Counting the Cost

            Recently I was given the opportunity to preach on the book of Jonah, and I’ll have to admit upfront, my words are insufficient, and they cannot do it justice. However, my time of study, research, and preparation proved spiritually rewarding, and I hope and pray that God used my words effectually for His harvest. It was/is a true joy and honor to speak on behalf of my King.

            In a particular part of the message, I challenged listeners by asking them the question, “what has it cost you to follow Jesus?” and in preparation; I was forced to ask myself the same question. I found it quite revealing to think on the matter, so I decided put together a Biblical list of what it ought to cost us to follow Christ.  I will confess firstly that I am not even close to paying these “costs” in full, and cannot say to follow my example as St. Paul urged his listeners. But by the grace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ I am making steps forward, and I hope that you will find admonishment and encouragement in my answers as we count the true cost of following King Jesus.

1.)  It will cost a Christian his/her self-righteousness. This is the very thing that Jesus condemned the Pharisees. Certainly the Pharisees did not lack zeal or discipline. They gave the entirety of their life to writing and interpreting the scriptures. They were the best of the best in their day. However, they knew nothing of what it meant to live in the favor of the Good Lord. A true Christian must cast away all his pride, all his conceit, all his high thoughts of self, and all of his own goodness. He must be content to go to heaven as a poor sinner saved by only by the free grace of God, owing all of his righteousness to the merit of Christ. The Christian’s trust is not in his morality, respectability, zealous prayerfulness, fervent churchgoing, disciplined Bible-reading. His trust is in the atoning blood of the Lamb. How precious will the words of the old hymn sound in his ear, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” Christ is his only hope of righteousness.

2.)  It will cost a Christian his/her sins. He must be prepared to give up every custom and practice that is wrong in God’s sight. He must set is face against sin, wrestle with it, quarrel with it, prune himself of it, fight with it, crucify it, and labor to keep it down. All sins are his deadly enemies, and the true Believer will grow in hating every false way set before him. This may not be the popular teaching of the day, but let us observe that faith and repentance are inextricably bound together. Our Lord Jesus Christ and Paul the apostle always taught both together. Christ is willing to receive any sinner, but He will not receive them if they will stick to their sins.

3.)  It will cost a Christian his/her love of ease. The race towards heaven is one of peace paired with pain and trouble. Surely the Christian has peace, for He is in right standing with the King. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” But the Believer’s sanctification is one of continual struggle until he is called home. He must daily watch and stand on guard, putting on the full armor of God for spiritual warfare. He must be diligent over his time, Bible-reading, and prayer, and must be careful over his tongue, temper, thoughts, and imagination. The Christian life is surely not one of ease, but it is one of rigorous work through the grace of God that enables. No one drifts toward holiness. The Christian must be on guard at all times.

4.)  It will cost a Christian his/her favor with the world. The Believer must be content to be thought ill of by man if he is to please God. Jesus promised, “The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” The Christian must not be surprised to know that his opinions and practices are despised, mocked, and ridiculed. Rather, he should be intoxicated on the favor that has been shown him in Christ, and will spend his life proclaiming the good news of the gospel, even if the stakes are high.

This is a heavy list, and I by no means intend to discourage. Living for Christ is the most rewarding thing a human can do. A life spent in the service of Christ is the happiest life that a man can spend upon earth. I might ask who in their right mind can doubt that it is worth any cost to have his soul saved? When it comes to the eternal state of our souls, surely we ought to cling hastily to Christ and be quick to observe His blessed commands. J.C. Ryle once said, “A religion that cost nothing is worth nothing! A cheap Christianity without a cross, will prove in the end a useless Christianity, without a crown.” So then I ask you again, What has it cost you to follow Jesus?

“What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

Mark 8:36