In church in Sunday, we went through this passage in Luke:
Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple (Luke 14: 25-33).
The speaker made an excellent point about the nature of grace. While Grace is a free gift, it is most certainly not cheap or without value. Before we accept the free gift of grace, we should also be willing to count the cost of following Jesus - which includes submitting our possessions, relationships and even our very life.
This point meant a lot to me, especially being versed in economic principles. Indeed, grace can be thought of in basic economic terms.
In a free market, the price of something (which is how we assess it’s value) is determined by the subjective preference orders of both buyers and sellers. The price of a quart of milk, for example, is not “set” by the grocery store. Rather the price is a meeting place somewhere within a relative spectrum between the minimum value the seller can bear to let it go and the maximum cost that the buyer will pay for it. The price, or value, is finally determined by where those two opposing forces can come to an agreement.
But the value of grace has been set objectively by God because, unlike milk at a grocery store, there is no exchange taking place. Since grace is unmerited - we do not give anything to obtain it - then God actually can “set” the price.
While it cost God a great deal, he has chosen to set the price at zero. But since we are hardwired to determine value subjectively, a free gift to us is likely to be undervalued. It really should not surprise us that grace has a propensity to be trampled and abused as though it was a worthless thing - we believe that the price was free - therefore, grace seems cheap.
Moreover, while the gift itself is free - accepting the gift will lead to opportunity cost. This makes following Christ even more difficult, as we can see the costs immediately (possessions, relationships, life) but the profit is still to come in the eternal.
In other words, while we need not give anything in exchange for grace - accepting it is going to bring about changes and costs. If someone were given a free house, they will still have to deal with consequences to owning that house - even though it cost them nothing to obtain it.
This is why we must not present the gospel in a manner that cheapens grace. We must not be like scam-artist salesmen and fraudulently disguise following Jesus as a life-enhancement opportunity. We need to accurately explain where the profit is, and what the costs are upfront. It is no surprise that so many who claim to accept grace soon fall away after confronting the costs - they thought they were getting something cheap.
I’m in a discipleship group right now and we’re reading a book that is really solid and discusses grace versus work. It’s called “The Discipline of Grace” by Jerry Bridges. Check it out, Colin.
Excellent article. You’ve really got me thinking after reading this part:
“This is why we must not present the gospel in a manner that cheapens grace. We must be like scam-artist salesmen and fraudulently disguise following Jesus as a life-enhancement opportunity. We need to accurately explain where the profit is, and what the costs are upfront. It is no surprise that so many who claim to accept grace soon fall away after confronting the costs - they thought they were getting something cheap.”
Jesus certainly didn’t mince words when talked about the cost. I guess when we look at the New Testament record, the cost is so evident without it’s specific mention. Everyone was well aware of the persecution that would follow, and that your own family might disown you if you follow Christ. This sort of stigma still exists in many cultures, but is not so prevalent in Western culture. My wife knows an Israeli girl who said if she became a Christian, her family would literally have a funeral service for her.
And being ostracized is only part of it. There is also the responsibility to function according to the grace of God, yielding to the power sufficient to transform someone into a person like Christ - exhibiting the character becoming of one indwelt by God. Christians should love one another, which in turn means a host of other things which are not acts done to attain righteousness, but are the result of yielding to the Christ-nature and submitting to his will. Perhaps the difficulty is in communicating that upon becoming the recipient of grace it is incumbent upon one to become a representative of that grace to the world.
Darius, currently reading that book with my wife. Excellent so far!!
This helps explain why so many people try to work for their salvation. It does seems to be hardwired into people not to accept anything valuable for free–we all think we need to pay for–or at least work for–something if it is valuable.
Maybe that is part of God’s meaning when he says that the way is narrow and hard and few go there. Faith is “all” that grace costs, and that price is way too steep for many.
So they work instead. After all, working makes a lot more sense.
Thainamu, that is the other side of humanity’s desire to constrict grace to subjective valuation - we presume that because it is valuable, we must try to trade something for it - namely good works.
Excellent post and excellent discussion. I may have more to say after I’ve thought about its points more, but I am highly impressed by the thought process represented here.