The 50% Off Gospel

Colossians 1:13-14

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

I read this verse this morning and felt a hint of bitterness and disbelief. I didn't really buy what it was saying. I was actually bitter about what this would be suggesting. It felt, in a way, like it was presenting the gospel to be better than what I truly believe it is.

I think deep down what I believe is that Jesus forgave my sins, and I owe Him big time because of that. You are forgiven everything in your past, which is a good thing, but you're now held to a very high standard going forward. It doesn't feel very freeing. It doesn't feel like life-changing "good news" because I don't really have faith that I can meet these standards anyways.

It's like I was given a 50% off discount to get to heaven, but I'll still never be able to afford the other 50%. My best shot would have been to receive Jesus and die 5 minutes later hoping I don't sin in that 5 minute span.

Something doesn't add up here, but it's the truth about how I feel. The 50% Off Gospel doesn't make me feel clean. It probably makes me cleaner, but I know I'm going to mess my self up again before my time is up. It doesn't rid me of my shame, it just makes me feel more of it. It amplifies the shame of  mistakes that the blood of Jesus was meant to wash me completely from.

What would hope ever have to do with this 50% Off Gospel? Who actually has hope that they'll be perfect from here on out? Isn't this just perpetuating a system that Jesus died to save us from? Wasn't this the whole point of Jesus dying?

Perhaps the biggest tragedy of this, is the image of God it paints. If God is a Father and the 50% Off Gospel is true, then this father is extremely heavy-handed and sadistic. It portrays a father who is setting his own children up to fail by giving them false hope and holding them to impossible standards.

If the message of Jesus Christ is good news at all, He had to have paid 100% of the way. There can't be any performance bar. It can't have to do it with the merit of our own performance. He had to have made a way (been The Way) for us to heaven that was truly accessible. That made true hope for us where we had no hope of making our own.

Biblically, the 50% Off Gospel is completely false. When the lie - that we are only forgiven for things in our past, and once we're saved we are held to an impossible standard - is exposed, the false God it portrays at the very best concedes to extend grace to us if it's an 'understandable' sin. Maybe we stubbed our toe and uttered a word that isn't fit for the mouth of a saint. God surely understands that.. I mean it really hurt!

God lets out an exasperated sigh... Fine. I'll forgive you for this. "BUT GO AND SIN NO MORE" He screams.

Certainly, if it was a real bad sin, we're cooked. God completely blows up and heaps a tsunami of shame, guilt and condemnation upon us. His wrath ensues.

What a joke. No wonder we have to guilt trip each other in to sharing the news about this others. It's a horrible deal. I don't want to give out 50% off tickets to heaven. It's like giving a homeless guy a 50% off coupon for a new Bugatti. Congrats buddy!

Sometimes my blogs are very refined lessons I've learned, but this is much more personal. I've wrestled with the 50% off coupon for years and still do. If you are sick of the 50% off coupon life as well I'd love to hear your story.