Is Jesus's gift really free?

Question

It just always sounds like there are strings attached. First, you have to do what Jesus/the Bible says- even if you don't agree with it. That means I would have to give up some things in my life that I don't consider bad... to me, that definitely seems like some kind of price to pay. But maybe I have this wrong... maybe it really is free? It's a free gift but after I take the gift, I'm supposed to "go and sin no more." What if I still want to do some of these "sins?" Will my gift be taken back or taken away from me because I don't agree with everthing the Bible tells me I should be doing? Or am I now required to do everything the Bible says, even things I know will make me angry, miserable, or pissed off? Would I even be allowed to be angry about rules I didn't agree with? Please help... I'm not Christian, but this area of Christianity really confuses me! Also, perhaps this can help some Christians understand how non-Christians see this whole "gift" idea and why people don't take it.

El Zufelto>> Why do I make you mad? I ask an honest question. I'm not making fun of anyone or anything. I'm just trying to have a better understanding a religion different from my own that I do not always fully understand. If my interest, curiousity, or quest for knowledge makes you mad... then what are you doing on a site that promotes such things in the first place?

Answer 1

yes

Answer 2

Try being a Christian first and the rest of your questions will follow. There is no better education than to experience your life. Or if you are of another religion or no religion at all, why don't you try searching for more answers in your present belief. It could be best for you to find yourself from where you stand right now. If you truly think that you are in the wrong place, then take the road.
Wherever you go and whatever to you want make of yourself, I am sure there will be a lot of things that that will tell you to do or don't do. Actually nothing is free some gifts are just not so physically tangible.

Answer 3

No one can force anyone to accept Jesus Christ as their savior. And some of the things you are mentioning are why people have no desire to do so. You're absolutely right...a born again Christian will lose the desire to do things that are contrary to what God would have them do. That's why the bible calls a believer a "new creation". If you truly are sorry for your sins, you will not want to do them anymore. If you don't see what you do as "sin", or don't want to give them up....then you won't be saying yes to Jesus Christ. Because it's not just saying the words, it's repentance, which means, to turn from your sins.

The thing is, unless you come to that place in your life where you look at what you have done and say "I don't like this....I want God to handle my life from here on in!", you will feel pretty much the way you are describing, i.e., I want to do what I want to do.

I'm speaking from the perspective of being a person who lived life as she chose, and made a pretty good mess out of it. Now that I've been born again, studied the bible (and seen the wisdom of it)...my life is full of peace, joy, fulfillment and purpose. You have certain questions and concerns, and God has absolutely no problem with people who honestly are seeking answers. Why not start out reading the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Bring all your questions before God, see what happens?

Answer 4

The gift is free and will not be taken back.

Part of you will want to continue in sin because that is human nature. What the free gift will do is awaken the part of you that wants to do what is pleasing to God and it will fight against that sin nature. Becoming Christian doesn't stop you from sinning or wanting to sin. It allows you to understand that you are, by nature, a sinner but that you can be forgiven of those sins because of the grace Jesus extends to you. The more the new part of you successfully resists the sins you want to do, the more you will discover that you really didn't want to do them in the first place.

It is a difficult concept to place before non-Christians without making them think that it is supposed to be a magic pill that makes you happy, content, and trouble free for life. Christians have the same and sometimes more troubles than non-Christians. Sometimes we lose out to our sin nature and to the unsaved we look like hypocrites. The real grace of it, is we can ask forgiveness of our sins and the burden of guilt will be lifted from us.

Answer 5

The gift of salvation is free. In the sense that it did'nt cost you anything. You can pray to God and accept the forgiveness offered by the sacrifice of Jesus' life as a substitute fo your life. Jesus paid the price for your sin. So, it cost you nothing. If you are real about wanting God's forgiveness then He will change your desires. The things of this world will no longer appeal to you, but you will desire the things of your father in heaven. The bible says, you will know a tree by its fruit. And it is the same way with man. You will know a Christian by their actions. So, if you're life changes then you are really Christian and Christ has forgiven you and you will inherit eternal life in heaven as promised. But if you continue to live a life apart from God and apart from what he wants, then most likely you were not really sincere about wanting to change.
you said:Or am I now required to do everything the Bible says, even things I know will make me angry, miserable, or pissed off?

Well, you can't really do everything the Bible says. No one can, it's impossible. But Jesus said, if you love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself, you fulfill all the law. So, if you can follow 2 things, then that's all you are asked to do. Will he take the gift back? No. Never. That is a promise from him directly. He tells us that if you believe in Jesus, that he will give you the Holy Spirit to be with you as a deposit for heaven. So, the Holy Spirit will be with you in this life to help you, strenthen you, teach you, and even pray for you.

