Count the Cost

Jesus said, "For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?" (Luke 14:28). Note the "for" at the beginning. What was the cost He wanted us to cost? "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26-27).

We like to emphasize the simplicity of the gospel. You know. Saved by faith apart from works. Repent and believe. Easy, peasy. And that's not wrong; it is simple. But it's not easy. Jesus said we need to count the cost. What cost? On the face of it, it's faith and repentance. But what are they? Repentance isn't simply to be "sorry." It is a change in direction. And faith isn't merely to believe facts. It is to place your weight on Christ. This faith is dead faith if it has no works (James 2:17). So to believe and repent is a serious commitment. In Jesus's terms, it is more important than family and even self. Paul told the Philippian jailer that in order to be saved he had to "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 16:31). That is, not merely "Believe there was a Jesus," but to place his faith on Jesus, the Messiah, as Lord. Coming to Christ costs us all.

It is costly to become a disciple of Christ. We bring all that we have -- our possessions, our talents, our treasures, our sin, our failures, our hostility ... all -- and He takes it all. He takes our sin and wipes the slate clean and then gives us His righteousness. He comes to live in us and gives us His Holy Spirit. God is at work in us to will and to do His good pleasure. We surrender all our meager rags and get back all His fabulous riches. It is expensive, but only a fool would pass it up. Then again, the fool says in his heart "There is no God," so I'm sure that happens ... a lot. On the other hand, "he is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep in order to gain that which he cannot lose." (Jim Elliot)