Free salvation through Jesus. It’s a free gift, right? And all I have to do is believe. So then, how can it cost nothing but ask for everything?
Today we’re going to look at something we talk about as being free. Salvation through the Death of Jesus on the Cross. It’s a gift from God.
When I asked DALL-E 3 to make me a watercolor image of a man, appearing to be God, holding out a gift, the adjacent image is one of the things it came up with for me.
It’s a gift box. We don’t really know for sure what’s in it until we open it. We think we know what’s in it.
But do we? And, more importantly, if we don’t really know, is that God’s fault?
Or maybe it’s ours?
Ouch on that last one. And yet, I’ve come to believe it’s true. We really don’t know. Not at first. I certainly didn’t when I first decided to follow Jesus. I looked to Him to take care of me. But then, how much does an 8-year-old really understand about that?
Summary
The page discusses the idea of salvation in Christianity, described as a free gift from God that paradoxically requires everything from the believer.
Gift Box Metaphor: Uses a gift box metaphor to express the uncertainty and implications of accepting salvation, reflecting on the author’s personal journey with faith.
Salvation vs. Discipleship: Distinguishes between the free aspect of salvation and the cost of discipleship, suggesting that the latter involves a significant personal commitment’
Biblical References: Examines how often salvation is referred to as a gift in the Bible, particularly focusing on Jesus’ words and the Greek term used for ‘gift.
Encourages readers to reflect on their commitment to practicing their faith and to consider the role of such practice in their daily lives.
I wrote the first version of this about 7 1/2 years ago, in June of 2016. I would soon find out what it meant. Both the cost and what I got were so much bigger and better than I could’ve ever imagined.
So now, here I am, after learning the answer to the title question, updating this. Of course, your answer isn’t likely to match mine. We’re not robots coming off an assembly line all made to do the exact same things in the exact same ways. Just as our lives are unique, what’s in the box is also unique. Except for one thing. Salvation. But everything else is different. I expect that’s going to include the next life, since we’re also not going to be a bunch of angels singing praise songs for the rest of eternity.
But whatever it is, God promised us something that’s more than worth whatever happens here in this life.
So with that in mind, let’s get moving on the update. Unless it turns out to be more of a rewrite.
There is one thing I want to add right away. It has to do with the idea that salvation is a gift from God. Do you know how many times salvation is referred to as a gift by Jesus? In the 1984 NIV, it’s one time. Once. Do you know where that reference happened?
I didn’t remember. Not the number of times or the location(s). I was surprised to find it was only once.
If we stick with the NIV, we’ll only find the English word used a few more times. If we switch to something like the ESV, we’ll find more references, but still only the one from Jesus. Why is that? The Greek word actually appears 14 times in 13 verses. Many have nothing to do with salvation, but are about actual gifts from people.
It’s kind of surprising that the concept of salvation as a gift is so common given that it appears so few times. Is it, maybe, because we like to attach the word free with the word gift?
Anyway, no more suspense. Here’s the one time Jesus referred to salvation, not as a free gift, but as a gift from God.
Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman
Surprised?
Jn 4:1 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
Jn 4:4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
Jn 4:7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
Jn 4:9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. )
Jn 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
Jn 4:11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”
Jn 4:13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Jn 4:15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Jn 4:16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
Jn 4:17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
Jn 4:19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
Jn 4:21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
Jn 4:25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Jn 4:26 Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”
There it was, in verse 10.
Jn 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
Here’s more on the appearance of the word we read as “gift”, as it relates to the gift of salvation from God. But again, is it free salvation?
10. Ignoring the woman’s comment about Jews and Samaritans and cutting straight to the chase, Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’ Jesus drew the woman’s attention to two important matters—who he was and the gift of God that he was able to give. These two things form the major themes of the conversation that ensues: ‘the gift of God’ in 4:10–15, and ‘who it is that asks you for a drink’ in 4:16–26.
The gift of God that Jesus offers is living water, and this was the initial topic of their conversation. The word gift (dōrea) is found only here in the Gospels, but it is used four times in Acts, always in reference to the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38; 8:20; 10:45; 11:17). In the Old Testament God is described as the source of ‘living water’ (Jer. 2:13; 17:13), as also is the Holy Spirit (Isa. 44:3). The Samaritan woman would not have picked up these allusions even if she knew the Samaritan Bible because it contained only the Pentateuch (Genesis–Deuteronomy), but Jesus’ mind was soaked in the whole Old Testament.
