05/17/20 FREE? — Aren’t you tired of all the TV ads promising FREE products: “AND if you order right now, we’ll send you a second super duper whatyamacallit for FREE. Just Pay a Separate Fee!”?? Sometimes that “fee” seems like a lot to me. I thought “free” means you don’t have to pay anything. Dumb me, I guess!

Various forms of the word “free” occur in 56 verses in the NT, for example, John 8:32 (CSB) You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”; and John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. One Verse related to our salvation is Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Some Bible translations say “the free gift,” but that’s NOT entirely true; in the original Greek, the word “free” is absent! Romans 3:23-24 says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” God makes salvation available to every person, “freely” — He is under no obligation to give any of us this indescribably gift; nothing we’ve ever thought, said or done impresses Him to offer it.

And the cost of this gift is incalculable. Jesus offers to be our SAVIOR only as we surrender our lives to Him as our LORD. It cost God the life of His Only Son, Jesus; and it costs us our lives, as well. But the REWARDS are “OUT OF THIS WORLD!” I, for one, highly recommend to you that you gratefully accept God’s freely-given gift and the terms of His gracious “contract” TODAY!