Paul writes elsewhere (1 Tim. 2:6). That is what “the deliverance which is in Christ Jesus” refers to as well. It is what He, as the firstfruit, brought to light in His resurrection: incorruptible life. The price He paid for that Life was His death on the wood of Golgotha. For without death, there is no resurrection.

inside or outside?

According to Henk Binnendijk, the sacrifice of Jesus only comes into play once you are inside. In saying so, he assumes that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (= the resurrection following His shedding of blood!) first requires an act from the human side. Behold the price tag Henk Binnendijk attaches (and Christian religion in general) to the Gospel of God’s grace. That is more than a misunderstanding—it is outright fatal. For whoever proclaims that not everyone is included in grace, according to Paul himself, has fallen outside of grace (Gal. 5:4). Whoever excludes someone from the Gospel is himself outside that Gospel. That is very black-and-white, I know (Gal. 1:6; Rom. 11:6). But grace simply does not tolerate even the slightest human contribution. Nothing can be added or taken away. Grace excludes all boasting. No merits, no pious works—GOD takes full responsibility for the deliverance: total and all-inclusive.

In my next blog “once more: cheap grace”, I will further discuss Henk Binnendijk’s argument about the costs associated with following Jesus.

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