The living water of which he spoke is the gift of the Holy Spirit. He spoke to Nicodemus about being born of the Spirit; to the woman of Samaria he spoke of drinking the living water of the Spirit; and during the Festival of Tabernacles he invited the crowds in Jerusalem to come to him and drink, referring again to the gift of the Spirit (7:37–39). 1Kruse, C. G. (2017). John: An Introduction and Commentary (E. J. Schnabel, Ed.; Second edition, Vol. 4, p. 144). Inter-Varsity Press.
From that, we can see the importance of reading, knowing, and understanding the Old Testament. We’re more like the Samaritan woman than we are like the Jews who heard Jesus. But we generally have even less Old Testament knowledge than she did, since she was Samaritan and only knew about the first five books from it. It’s very possible we knew of salvation as a gift because of the other references mentioned above, rather than from this conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman.
Here’s a question though. Did Jesus ever say, in this conversation, that the gift was free? Or do we assume it’s free because that’s how we view gifts today?
Hold onto that thought. Or keep thinking about it as we proceed. Let’s revisit the original with additions and modifications.
Free salvation – How can it cost nothing but ask for everything?
“After some silence, Joshua asked, “How can it cost me nothing but ask me for everything?”
Actually – “it” is better than it sounds.
It’s more like something that will cost nothing,
ask for everything,
and yet we still end up with not only more than we ever had
– but more than we could ever imagine.
“Oh, well,” Dr. Abdu answered, “a desperate man may have nothing in his pocket … or in his soul. Both are empty. Hollow. So he is willing to accept what is freely offered to him. But even a desperate man like you, Joshua, beaten, bloody, imprisoned —even a desperate man has something he has yet to give.”
Plus, a desperate man is more likely to realize that he is in darkness, and therefore truly want to go into the light.
The excerpts above are from “Thunder of Heaven: A Joshua Jordan Novel (The End Series Book 2)” by Tim LaHaye, Craig Parshall. It’s along the lines of “The Left Behind” series that Tim LaHaye did with Jerry Jenkins. I have to say though – so far this one is more believable in terms of how events could happen. Maybe that’s an advantage of having several more years of history taking place.
Let’s look at each part of what was said above
Costs nothing
At a bare minimum, all that’s required is this –
Jesus the Bread of Life
Jn 6:25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
Jn 6:26 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
Jn 6:28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
Jn 6:29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
…
OK – believing – in and of itself costs nothing.
At least many people think it costs nothing. That isn’t free salvation. After all, it’s only believing something. Even the well-known John 3:16 says that. Doesn’t it? Let’s check.
Jn 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Actually, no, it doesn’t say it costs nothing. If we think “believe” means nothing more than accepting in our heads that something’s true, then we don’t understand what believe meant in the Bible.
Are we supposed to Believe God, Believe in God or Follow God?
Are we supposed to Believe God, Believe in God or Follow God? Are those three sets of words all different? Or do they all mean the same thing? Well, it depends. When were you born? What culture do you live in / come from? Most important, are you willing to learn what they meant when they were said? In some cases, that’s almost two thousand years ago. In others, several thousand years ago. We need to look at what they meant when they were said, in order to understand what they mean today.
Honestly though, I’m not sure why we think that. Consider this example. We want to buy a car. We read that it costs $30K at both the ABC dealership and the XYZ dealership. Would we examine the details to be sure we understood exactly what we were to buy? Or would we just go to ABC because it’s the first one we read, or because it’s closer? Or would we examine the details and find out that XYZ had more options, like a much longer warranty and a sports package? And if we did choose ABC, is it XYZ’s fault that we didn’t check things out?
Better yet, if we read the offer from XYZ, we’d know that they offer an upgraded sound package if we tell them we read about it in the details of their ad. In other words, we get even more if we take the time to check them out and understand the offer.
In the same manner, if we read the Bible but don’t take the time to understand it, is it God’s fault that we don’t understand? No, because the overall context of the Bible tells us something about the word believe. But we didn’t take the time to understand it. Then we’d also know that believing in Jesus means acting on that belief.
Believing – in and of itself – is the bare minimum, and results in the bare minimum.
