Costly Grace

"Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and 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"              Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The highlighted line is the one that's been running through my head for days. The cross is real. The blood is real. The pain, the suffering, the agony, the sacrifice are all real. Sin is real, and the cross became the only way. Every day, I see how my motives are still wrong, how sin is in my life. If it weren't for Christ, I would be a dead man walking. 

But because of Christ, I am the recipient of grace. The Amplified Bible amplifies grace with "unmerited favor" or "blessing" I love reading that. It is only grace that makes the filthy clean. It is that unmerited favor that helps the helpless into the promise. Writes Andrew Murray in Abide in Christ, "You knew what sin was, but had not the power to conquer, because you did not know or believe how entirely Jesus would take charge of you to keep and to help you"  

For fun, I looked up "justify" in the dictionary. This is what I found: 

1. to show (an act, claim, statement, etc) to be just or right

2. to defend or uphold as warranted or well-grounded

3. to declare innocent or guiltless; absolve; acquit. 

You are saved once, but Christ stands ever at the throne declaring you innocent before His Father. He continues to show us to be just, to be right. Jesus is our defender. And thus, the costly grace is not needed once, but daily. Our iniquity must be revealed, our sin condemned, so that we recognize the grace that's been given. 

Lecrae in "Boasting" says it like this:  

"Every glance, every dance, every note of a song.It's all a gift undeserved that I shouldn't have known.Every day that I lie, every moment I covetI'm deserving to die, I'm just earning your judgment.I, without the cross there's only condemnation.If Jesus wasn't executed there's no celebration."

And 
"God has never been obligated to give us life.

If we fought for our rights, we'd be in hell tonight.Mere sinners owed nothing but a fierce hand.
We never loved him, we pushed away his pierced hands.
I rejected his love, grace, kindness, and mercy.
Dying of thirst, yet, willing to die thirsty.
Eternally worthy, how could I live for less?
Patiently you turned my heart away from selfishness.
I volunteer for your sanctifying surgery.
I know the Spirit's purging me of everything that's hurting me."

Needtobreathe in "Keep Your Eyes Open"

"I know pain is just a place the will has been broken"

I'm pretty sure I've talked about "Boasting" in the past, but did you catch that line that's so conveniently enlarged for you? "If we fought for our rights, we'd be in hell tonight". If we tried to do it our way, we would fail! Do we need to talk about Adam and Eve. We are inept. To fight against the grace of God is turn down the gift of life. And to do so is to struggle with our wills, which is why I love the Needtobreathe lyric so much. The grace that God gives through Christ is costly. Costly grace hurts. It certainly hurt Christ. Costly grace forces the acknowledgment of sin; if you were not a sinner, what need would you have for grace? But when we hurt, when we feel the pain of our sin, our will has finally been broken. God's will has been revealed through the power of the Holy Spirit's conviction. 

Grace will cost you your old habits, your secret sins, your pride, your time, your money, your opinions, and your life. But it cost our heavenly Father the life of His Only Son. Jesus gave His life so you could have one. That's costly grace. 

Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the angel [of the Lord]. And He spoke, to those who stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And He said to [Joshua], Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel. Zechariah 3:3-4