Greetings! I strongly believe that one of the main, if not the main thing that Satan strives to keep veiled from human kind is that salvation is truly and completely a free gift of God (Romans 5:15-18). If something is truly a gift, it cannot be earned in any way, shape, or form. The Bible is clear that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Sin means to “miss the mark,” so to speak; to be outside of the “bullseye.” Sin is also defined by the Bible as “transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). God’s standard if perfection, meaning that none of His laws are to be broken; ever. Anything short of perfection is unacceptable to enter the kingdom of God; it misses the bullseye; the mark. Scripture also tells us that if you break just a part of the law, you are guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10).
We see that just one sin makes us imperfect and deserving of that terrible wage; the due payment of sin. That wage is death (Romans 6:23). Death was brought into the world because of sin (1 Corinthians 15:21). A wage is not something that is given, it is something that is earned and must be paid, like the wages we earn at our jobs. Romans 6:23 however goes on to tell us that the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Jesus took your wage of sin on the cross at Calvary. God’s integrity is absolutely perfect. He can therefore not simply dismiss sin; pretending that it didn’t happen and doing nothing about it. God cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13). Just letting the wage of sin go unpaid and denying His law would be denying Himself; His integrity; His perfection. He loves us, however. He loves us enough to deal with our sin in a way that is genuine and forthright; at His own expense, by himself. The wage of sin WAS paid. Jesus; God Himself, took it for us; for you. It is His gift to you. The punishment that you and I rightfully had coming; the debt that we owed, He willfully took upon Himself and paid it in full.
There is nothing you can do to pay Him for it. Like anything else that is truly a gift, you have to accept it. If I give you a gift and you don’t take it, it isn’t yours. On the other hand, if I give you a gift and you accept it, it is yours. If, however, you somehow try to pay me for it; try to earn it, it is no longer a gift, and I am not giving it to you. This is because by trying to somehow pay me for my gift. In doing so, you have insulted my intentions and my gift. Salvation that people try to earn even part of, is void. We are saved purely by grace, and NOT of works (Ephesians 2:8-9). If salvation is at all of works, or it is no longer grace, and if of grace, it is no longer of works (Romans 11:6). It is also directly referred to as a free gift (Romans 5:16-18).
How does one receive this free gift? One simply believes on Jesus; believes the Gospel, which is the good news; that Christ died for our sins according to Scripture (as it was foretold in the Old Testament), that He was buried and that He rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures! Just as Acts 16:31 states clearly: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved…” This is what you must do to receive the free gift of salvation. Jesus tells us in John 6:47 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” Notice the present tense in the verse. If I have everlasting life, it is indeed everlasting, therefore I cannot lose it. If it can be lost, it is not everlasting.
The word “believe” in the original (Greek) language, which is used in these passages, means to trust fully; to commit ones trust to something; to fully rely upon. Just as I fully rely on the chair that I am sitting in as I write this, to hold me up, we must fully rely on Jesus and His finished work (John 19:30) to save us; we must truly take Him at His word. In doing so, we accept His free gift of salvation and truly, once and for all, become children of God (John 1:12, Hebrews 13:5).
No one is saved by simply reciting some sort of “sinner’s prayer,” doing church rituals, doing good deeds, or any other sort of action. Jesus saves us ONLY when we believe on Him and trust Him to save us, and accept His free gift. You are not in any way, shape, or form saved by what you do for Christ, you are saved FULLY by what Christ did for you. Never look to yourself; your performance, feelings, attitude, etc. for "proof" of your salvation, look to the Word of God. The heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9) and fallible, but the Word of God is not. The evidence of your salvation is in the Scriptures, which are infallible. Our salvation; both the receiving of it and the keeping of it, is dependent on the faithfulness of God, which is unwavering, not our faithfulness, which is most certainly not unwavering. Praise God!
If you have more questions about this eternally important topic, please read “Angles and Aspects of Salvation,” found on this website and/or contact me via the provided email. I would be happy to talk with you, pray with you, and answer any questions you may have. Nothing is more important than this. Also please know that you are encouraged to freely copy and distribute anything on this site for the purpose of reaching the loss and otherwise ministering to others. God bless.
JJR