However – look at what that “bare minimum” is –
On Divisions in the Church
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1Co 3:10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
…
So we see the bare minimum to be received if we truly believe in Jesus – the one he has sent – is that everything we did in this life counted for nothing, but we are still saved. In other words, we believed but didn’t act on those beliefs.
Personally, I still have trouble with this idea. I always wonder, if we truly believed, would we really not make any changes in our life? Don’t get me wrong. Being saved is a great thing. And if we do nothing other than be saved, that’s awesome. I just tend to think this isn’t the normal/preferred scenario.
Remember what James wrote about faith with no subsequent actions.
Faith and Deeds
Jas 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Jas 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
Jas 2:20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless ? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
Jas 2:25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Obviously, what Paul wrote does happen. I can see it for someone who comes to believe just before they pass away or if they live someplace where showing their faith may lead to death.
On the other hand, maybe this is why Christianity has dwindling numbers in more advanced countries and it grows the most in countries where people are generally poor and oppressed. The first group doesn’t understand the need for Jesus. But the second group desperately wants Him.
Asks for everything
If it’s free salvation, how can it ask for everything?
C. S. Lewis has an excellent summary of what Jesus asks for – after we get to the point of believing in Him. It’s from his book, Mere Christianity.
“Give me all of you!!! I don’t want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work. I want YOU!!! ALL OF YOU!! I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man or woman, but to KILL IT! No half measures will do. I don’t want to only prune a branch here and a branch there; rather I want the whole tree out! Hand it over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them ALL over to me, give yourself to me …”
Jesus gives us a plain statement about what He wants – when He was talking to the Jewish leaders –
The Greatest Commandment – Matthew
22:34-40 pp — Mk 12:28-31
Mt 22:34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Mt 22:37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
All of our heart – all of our soul – all of our mind. And then treating everyone else like we’d like to be treated. That’s a lot. It’s, well, everything.
Just in case you’re thinking that maybe He left something out – see this when He was talking to his disciples –
Jesus Predicts His Death
…
Mt 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”
…
Think about this: he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. While some people have died because of their faith, that’s not necessarily what this means.
Remember the concept of dying to self. Giving up our own desires and following God’s will. Trying to live the life to the full that Jesus promised us. That’s being transformed into the image of Christ. The more we do that, the more we approach that full life. The more we experience God’s presence, peace, joy, and everything else Jesus promised would come with the Holy Spirit.
So if you’re thinking you can live in both worlds, do what He wants and still have something left for what you want, even though you know He doesn’t want that, think again. Use the mind He gave you. The one He said He wants you to give all of it to Him. There isn’t anything else that you have to give. ‘Cause He really does want everything – all of you.
Of course, we won’t do that. And as I said, the more we give ourselves to God, the more we’ll have that survives the fire. And the more we’ll enjoy being part of God’s Kingdom, even in this life. Therefore, on the flip side, the more we refuse to be transformed, the less of those things we’ll have in this life and the less we’ll have that survives the fire.
Getting more than we had to start with
So, we give up everything. Do we really get more than we started with?
Sure. For the one who “merely” believed they clearly get more.
At this point though, I have to ask a question. Think about this as you continue to read. If we really truly believe, are we also really truly able to stop at that point and give nothing else at all? Or did you just succeed in convincing yourself that you believe, but really don’t?
There are many places where the Bible talks about “fruit” as an analogy for the good things we do after we believe. The good things we do as part of giving Jesus our lives. The things that make it evident that we have gone beyond the bare minimum of “just” believing and giving nothing. Here’s one that puts it very succinctly.
A Tree and Its Fruit – Luke
Lk 6:43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”
So if you’re thinking that you really do believe, but plan on giving Jesus nothing at all of what He has asked for, think about these verses and ask yourself whether or not you truly believe in Jesus.
Continuing with the question of do we get more than we had to start with – consider this parable from Jesus –
Repent or Perish
The Parable of the Fruitless Fig Tree – repent or perish. When you read it, the concept of the tree without fruit and the warning of repent or perish makes sense. Well, it should make sense to Christians.
However, I believe there’s more to it than we might think. It sounds fruitless-fig-tree focused. But what if we look at a larger view? Look at a context beyond just the one passage.
Lk 13:1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
Lk 13:6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
Lk 13:8 “ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ ”
Before we are believers we’re like the tree that bears no fruit. God gives us more time. He will also give us opportunities, just like fertilizing the tree. However, if we continue to bear no fruit, at the end of our lives, we’re like the tree that gets cut down.