Well, people don't take the gift, because to some degree, a person does have to want to change. A person cannot continue living in sin. Light and darkness cannot both exist in the same space. So, if you are living in the light of God, then you need to separate yourself from the darkness of this world. Some people prefer the darkness because then they don't have to be responsible for the bad things they do. They don't have to stop cheating on taxes, or cheating on their spouse, or stop backstabbing at work, or going to strip clubs, or stealing, or looking at porn, being gay, or just living a life without God's presence or influence. But in reality, everyone will be held accountable, whether they believe or not. How could God be a fair God if he didn't send rapists, murderers, child molesters to hell? What about a man who rapes his daughters? Should he go to heaven? I don't think so.

I can tell, you have a lot of questions and I really think God is working in your life. There are some major things that you have gone through to get you to this point. You are almost there. Everything that has happened has led you to this point and the next decision you make. I will pray for you that you will choose Christ. God Bless

Answer 6

Ok, I'm a Christian and I will explain it to you the way I explained it to my sunday school class (16 and 17 yr olds) that I teach.
If I bought you a candy bar and told you it was for you and I want you to have it that's a free gift right? I already have it, it's here at my house, I've paid for it and I want you to have it. The problem is, I have no way of giving it to you. You have to come get it. Even if you don't come get it, it's still here sitting and waiting for you. If you don't come get it, I still bought it but it goes to waste.
That's the way I view Christ and his atonement. He has already paid for all of our sins whether or not we believe he has. We simply have to accept that.
Now, I'm not saying this to convince you. You are free to believe whatever you want to believe. Nor am I arrogant enough to tell you that if you can't accept that you are going to hell. I cannot tell you how God judges (because I don't know) so I cannot tell you where you will go after this life. However, that is the simplest way I can explain a christians belief in Christ sacrifice (or gift).

Answer 7

The thing is, when you walk with Christ, he begins showing you the ultimate valuelessness of these things you want to do but which hinder spiritual growth. You may not want to let go of them now, but if you are on a walk with Jesus, chances are you will eventually want to rid yourself of them, since they are essentially nothing.

What I'm saying here is that Jesus' spiritual gifts are way more awesome and valuable than any earthly pleasure. This is where a great leap of faith comes into play. People see the world in worldly terms, and so cannot conceive of any non-worldly gifts as being something they want. They can only see their immediate wants as being valuable. But Christ shows you what truly is valuable, and what is ultimately empty, what delivers a false promise of fulfillment and satisfaction.

Jesus' sacrifice was free, and he offers salvation freely. He says that when you accept his gift, that you are yoked to him, and that his yoke is easy to bear. But this doesn't discount the fact that there is, indeed, a yoke. So, to directly answer your question, yes, Jesus's presence in your life does "require" certain changes and sacrifices. Yet the gifts he gives you when you give up the stupid crap that you're selfishly seeking for your own petty fulfillment are vastly more awesome than any temporary satisfaction you would get from "doing what you want to do."

Jesus shows you that your wants are often controlled by his enemy--that you are enslaved to yet a different spiritual power, the spinner of lies. This is the devil. You begin to see how easily you were played by God's enemy, and you become embarrassed and repentant.

Jesus's presence in your life causes you to stretch and grow in ways that are unimaginable to you right now. They are hard to imagine because they are invisible. Jesus nourishes your soul, whereas all of the other crap just temporarily fulfills your petty emotions and bodily wants. You will be given the great gift of seeing through and beyond this ridiculous stuff, if you walk with Christ.

Last, there are few rules in the Bible. The law--as Jesus said--is a dead thing. He is the Life. He brings the law to life. This means that he plants the living word in your heart and causes it to grow and expand. You won't be following rules if you give your life to Christ. You will be following Christ. There is a gigantic difference. And you will find that the only thing of value and meaning is to follow Christ...and you will feel pity for those who look at Christianity in such a dead, sad, pathetic way--as a set of rules and as a denier of self-fulfillment. All of this is bunk.

But you'll never get to know this unless you give your life back to God, to whom it belongs.

Answer 8

lol, shoutingchimp. :) hilarious.

To answer your question, first we need to establish what exactly is the gift you're referring to. I'm assuming you mean the gift of eternal life.

The verse that comes to mind is John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life".

So, basically it's saying to receive this gift, all you have to do is believe in him.

