price of forgiveness

"But forgiveness comes with a price: the suffering of the one who has been sinned against. The injured party must suffer the pain, forgoing revenge, in order to pursue reconciliation of the broken relationship. In this respect forgiveness is not 'unconditional,' since the person forgiving must fulfill this condition. Calvary demonstrates that God is willing to pay the cost of forgiveness and to work to bring about reconciliation. Vincent Brummer writes, 'Christ's suffering is not merely the paradigmatic revelation of God's atoning forgiveness. Such a revelation is also a necessary condition for this forgiveness.' God has humbled himself and has met this painful condition necessary for the restoration of the personal divine-human relationship. In Jesus, God overcomes the estrangement and provdes a way for us to repent and to be reconciled."*

Think about how much things cost. . . . . .just out of curiosity, did your mind wander to something expensive or something cheap? Does that tell us anything about ourselves? I don't know for sure. Perhaps there are those of us who want to know that what we have is very costly and expensive because we find value in such things and perhaps there are those of us who are looking for the biggest bargain. Depending on what we're talking about, I could go either way on that one.

But what is the price of salvation? It is offered free yet the cost to God is quite incomprehensible to us. All in all, God's extraordinary love and faithfulness is constantly displayed in the cross. Romans 5 tells of the incredible effects of this love as God took those who were enemies of himself and welcomed them into his family - us! I cannot even imagine bringing my enemies so close as to make them members of my family. Yet this is what God has done (and is doing).

At a high price.

Too high?

Perhaps for some.

Not for him.






*John Sanders, The God Who Risks (Downers Grove: IVP, 1998), 105.