For the tree, it’s the difference between being allowed to continue to grow and provide fruit and being chopped down.
For us, it’s the difference between Heaven and Hell.
So do we have more than we had to start with?
Absolutely. We started with no belief – no fruit – and a destiny of Hell. When we truly believe, we have a destiny of Heaven.
Certainly that’s an upgrade from what we started with!
More than we could ever imagine
To continue with the C. S. Lewis quote above – this is how he finishes that thought –
Turn them ALL over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self—in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart, shall become your heart.”
If we think we can imagine what this would be like – we’ve put God in a box. A very small box. What we get is so much more.
Consider this from David:
Psalm 139 – Search me, God
…
Ps 139:17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Ps 139:18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you
…
Something greater than the number of grains of sand in the world. That’s certainly greater than we can imagine.
If you want more – consider the infinite creation of God.
Imagine as far out in the universe as you possibly can.
Now realize that the distance you’ve just imagined is literally “nothing” compared to how far it really is to the end of his creation.
Because there is no end!
Being a part of that is way more than we are capable of imagining.
What about desperation?
Remember this from above:
Plus, a desperate man is more likely to realize that he is in darkness, and therefore truly want to go into the light.
Someone who literally has nothing is way more likely to follow Jesus than someone who has a lot. Why? Because he really has nothing to lose. That person knows they’re in trouble and need help.
For those of us who aren’t in a “desperate” situation, we’re just not as likely to realize that we need help. We’re more likely to think that we’re OK.
Jesus pointed this out as well in a conversation just after He called Matthew to follow Him.
The Calling of Levi – Mark
2:14-17 pp — Mt 9:9-13; Lk 5:27-32
Mk 2:13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
Mk 2:15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
Mk 2:17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Whether we realize it or not, we all need Jesus. So many just don’t realize/believe it.
He wasn’t saying that there are healthy/righteous people. This is made clear in his conversation with the rich young ruler.
The Rich Young Man – Mark
10:17-31 pp — Mt 19:16-30; Lk 18:18-30
Mk 10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Mk 10:18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’’”
Mk 10:20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
Mk 10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Mk 10:22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Mk 10:23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
Mk 10:24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Mk 10:26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
Mk 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Mk 10:28 Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!”
Mk 10:29 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Notice:
Mk 10:18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.”
So Jesus was talking about not those who really are sick – that would be all of us. Rather, He spoke about those who recognize that they are sick. Those who recognize they are sinners and need help. Those who believe in Him.
Hint to those who think life is great and you don’t need Jesus – think again. Use the mind He gave you to realize that you do need Him.
One huge problem, especially for those of us who are so much better off than people in truly depsperate situations like war, extreme poverty, and situations like that, it can be hard to fathom the idea that we’re amng “the sick” who need help.
The Shepherd and His Flock
Jn 10:7 Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Can it be more clear?
We have a choice to make – follow the thief – or follow Jesus.
One comes to kill and destroy.
The other comes that we have life to the full.
BTW – you are making a choice – even if you think you aren’t. Failure to make a choice is actually choosing to not follow Jesus – which means you will belong to the thief.
The real question then –
This was the original conclusion. It includes events from back then.
Are you up to living life to the full?
I’ve mentioned before about one of our dogs – Dewey – who has cancer.
You may remember the Bud Light commercial from a few years ago – “Are you up for whatever happens?”
Dewey – I call him our Bud Light dog. He is truly up for whatever happens.
He had a chemo treatment yesterday,
Today – he’s feeling pretty lethargic. Probably feeling some nausea as well.
By the weekend – he’ll probably be back to “normal”.
One time, he actually went so long without eating or drinking that he had to go in for two days of IV fluids and nutrients.
What we would call a bad time.
But you know what?
When he got to the hospital hungry and dehydrated – he was pulling on the leash – wanting to get in faster than I was going.
And when it’s time to go to the cancer center – he’s the same way – pulling on the leash because he wanted to get in there.
This was after a couple months of chemo. After a couple months of being poked, prodded, given shots, feeling bad after each treatment.
But he still wanted to get into both places – as fast as he could get there.
He was – and continues to be – up for whatever happens.
He knows that my wife and I love him.
