Forgiveness Without Repentance Is Not the Gospel

Beloved, there is a dangerous gospel quietly preached in many hearts: forgiveness without repentance, grace without the cross, salvation without surrender.
We ask God to forgive us, yet we deny what that forgiveness cost Him and what it now costs us.

Grace is free to receive, but it was never cheap to give.

Forgiveness Has a Price Tag

Peter reminds us:

“You were not redeemed with corruptible things… but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18–19).

Forgiveness cost blood, not words.
It cost nails, not excuses.
It cost a cross, not convenience.

To ask for forgiveness while refusing the weight of the cross is to trivialize Calvary. Heaven did not wave away sin; Heaven crucified it.

The Lie of Cheap Grace

Paul confronts this lie head-on:

“Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!” (Romans 6:1–2).

Cheap grace says:

• “God understands, so I won’t change.”

• “I’m forgiven, so obedience is optional.”

• “Jesus died, so I don’t have to.”

But true grace does not excuse sin it empowers victory over it.
Grace doesn’t lower God’s standard; it lifts us to meet it.

The Cross Demands Participation

Jesus said:

“If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).

Notice: He did not say admire the cross.
He did not say sing about the cross.
He said take it up.

You cannot claim Christ’s cross while rejecting your own.
Forgiveness cancels the debt of sin, but discipleship demands the death of self.

Forgiven, Yet Not Transformed?

Paul declares:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live” (Galatians 2:20).

If grace has touched you, something must die:

• Pride must die

• Secret sin must die

• Lukewarm faith must die

A gospel that forgives but does not transform is not the gospel of Christ it is a counterfeit.

 Counting the Cost

Hebrews urges us to:

“Fix our eyes on Jesus… who endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus counted the cost and He paid it in full.
Now He calls us to count the cost of following Him:

• Obedience over comfort

• Holiness over popularity

• Truth over applause

Forgiveness is the door. The cross is the path.

Church, do not ask for forgiveness while protecting the very sin that nailed Him there.
Do not claim grace while refusing the cross.

The gospel is not: “Come as you are and stay as you are.”
The gospel is: “Come as you are—and be crucified, so you may live.”