It Cost More Than an Arm and a Leg

It Cost More Than an Arm and A Leg

Few statements unsettle modern Christianity more than this one: if Christ does not cost you all, you have not become a Christian. It sounds extreme, even offensive, in a religious culture that often presents faith as an add on rather than a takeover.

Yet this statement does not come from radical thinking. It comes straight from the words and demands of Jesus Himself. The problem is not that the statement is too strong. The problem is that our definition of being a follower of Christ has grown far too weak.

From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus made the cost explicit. He did not market Himself as a life enhancer, a self esteem coach, or a religious accessory. He spoke plainly.

"If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me."

"Whoever does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple."

"Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me."

These were not poetic anaologies meant to be softened. They were conditions. Jesus did not invite people to admire Him, agree with Him, or add Him to their existing lives. He demanded surrender, the death of the old self and the birth of a new one.

A belief that costs nothing is not belief at all.

Many believe they are followers of Christ because they assent to correct doctrine, attend services, pray occasionally, or identify culturally with Christianity. Scripture never defines salvation as intellectual agreement or religious participation. It defines it as union with Christ, and union requires death before resurrection. You cannot keep your autonomy and follow a Lord. You cannot remain sovereign over your life and claim allegiance to Christ. The very word Lord destroys that illusion. Where Christ is truly received, ownership changes.

A common objection arises that salvation is by grace, not works, and therefore it does not cost anything. That statement is half true and dangerously misleading. Salvation costs you nothing because it cost Christ everything. But the moment grace saves you, it claims you. Grace does not negotiate. Grace conquers. Grace does not say keep your life and add Jesus. Grace says die and live. The gospel does not ask for your improvement. It demands your execution. It doesn't cost you some, but all!

What rises is not a better version of you, but a new creation whose life is now hidden in Christ.

When Christ costs you everything, this does not mean every believer is called to poverty, martyrdom, or public suffering. It means something deeper and more comprehensive. Your identity no longer belongs to you. Your morality is no longer self defined. Your ambitions are no longer sovereign. Your relationships are no longer ultimate. Your future is no longer self directed.

This is not just a willingness to die to certain areas of one's life "if" Christ calls. Christ has called, and desires all now! Christ does not merely want first place. He wants exclusive ownership. Anything less is not conversion. It is coexistence.

The encounter with the rich young ruler exposes this reality clearly. The man wanted assurance without surrender. He obeyed commandments, lived morally, and sought eternal life. Jesus looked at him with love and then exposed the one thing he would not give up. Sell all that you have and follow Me. The man walked away sorrowful, not because Jesus demanded too much, but because he would not pay the cost. Jesus did not chase him. He did not lower the standard. He let him go. That encounter still stands as a warning. It is possible to want eternal life and still refuse Christ.

This teaching is rare today because it empties churches rather than fills them. It confronts comfortable believers. It exposes false assurance. It strips away religious masks. A Christianity that demands everything cannot be marketed. It can only be proclaimed. Yet wherever this truth has been preached, whether by Jesus, the apostles, or faithful voices throughout history, it has always produced the same result. Fewer converts, but real ones.

The real question is not whether you have accepted Christ. The real question is whether Christ has taken you. If He has not claimed your life, reordered your loves, confronted your sin, and displaced your self rule, then whatever you have embraced is not biblical, no matter how sincere, emotional, or orthodox it may appear.

Christ does not call people to believe ideas about Him. He calls them to lose their lives for His sake. Paradoxically, that loss is the only way life is ever found. If Christ costs you nothing, He is worth nothing to you. If He costs you something, He is beginning to be Lord. If He costs you everything, you have finally become a follower of Christ.