Cost vs. Price

Daily Post: Priceless

When these orange and gold circles appear on a credit card, a word is often associated with that card: “priceless.”  Mastercard took us to a whole new level in pulling the heartstrings in their commercials.  First it was Hallmark, and those infamous “send your mother a card” type commercials.  But “priceless” really gets us where it hurts.

While I didn’t enjoy it so much, I did spend time in college taking a couple of economics courses.  I remember spending a lot of time on different economic principles and trying to understand them.  One in particular was “Cost vs. Price.”  It can be complicated at times but here is the simple version.  The cost is what a company pays to produce and sell an item.  The price is the purchase amount of the item sold.  The difference between the price paid and the cost to manufacture and sell the item is the company’s profit.  Pretty simple stuff huh?

This morning the Daily Post suggestion of the word “priceless” just jumped off the page to me.  Because worldly economic principles are one thing, while spiritual economic principles are totally different, and sometimes foreign to us.  Let me show you what I mean.

First, let’s talk about “cost.”  What does salvation cost?  Most people will immediately think I’m asking what their cost is to be saved (“what’s it going to cost me?”).  Wrong.  We think this way because we’re “me” oriented from the time we’re born, it’s in our DNA.  However, the cost of salvation is described for us perfectly in Philippians 2.

Philippians 2:5-7
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

Do you see it?  What salvation cost, was Jesus stepping away from His heavenly throne, removing Himself from His divine position, and taking on the form of a bond-servant, in the likeness of humanity.  This is indeed a great cost, and one too many of us can’t even get our heads around.

Next, let’s talk about “price.”  What is the price of salvation?  Once again, in our limited spiritual mindset, the answer often given is, “all those things I have to give up that are fun, but I can’t do anymore if I want to be saved.”  You’d be surprised how often I have heard this said out loud.  We’ve made salvation all about our contributions and costs, and completely missed why it should be called “salvation” in the first place.

Philippians 2:8
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

The “price” of salvation was Jesus death on the cross.  Jesus had to empty Himself (cost), come to earth as a human, live a perfect life, then die on the cross (price), before the purpose of God (profit) could be achieved.  So what is the “profit” to God?

Philippians 2:10-
… so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

In God’s spiritual economic model, WE (all of humanity who will call out to Him) are the profit gained, because Jesus bore the cost and paid the price for our salvation.  We contribute nothing but our faith and trust in Him as Savior.  I can’t be good enough.  I can’t be rich enough to buy my way in.  But take a breath, and think about this for a moment.

Do you know how much you’re really worth?  I do.

You and I both… we’re “priceless.”

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