How Costly (or Cheap) is Grace?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer certainly did not beat around the bush when it came to cheapening the gospel:

Grace as the data for our calculations means grace at the cheapest price, but grace as the answer to the sum means costly grace. It is terrifying to realize what use can be made of genuine in evangelical doctrine. In both cases, we have the identical formula-”justification by faith alone.” Yet the misuse of the formula leads to the complete destruction of its very essence (The Cost of Discipleship, 51).

Thus, we say and even cherish the fact that we are justified by faith, and yet we “cheapen” and even destroy that precious truth through a compromising faith.