costly grace

so, i started reading the cost of discipleship by dietrich bonhoeffer. first off, the guy's story is pretty amazing, so if you've never heard of him, look him up. but anyways, the first chapter of the book is talking about cheap grace vs. costly grace and this got me thinking a lot. ever since i read it, i've been thinking of how often i just brush off sin as forgiven, without really taking time to appreciate the fact that Jesus Christ, God's own son suffered and died so that i could have that forgiveness. i think bonhoeffer says it best when he says 'what has cost God much, cannot be cheap for us.'

so how then are we to respond to this 'costly grace?' bonhoeffer suggests true discipleship, or the leaving of all to follow Christ. seems pretty radical huh? but that's why grace is costly, and why cheap grace [or grace without discipleship attached] has let so many people become Christians, who don't change anything about themselves other than coming to church sunday morning.

now i don't want to suggest that this costly grace is something that we earn. it is in the gospel of the grace of God that we are always and in every circumstance sinners. but that grace justifies us, even though we are sinners. so i think that such grace deserves a response by us. God allowed his own son to die so we could have this grace, shouldn't that change the way we live our very lives?