The Free Gift

"Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life" (Rom. 5:18). Okay, so what does this statement actually mean? Well we’re going to find out what it DOES mean, and what it does NOT mean, according to the scriptures. The reason for asking the question is because the whole "free gift" terminology has been turned inside out by the Christian traditions of today, until the meaning has just become a pile of spiritual mush. Of course it was and is the righteousness and obedience of Jesus Christ that has made the reality of ‘grace’ available to mankind, which grace is of course synonymous with the "free gift." It’s really simple, and I don’t think that anyone will disagree, at least with the beginning of this explanation. Nobody in the history of the world has or could have done anything that would merit them [us] being owed anything by God. It is certain that no one has loaned anything to God, or given anything to God, that would procure repayment by God to mankind (Rom. 11:35). God sent his Son of his own goodwill toward man, that he might reconcile man by Jesus unto himself (Lk. 2:14; II Cor. 5:18,19). Jesus came from heaven to live, suffer, die, and rise from the dead; that we might have the means by which we could truly be redeemed from sin and reconciled to the Father. And he did it all at the command of his Father, simply out of the divine love of God for fallen mankind (Jn. 3:16; Jn. 8:42; etc.). God did not owe mankind anything, and neither did his Son. That is the ‘free’ aspect of the ‘gift,’ and that is grace; pure and simple. But there are two remaining elements to this explanation of truth, and this is where modern Christianity has caused so many to go astray from the truth of the matter. Christianity’s version of God’s grace, and the free gift is just that you believe, by your own defining of ‘believing,’ that Jesus came here and did what he did; and you have it ‘made in the shade’ because of your own supposed faith in this. You name it; Salvation, forgiveness for all past, present, and future sins, home in heaven that can’t possibly be missed out on; the ‘whole nine yards.’ If it’s comfy and cozy, it’s included in the package. Now if that is the Gospel you love and live by, and you want to hold to your guns, that is your prerogative. Just understand that if you adhere to that nonsense you will be lost and you will go to hell when you die. Period. Plain and simple. Why? Because you will have believed and loved one of the biggest and nastiest lies ever told in the history of the world, that’s why. And the Bible I read makes it very clear that all liars and all believers and lovers of lies will be eternally damned in a fiery torment; and that Bible just so happens to be infallibly true! (II Thess. 2:10-12; Rev. 21:8; Rev. 22:15) If you want to believe and love the truth, and continue therein unto true salvation, there is a truth to believe on the subject (II Thess. 2:13; I Pet. 1:3-9). In that case, here is the rest of the explanation in short order: Yes Jesus did come and accomplish all of these things for our sake, so that we can be saved unto eternal life. Of course he did! And of course we have to believe that, but that is where some clarification is needed in order to show just exactly what real believing produces, what grace is for, and what the free gift actually is.

According to John the Baptist, the only man sent by God to directly declare why Jesus was coming; and according to Jesus, the reason that Jesus came was to make the way for him to baptize with the holy Ghost (Mk. 1:7,8; Acts 1:4,5). Period. Yes, it is absolutely that simple. Neither John nor Jesus gave anyone any reason at all to think that it was about anything OTHER than that. Period. Religious man has complicated the issue by inventing religious ideologies that make it easier on the flesh. What ideologies, you may ask? “Getting saved,” “Accepting the Lord as your personal savior,” Confessing Jesus as Lord,” Repeating the sinners prayer,” “Joining the church,” carnal ceremonies; and the one that sums it all up: “Sinners saved by grace.” Ohhh, these sound soooo nice, but there is one really BIG hole in all of these doctrines: THEY ARE NOT IN THE BIBLE! Well, actually confessing Jesus is in the Bible, as an admonition to believers who are already baptized with the holy Ghost into the one body of Christ, and thereby already have the word of God “nigh unto [them], even in [their] mouth and in [their] heart” (Rom. 9:8). That is an exhortation to born again believers to CONTINUE in the faith that they have begun in, even as the apostle Paul exhorted the believers in Corinth to do as well (I Cor. 12:13; Rom. 10:8,9; I Cor. 15:1-4). And yes, carnal ceremonies are in the Bible as well, as old testament ordinances that Jesus fulfilled, which are fulfilled in us, IF we are baptized with the Spirit and walk after the Spirit (Mat. 3:14,15; Lk. 22:15,16; Rom. 8:4; Rom. 10:4; Gal. 5:18; Col. 2:16,17; etc.). So the Spirit of God is the “free gift” that comes by repentance from sin and true faith in Jesus, but make no mistake, you cannot receive it unless you sell out to God (Acts 2:33,39; Gal. 3:14; Jn. 7:37,38; Acts 5:32; Lk. 14:33; Mat. 13:44; Rom. 14:17; Acts 1:8; I Cor. 4:20). And Christianity confuses the other remaining element of the explanation just as much, by attributing ‘salvation’ to those who believe one of the false new birth doctrines listed above. Come on friends, the Bible clearly sets forth over and over again that only those who have received God’s Spirit, are led thereby, and ENDURE in true holiness until the end, will inherit immortality at the Lord’s second coming, which IS salvation (I Cor. 6:9-11; Eph. 5:3-7; Rom. 8:9,13,14; Mat. 24:12,13; Heb. 12:14; Rev. 20:6; etc.). And it’s certain according to the scriptures that obtaining salvation is not accomplished by a passive, carefree ‘faith.’ The apostle Paul sure didn’t think so: “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, WORK OUT your own salvation with FEAR and TREMBLING” (Philip. 2:12). And Paul once again: “Let us LABOR therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (Heb. 4:11). And what about Jesus? “STRIVE to enter in at the strait gate: for MANY, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall NOT be able” (Lk. 13:24). So there you have it my friend. The Christian Gospel of today has made everything so comfortable to the flesh that it has totally eliminated the fear of God. But that is no surprise because the Bible says that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and there IS no wisdom to be found in a ‘Gospel’ that is ‘good news’ only to the flesh (Prov. 9:10). So yes, it’s a ‘free gift’ that cannot be earned by our own merits, but it will surely cost us EVERYTHING if we are realistically expecting salvation: “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Mat. 16:24,25). Amen.