When it was time for the professor to speak, he was very nervous. He couldn't refute the evidence for the resurrection, or Jack's personal testimony, so he turned to the subject of the Apostle Paul's radical conversion to Christianity. He used the line of argument that "people can often be so psychologically involved in what they're combating that they end up embracing it." At this point my friend smiled gently, and responded, "You'd better be careful, sir, or you're liable to become a Christian."
---At this point many people ask the question, "Why couldn't God just forgive?" An executive of a large corporation said, "My employees often do something, break something, and I just forgive them." Then he added, "Are you trying to tell me I can do something that God can't do?" People fail to realize that wherever there is forgiveness there's a payment. For example, let's say my daughter breaks a lamp in my home. I'm a loving and forgiving father, so I put her on my lap, and I hug her and I say, "Don't cry, honey. Daddy loves you and forgives you." Now usually the person I tell that story to says, "Well, that's what God ought to do." Then I ask the question, "Who pays for the lamp?" The fact is, I do. There's always a price in forgiveness. Let's say somebody insults you in front of others and later you graciously say, "I forgive you." Who bears the price of the insult? You do.
This is what God has done. God has said, "I forgive you." But he was willing to pay the price himself through the cross.
---