“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” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.” – Titus 2:11-14

Jesus paid in incredible price for the grace that we can freely claim. God considered the cost that it would take to free us from our sin and He decided that we were worth it. We must also count the cost of being a disciple of Jesus (Luke 14:25-33). To accept this costly grace and become a disciple of Jesus means we no longer live for ourselves. All of our plans, ambitions, wealth, and time must be submitted to Christ. Grace cost God much, it can not be cheap for us.

Part 2

“It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more kindness and forgiveness? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? – Romans 6:1-2

If believers are under grace, where does that leave sin? Obviously, as Paul says, we should not continue on sinning in order to receive more grace. By grace we are brought into a relationship with Christ, there is no room for sin in that relationship. Cheap grace justifies sin and not the sinner. This type of grace says that ‘I can be forgiven and continue on sinning’. Costly grace justifies the sinner but condemns sin, ”Go and sin no more” (John 8:11).

It’s also important to consider the dangers of legalism. Legalism is the belief that we can, by our own effort, become “good enough” for God. We can not earn our way into a right standing with God by following a list of rules, we are justified by grace alone. There is no other way but Jesus, and His grace is enough!

Part 1                                                                                                                       Part 3

God’s grace is a gift freely given to all who will accept it, but does that make grace free? Jesus paid a high price for that gift and in that sense, it is not “free grace”, or even “cheap grace”, it is costly grace. And here’s why.

“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. ” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

“As he walked along, he saw a tax collector, Levi son of Alphaeus, sitting in his office. Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Levis got up and followed him.” Mark 2:14

By grace Jesus called out to Levi to exchange his life for a life of devotion to Christ. For Levi to follow, he would have to give to his lucrative position as a tax collector but he would gain so much more.

Jesus makes the same call to all of us. The grace He offers is more than just the grace to escape punishment of sin. He calls us to a life of devotion to Him. To accept His grace without ever making the commitment to live as a disciple of Christ is “cheap grace”.

Jesus says, “follow me”, but in order to follow we must be willing to leave everything else behind. This is the cost. By obeying this command we gain life as it’s meant to be, a life of devotion to Jesus Christ and fellowship with God the Father. It’s a life we didn’t earn and don’t deserve. This is grace.

Part 2

I recently came across a comic that was mocking people for thanking God before meals. It said that since people raise, grow, farm, and transport our food, why should we thank God for it? What the author failed to realize is that, it doesn’t matter how good of a farmer or cook you are, without God you have nothing to work with. Without God their are no animals to raise, or crops to grow (or sun and rain to make them grow).

God, the LORD, created the heavens and stretched them out. He created the earth and everything in it. He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks the earth. Isaiah 42:5

In reality, it is ridiculous for us to think that we can do anything without God. Without Him, we would not even breathe, and yet, how often do we try to take the credit for the work that God has done?

It reminds me of an old joke about a scientist that thought the world had advanced enough to no longer need God.

The scientist walked up to God and said, “God, we’ve decided that we no longer need you.  We’re to the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don’t you just go on and mind your own business?”

God listened very patiently and kindly to the man.  After the scientist was done talking, God said, “Very well, how about this?  Let’s say we have a man-making contest.”  To which the scientist replied, “Okay, we can handle that!”

“But,” God added, “we’re going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam.”

The scientist said, “Sure, no problem” and bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt.

God looked at him and said, “No, no, no.  You go get your own dirt.”

 

Let’s give credit where credit is due, to God. He alone gives us life, He is the Author and Perfecter of our faith, our Saviour. He must increase.

Sometimes I think God must laugh at our human effort. We plan, and scheme, and run the numbers. Occasionally we think we have it all figured out. But sometimes we fail to realize that all the planning in the world is pointless if your plan doesn’t include God. I think every so often God likes to put us in impossible situations where we have no choice but to see God at work. That’s what He did with Gideon.

I’m sure Gideon and his men were doing the math. There were 32,000 Israelites and about 135,000 soldiers of Midian camped against them. There had to be at least a few guys doing some long division and realizing that they were outnumbered 4-1. But God saw the hearts of His people and He knew that if the Israelites defeated the Midian army, they were going to think that the did it on their own. So God made that a little more difficult to believe.

“The LORD said to Gideon, ‘You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. Therefore, tell the people, Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain and go home. So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight.’” – Judges 7:2-3

22,000 men leave and now the Israelites are outnumbered 13-1. You would think at this point an Israelite victory could only be attributed to God, but God was going to make sure the world knew just how powerful He was.

“But the LORD told Gideon, ‘There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not…” – Judges 7:4

God whittled down the Israelite troups to a measly 300 men, that’s one Israelite for every 450 Midianite soldiers. Then God used those 300 men to defeat the Midianites and to make it clear that He was God, that He fought for Israel and there was nothing that He could not do.

There is still nothing He can’t do. The same God that defeated 135,000 men with only 300 fights for you today. The road ahead of you may seem impossible, and it may very well be by human standards. But our God is able to “accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think” (Eph 3:20). So make the plan and do the math, but make sure God is at the center of it all. Ask Him for guidance, trust in His strength, and make sure He gets the glory when the battle is over. He must increase.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” – John 3:30

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