Salvation is free, the gracious gift of God (Ro 6:23), entirely beyond our ability to earn or deserve. (Ep 2:8-9) Yet Christ tells us that unless we forsake all, everything we have, we cannot be His disciples. (Lk 14:33) How can eternal life be entirely free, no strings attached, and yet cost us absolutely everything?
Perhaps the answer lies in truly comprehending what we’re actually receiving, how unfathomably precious it is, how we receive it, and what we have to offer in return.
The free gift we are receiving is redemption from eternal death unto eternal life, where God graciously transforms from being His enemy into a new creature in the very image of Christ (Ro 8:29), rescuing us from being subject to God’s wrath and condemnation unto unconditional acceptance into the family of God. He welcomes us into an inheritance among the saints to dwell in intimate fellowship with God forever in Heaven, rather than burning forever in the Lake of Fire. Truly, this is an unspeakable gift. (2Co 9:15)
Thinking we might ever earn or deserve this incredible gift is absurd. What do we have that could possibly be worth eternal life? What could we ever give God in exchange for our souls? (Mk 8:36-37) Everything we possess, everything we might accomplish, every pleasure and treasure this world could ever offer us, is utterly insignificant compared to knowing God and enjoying Him forever. (Php 3:7-8) Even if we give up everything we have, it would be nothing compared to what we’re receiving. (2Co 4:17)
We cannot earn eternal life because we have nothing of sufficient value to offer. Even our righteousnesses are as filthy rags before Him (Is 64:6); our best efforts cannot satisfy the righteous demands of an infinitely holy God. (Ga 3:10) If we’re ever to be reconciled to Him, He must give us eternal life freely, entirely at His own expense. (Ro 3:24-26)
And this is precisely what He’s done in Jesus Christ. (2Co 5:19) God Himself has borne the punishment for our sins, satisfying His own justice, providing perfect righteousness to everyone who believes on Him. (Ro 4:5-8) We contribute nothing to this transaction but our desperate need. Salvation is entirely of the Lord. (Jon 2:9)
Yet there’s something profoundly important about how we receive this gift: we receive the gift of eternal life when we receive Jesus Christ as He truly is (Jn 1:12): Lord of all. (Ac 10:36) In other words, we cannot receive eternal life in Jesus Christ while we are rejecting Him as our Lord. (Mt 7:21)
Christ isn’t offering us merely an escape from eternal punishment, a pardon allowing us to continue living as we please: He’s offering us Himself, the eternal King of kings (Re 17:10), to reconcile us to God and transform us into His own likeness. (2Co 3:18) Receiving Him means receiving Him as He is, not as we might prefer Him to be.
We cannot accept His sacrifice while we’re rejecting His authority, any more than we can embrace His love while despising His holiness. (1Jn 2:3-4) The very nature of saving faith implies trusting Him completely, acknowledging that His ways are right, His judgments are true, and His commands are good. (Ps 119:128)
This is the essence of repentance: turning from our rebellion against God to embrace His rightful authority over every aspect of our lives. (Ac 3:26) There can be no reservations here, no private territory where we retain the right to disobey Him, no cherished sin we insist upon keeping. (Mt 10:37-39) If He is Lord at all, He is Lord of everything.
Yet this absolute surrender isn’t a payment for salvation. We aren’t purchasing eternal life by promising obedience, nor are we earning God’s favor by the extent of our devotion. That would be salvation by works, directly contrary to the Gospel. (Ro 11:6)
Rather, surrender is implicit in genuinely receiving Christ Himself. We aren’t negotiating terms with God, offering Him part of ourselves in exchange for something we want. We’re abandoning our claim to self-government, trusting Him to save us from both the penalty and the power of sin. (Ti 2:11-14)
And even this surrender isn’t something we can accomplish perfectly in our own strength. God must give us a new heart, writing His Laws into our minds and hearts (He 8:10), working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. (Php 2:13) This is the miracle of the new birth, the supernatural work of God in making us new creatures in Christ. (2Co 5:17)
This doesn’t imply immediate, sinless perfection. We grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord (2Pe 3:18), learning to obey Him more consistently and completely as He exposes and heals the remaining corruption within us. (1Jn 1:8-9) But the fundamental orientation of the heart has changed: we no longer insist upon our own way. We want His way, whatever it may cost us. (Ps 119:34-35)
There’s an infinite difference between struggling to obey the Lord we love and deliberately reserving the right to disobey Him. (1Jn 3:6-10) One is the struggle of a redeemed soul being sanctified; the other is the very rebellion from which Christ came to save us. (Mt 1:21)
So, salvation is free because we cannot possibly pay for it, and it costs everything because we cannot receive Christ without yielding ourselves entirely to Him. (Ro 12:1) These aren’t contradictory truths; they’re complementary aspects of the same glorious Gospel. (Mt 7:21)
And what are we really giving up? A brief, uncertain life in a fallen world, corrupted by sin and destined to perish, in exchange for eternal fellowship with the living God. (1Jn 2:17) We’re surrendering what we cannot keep to receive what we could never earn. (Mt 13:44-46)
The real tragedy isn’t that Christ demands everything of us, but that we might cling to anything at all rather than receive Him. (Jn 5:40)
Let us therefore examine ourselves (2Co 13:5), whether we’re truly believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting Him as our only hope of eternal life, and welcoming His authority over every aspect of our being. If we find ourselves unwilling to surrender anything to Him, we should seek Him earnestly until He changes our hearts, granting us repentance and faith. (2Ti 2:25)
For in giving ourselves entirely to Christ, we lose nothing of eternal value, and gain everything. (Php 3:8)
He is worthy of everything, and He gives us everything freely.