Have you ever had a ticket for speeding? My sister seems to think I have been pulled over thousands of times! In reality, I only have one speeding ticket on my record. (The others I was allowed to take driving school to keep it off my record!! But that’s beside the point.) As you read this, close your eyes and imagine this scenario unfolding…

After being pulled over for going 17 miles over the speed limit, you go to court to petition for driving school instead of having the ticket on your record. When the judge hears you, he has four options to choose from. One, he could say “eh, don’t do it again” and throw it out the window. As nice as that would be, you know as well as I do that won’t happen. In fact, it would be injustice. You broke the law with no repercussions. So in reality, there are only three options.

One, he could say no and make you pay the fine. As much as you may not like it, and may have some colorful language for the judge later, you broke the law. In fact, this would be justice. You are paying the penalty for your crime.

Option number two is the judge says “ok, you may take driving school”. Though there are still the court cost and cost of driving school, not having the ticket on your record can really help you in other ways! Did you deserve that? Some people think so. But the truth is you deserve the ticket. You broke the law, and that is the price you have to pay. In this option, the judge had mercy and did not give you what you deserve.

There is a third option. There is only one scenario I can even imagine this being a possibility. Imagine for a moment that you are the unlucky one who’s dad is the judge. You know from growing up he is always on the side of the law; he is a judge after all. Before you even ask for mercy and driving school, you know his answer. As you prepare for the resounding no, he takes a deep breath and says, “no”. He says, “you were warned when your license was issued not to break the law, and you did it anyway. You need to pay the fine.” He slams the gavel; it’s official.

With your head hanging in shame and embarrassment, you begin to turn to leave when he says wait. He stands up, takes off his robe, walks around and gives you a great big hug. As he’s hugging you he reaches around and pull out his wallet and gives you the money to pay the fine and whispers in your ear, “I love you”.

Did you deserve that? No. And that’s why it’s called grace. Did grace cost you anything? No. But it was not cheap! Anyone who has had a ticket for going 17 over knows that! In the same way, the grace that covers my sin may be free for me, but it was not cheap. My sin is far greater than going 17 over and God’s grace cost Him a whole lot more than a few bucks. Grace always costs someone something.

We cheapen grace by the way we expect it from God. We assume that because God is God He just forgives, He is obligated to forgive because He’s God, and it doesn’t matter what we do because there is forgiveness and grace. Scripture however teaches quite the opposite. In the Old Testament we see how every sin must be accounted for by the one who sins. Every sin has a costs and we are the ones who are responsible for paying that cost. People assume the Old Testament does not apply because we live under the New Testament. Truth is nothing has changed; we are still responsible for our sin. The only difference is God came down, lived a perfect life, had no sin the pay the price for, but paid the price for sin on our behalf. It cost Him everything! He watched as His Son suffered to the point of death at the hands of those He loves so much. God came down from his throne, gave us a hug, and said “I love you”.
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.” – 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (emphasis added)