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| Is Salvation a free gift?? | | Is salvation a free gift?
So I was talking to one of my house mates who kind of had a problem with the message of repentance and holiness. He thought it would be like saying "Here is a free gift, and here are the requirements to have it" and felt that this was a contradition. Heres how I see it: Imagine a catoring company freely offering you their services. They offer you the best deal available, a free party! You don't have to pay anything at all and you will have a great time for all your friends and family. But there is one requirement. Only one condition. The catorers says "we will throw you a free party at your house, but you have to allow us to arrange the house however we want." That's reasonable and so you accept and have a great party. That is what it is like with Salvation. God freely offers us the gift of Salvation, but we have to allow God to arrange our lives however He wants. I heard someone say once "Salvation is a free gift, but it costs your life." We can't live two lives. In order to recieve new life with Christ, we must give up the old life. It's reasonable and makes sense. |
| 2005/1/19 15:37 | | rookie Member
Joined: 2003/6/3 Posts: 4821 Savannah TN
| Re: Is Salvation a free gift?? | | Christ's blood and God's forgiveness are free to all who will hear. There are no prior conditions that exist before Christ's sacrifice can be applied to any individual. Remember, all are dead.
A relationship with Christ will cost you your former life. In return, you find a pearl of great worth, and you willingly sell all that you have for this treasure the world knows nothing of.
In Christ Jeff _________________ Jeff Marshalek
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| 2005/1/19 15:54 | Profile | hredii Member
Joined: 2004/8/1 Posts: 218 Fresno CA
| Re: Is Salvation a free gift?? | | So Great Salvation!
Many people have a misconception of what this salvation saves us from. This salvation does not only save us from hell, but also from sin; not only from hell and sin, but also from the world and it ways and government; not only from hell, sin, and the world, but also from the flesh and it hold and lusts; not only from hell, sin, the world, and the flesh, but also the devil whom we have been serving by choice as a slave. Can't you see how great a salvation we have!
It is all free through faith in Jesus Christ!
It is a contradiction to say I want to be saved from hell but I dont mind being in bondage to the devil a little bit.
God does not save people in parts. He offers His salvation as a whole. When the coast guard saves someone drowning in the sea they dont save them in parts. They save the man as a whole!
_________________ Adam Fell
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| 2005/1/19 16:03 | Profile | Gideons Member
Joined: 2003/9/16 Posts: 474 Virginia
| Re: Free from the self life | | It's true that grace is free but it's certainly not cheap. It's going to cost us everything.
Jesus said (Matthew 6:24 NIV) No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
So I either choose God or some other "god."
I'm only saved through the blood of Jesus and that is something none of us can ever earn. But if I lay down everything to Him, then I'm free. Free to serve Jesus, free to love Him. Free to not have an agenda to lift up myself.
Free to do only what Jesus tells me to do and when He says to do it.
I'm not free to supplant him with some other "god" because His presence will be gone.
Here's some quotes from Bonhoeffer's classic on the Cost of Discipleship.
Let the Christian rest content with his worldliness and with this renunciation of any higher standard than the world. He is living for the sake of the world rather than for the sake of grace. Let him be comforted and rest assured in his possession of this grace - for grace alone does everything. Instead of following Christ, let the Christian enjoy the consolations of his grace!
That is what we mean by cheap grace, the grace which amounts to the justification of sin without the justification of the repentant sinner who departs from sin and from whom sins departs.
Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession.
Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must the asked for, the door at which a man must knock.
Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: ye were bought at a price, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us.
Costly grace is the Incarnation of God. _________________ Ed Pugh
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| 2005/1/19 16:42 | Profile | RobertW Member
Joined: 2004/2/12 Posts: 4636 St. Joseph, Missouri
| Re: | | Quote:
Many people have a misconception of what this salvation saves us from. This salvation does not only save us from hell, but also from sin; not only from hell and sin, but also from the world and it ways and government; not only from hell, sin, and the world, but also from the flesh and it hold and lusts; not only from hell, sin, the world, and the flesh, but also the devil whom we have been serving by choice as a slave. Can't you see how great a salvation we have!
It is all free through faith in Jesus Christ!
It is a contradiction to say I want to be saved from hell but I dont mind being in bondage to the devil a little bit.
This is a great quote. It places everything in a different perspective. From the perspective of a slave- being set free from a tryannical master at the expense of slavery to a benevolent one would certainly be a free gift. A person must be made to realize that they are slaves in bondage to the elements mentioned above. Sin is destructive and is killing them. The free gift of salvation is not just freedom from the penalty but the power of a deadly sin. This is a free gift of freedom from sin and all the destruction that ultimately comes with it. Sin is an enemy! That must be preached! No one would see salvation as a free gift that held their sin as something to be grasped. For those who love their sin and want to continue in it they might say: "You mean to get this free gift I am going to have to quit sinning? Answer; are you not tired of sin and all its bondage? Your free gift means that now you can be free from sin! Praise the Lord!
It's all in how you view sin ultimately. If a person loves their sin they will never see salvation from something they love as a gift. They will perceive freedom from sin as a sacrifice. Just don't change the Gospel to fit this equation. Keep preaching repentance. Keep preaching sin to be the minace that is is. Show it in all its true colors!
God Bless,
-Robert _________________ Robert Wurtz II
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| 2005/1/19 16:45 | Profile | philologos Member
Joined: 2003/7/18 Posts: 6566 Reading, UK
| Re: | | Forgiveness is free, because the price was paid by Another; Salvation, meaning now as well as then, costs us everything, all the time. _________________ Ron Bailey
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| 2005/1/19 17:58 | Profile |
| Re: | | Life with Christ is a life of freedom. TRUE FREEDOM. Not freedom to sin, but freedom from sin.
Christians aren't saved because they are holy, they are holy because they are saved. |
| 2005/1/20 10:52 | | ZekeO Member
Joined: 2004/7/4 Posts: 1014 Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
| Re: Eyes wide shut | | Suppose it wouldn't really matter if it was free or not to a normal person.
A cup of cold water to a person who lives in Alaska with all the cold water he wants certainly couldn't care less if it was free or not. But ah, a man in the Sahara, now he could appreciate that free gift.
Love, gratitude, thanks etc is the response of a truelly grateful man. If you have never seen your sin, you will never appreciate how precious it is that the gift is free. _________________ Zeke Oosthuis
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| 2005/1/20 11:07 | Profile |
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