expensive

Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls it cheap grace.

It's accepting the benefits and forfeiting the responsibility. It's selfishness. We're all guilty of it. But most of us are the sneaky type of selfish. No, we'd never possess the audacity to raise the banner of what we truly are.

Instead we choose to hide. Many of us behind our own words...
We're thankful for His grace.
We wouldn't be the same without it.
It's changed us.

The calluses on my own heart frighten me. It almost seems implausible; someone like me, who's likely listened to a hundred sermons about Christ's sacrifice, sat through descriptions of his pain, imagined his tears wetting the ground of Gethsemane...and yet my numb soul still chases after evil things.

I've fallen and I've felt the safety net breaking my plummet to destruction.
It doesn't hurt me and much as it hurt Him.
I've been alright with that.

In a course I'm taking on the life of Jesus, we talked about His temptation in the desert. I was struck with the fact that He was a representative for Israel, not only in his death on the cross, but also during his temptation. Disobedient Israel had failed the same test for decades. Jesus would have to overcome the same temptations, and was willing to do so for the sake of humanity.

When Satan asked Jesus to turn rocks into bread, I can't imagine how hungry he was. As the intensity of death drew near, how terrifying it must have been to choose crucifixion. I've realized that my view of grace has been far too tame. It cost Jesus complete denial of his comfort, safety, self-interest, and life.

Ignorance of the cost leads to complacency. We don't fully understand our example of sacrifice. We don't grasp how hard it was. Jesus, fully man, gave up the things we so often indulge in. Every time we've given in, we should see him standing in the desert; exhausted, starving, spiritually attacked, enticed with sin.
And may we see him standing strong until the end, unwilling to compromise...
for our sake.

I like this excerpt from my course pack. I think it sums up my thoughts.

"Since Jesus is my representative, ought I not to enter into the same struggle against the wiles of Satan in my own life? In moral issues, it is always the same - the will of God or the will of Satan. It is a spiritual war, and not just a difficult choice. Should not righteousness and purity of deed and motive be my consuming passion in response to Jesus' obedience, even at immense personal cost?"

-Jon Lunde