He knows that the doctors, technicians, and the rest of the staff at both places love him.
And he can’t wait to get as much of that love as he can.
If you don’t have a dog – this isn’t normal Not even close.
So many dogs go in – and have to be carried or pulled. They sit there shaking in fear. They want to be anywhere but where they are.
All three of our dogs love to go to the vet. The previous two we had were the same – even though one of them suffered for years with pancreatitis and went through a lot of tests and treatment because of it.
They all live in the “light” that we give them. And since they live in that “light” – they attract the people in the vets offices to them. And they get more “light”. And they give “light” – people notice and tell me about it.
Dewey has what it takes to live like that. As unpleasant as parts of his life are – He obviously lives for the good times. He totally enjoys them. And apparently chooses not to remember the bad times – or else knows that the good ones are totally worth whatever it takes to get them.
But what about us?
Can we do the same?
Are we really prepared to give Jesus everything – knowing that some of what happens will be unpleasant – but the rest of what happens will be so worth whatever we have to give or go through?
Or are we scared?
Jesus addressed this as well –
Jn 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
And so the one question remains.
And the choice remains.
Are you afraid?
OR
Are you up for whatever happens when you truly believe and walk in the Light of Jesus?
Conclusion – Free salvation – How can it cost nothing but ask for everything?
This this is the new conclusion. The comparisons between the original conclusion and this one are either eerie or God at work. Which of them you think it is says something.
Think about what happened with Dewey in the original conclusion. He had cancer. Loved going to treatment. Loved life.
For me, four years ago I was diagnosed with cancer. Two years before that, I was very ill for 2 months with a staph infection, including a week in the hospital where, as my doctor put it, I “beat the reaper”.
The two months with the staph infection were the most peaceful time of my life. The week in the hospital, especially the dream with the conversation with God, was the most peaceful and impactful.
Those two months also prepared me for my own cancer. It’s not like I went through four years with absolutely no worries, it was so much easier to really, as we say, turn it over to God and put myself in His hands.
For instance, when I was googling prostate cancer, the second thing that showed up was a book by John Piper titled Don’t Waste Your Cancer. That just had to be God telling me what He wanted me to do with my cancer. And so I wrote my own “Don’t waste your cancer”.
It’s been four years now. I finished my radiation treatments six months ago. In a week, I’ll have my first post-treatment test to get a first look at how it went.
As you know, cancer is pretty much a rest-of-your-life thing. Surgery didn’t remove all the cancer cells. So now there’s always a question of whether or not it’ll return. If it does, it is aggressive. If it does, the Don’t waste your cancer series will take another turn.
But no matter what, yes, those things changed what I expected my life to be like. But, if you read the piece on the staph infection, that’s totally up to God. As much as I’m able to do it, my life is His. Truthfully, it feels harder with the trivial things than it is with cancer. Still some of that “I can handle myself God” kind of thinking.
But here’s the thing. Yes, as a result of everything I’ve come to understand about what Jesus asks of us, my life has definitely changed. Lots of things I thought I’d be doing now, I’m not doing. But I don’t really them. Why not? Because this life is pretty awesome.
Did it cost me something? If you told me seven years ago what it was going to cost, I’d have said yes. It was going to cost a lot. But now? Now, it didn’t really cost anything. And I have so much more than I would’ve had.
If you told me seven years ago that I was going to have a staph infection nearly kill me, and I was going to have prostate cancer, unsuccessful surgery to remove the cancer, and then 8 weeks of radiation, followed by a lifetime of wandering if/when it was going to return, I would have been scared half to death. Maybe more than half. For sure I’d be totally depressed.
So I’m glad I didn’t know. But now, I wouldn’t change any of it. It’s totally worth it.
There’s more to consider with this concept of How can it cost nothing but ask for everything?
However, this is already pretty long, so there will be more. The next part will get into why the idea that salvation is a “free gift”. There are cultural issues with that idea. The way we look at “free gift” today isn’t the same as it was in Biblical times.
I’ll put a link in here when it’s done. Or, you can subscribe to the site and get an email when something new is published.
Image by Bing Chat with Gpt4 / DALL-E 3
Footnotes
- 1Kruse, C. G. (2017). John: An Introduction and Commentary (E. J. Schnabel, Ed.; Second edition, Vol. 4, p. 144). Inter-Varsity Press.