Okay, sounds simple enough. But so many different religions have different interpretations of what 'believing' in Jesus/God means. The obvious explanation is that it just means that you believe that he exists. Most christian religions believe that Jesus is God, so to believe in him would be also to believe that he is God. (some 'christian' religions believe that Jesus is actually the son of god, and a seperate entity and that god is Jehovah)

But is that what churches really are teaching, that all you have to do is believe that he exists, and you will receive this gift of eternal life? Not quite. Because they say that even the demons believe in Jesus, but they are not receiving this 'gift'. (James 2:19)

They take this a step further and say that this requires that you earnestly follow his every word and order your life after him. Hebrews 11:6 talks about diligently seeking him. So, what does that involve?

Now that is the ultimate question, because every church has their own answer for that. It could mean a lot of prayer, preaching to others, reading the bible a lot, donating to the church, helping others in need, changing your views on sexuality or sin, quitting smoking, drinking, and fornicating, quitting associating too much with 'unbelievers'...and the list goes on.

Some people say that you can live a sinful life and then on your deathbed, renounce your former ways and get saved, and then you get to go to heaven.

Personally I think that this 'gift' comes with a lot of strings attached and also that a truly loving god would not have allowed there to be so much confusion about his plans, or what he requires or whether his 'gift' is free.

It seems like this idea of a free gift of eternal life is mainly used by religion to hold people in fear of death, and/or hell but also it attracts many bc they think that just believing in Jesus/God will make them an acceptable person, whether they live a decent live or not.

I think you can live a wonderful life without even worrying about this question at all. You can be a good person, help others, be tolerant, unjudgemental, investigate and learn, and you don't need to go to a church or believe in Jesus to know that being a good person is beneficial to yourself and others around you.

If you do believe in Jesus and are religious, then you can make your own choice about what you are willing to do to 'earn' this 'free' gift. Whatever makes you happy, and doesn't harm others, I say, go for it. :)

Answer 9

Salvation IS free, but there is a price to pay to continue walking with the Lord. This is not an easy thing to explain without taking up pages of space (I WILL spare you, however, as much as possible).

If you ever came to the place where the Lord opened your eyes to the reality of Jesus and His kingdom, you would see that it's not about rules, regulations, or rituals, but it's about being reconciled to a God that wants to have an ongoing, personal relationship with everyone who will accept His gracious gift of salvation through Jesus. It's having a fire burn in your heart as you read the scriptures because He has made them come to life and you can SEE that they're true. It's the awe of how He reveals Himself to you through His word and the joy of having Him answer a prayer that stirs love for Him. It's about a God who forgives us when we ask Him to and helps us out of the sin that so easily entangles us when we fall into it.

Yes, the Lord has requirements, but there is nothing that He asks us to do that He is not willing to help us accomplish, and He doesn't ask us do to everything at once. Walking with God is about allowing Him to guide and direct you and change your life as He sees is best for you, not according to what you think you should do. Sometimes the burden we put on outselves is far greater than anything the Lord could ask. The bible is a guideline that should be obeyed, but He does not expect us to master it as you would the rules to a game. He weaves it into our lives graciously and with love and care, not with a hammer of rigidity.

As far as giving things up is concerned...God will show you what and when. This doesn't mean God is going to require you to give up everything right now! As you walk with Him He will show the the things that are harming you or someone else and ask you to give those up. The Lord simply asks us to be willing and obedient...it's not scarey like it sounds!

If you still want to hang onto your sins, then you are probably not ready to commit you life to Jesus, but it does sound like the Lord is trying to draw you to Himself or you wouldn't be stuggling with these things. You just wouldn't care. Know that it is impossible to understand anything about the Lord when you are standing outside of His Kingdom trying to look in. The day you give yourself to Him in sincerety is the day you will start the greatest adventure of your life, and come to know a God you can love with all your heart.

Answer 10

you must observe the 10 commandments. And the law of god is against fornication,murder,lust, etc. Study them and try to live your life according to their guidlines> YET< that isn't enough to save you, you must also accept Jesus as lord and savior> There are many "sinful" things that we enjoy, but the truth is that we will have to pay for all our sins before we can enter heaven> Christian life is a life that tries to uphold god's rules even though it is hard. But, IN THE END, God will reward the faithful beyond our wildest imaginations!! peace.

Answer 11

First of all the bible was written by man. In the bible it tells you you have to follow God's teachings and words. The only ones you "have" to follow are the 10 commandments. And God knows noone is perfect so if you ask for forgiveness and mean it right before you die all is well.