We must admit that for many occasions – it’s all about the gifts! Birthdays are about gift giving and gift receiving. Graduations, wedding showers, and Christmas parties are about the gifts: shopping for them, purchasing them, wondering if we made the right choice for that person who has it all. One thing that a person normally does not do when giving a gift is to include a bill. The recipient of the gift does not expect to have to pay for it because a gift is free. Right?
Many people do not realize that God gives gifts, too. One of his most precious gifts is salvation through his Son, Jesus Christ. To whom does God give that gift of salvation? He gives it to anyone who puts their faith and trust in Jesus to be their Savior, to forgive their sins, and to take them to Heaven.
This free gift idea is a problem for some because they think that simple faith is not enough; they expect to have to pay for this gift of salvation. They expect to have to work their whole life, hoping that God will give them the gift of eternal life in Heaven. Millions of people today believe that they must work their way to forgiveness and Heaven.
So, how can we know for sure that the gift of salvation is truly free? There are some very good verses in the Bible that help answer that question.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8, 9
The first important truth in these verses is that salvation is by grace through faith. When a person believes that he is a sinner deserving punishment and that his only way to be forgiven and able to go to Heaven is through Jesus Christ, then he is by faith trusting God to save him. God then does something for him that he cannot do for himself: God forgives his sins and gives him eternal life.
The next part of the verse says, and that not of yourselves which points out the fact that salvation does not come from something that we can do. Slavation is a gift from God. We can’t provide ourselves salvation; we can’t forgive our own sins; and we can’t take ourselves to Heaven. All of those things are impossible for us, but they are not impossible for God.
How do we know that eternal life is free to anyone who believes? Ephesians 2:8 says it is the gift of God. Salvation is a gift from God; therefore, in the truest sense of a gift – it is free. God does not include in the gift of salvation the expectation that we will work the rest of our lives in order to earn it. The verse even say so: not of works lest any man should boast. We could not even begin to do enough work to pay for our sins and earn Heaven; Jesus already did that when he died on the cross in our place. Trying to work our way to Heaven is actually putting our faith in ourselves, and it’s trying to do something that only God can do.
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Galatian 2:16
Three different times this verse points out that we are justified, or saved, by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law – meaning anything that we can do. Trusting in our own works can never gain us salvation because it is the gift of God given to us when we put our faith in Jesus Christ.
