God has a Gift for You!

By Joe Keim

May 1, 2020

Eternal life is free!  It is a gift from God!  You cannot buy it! You cannot earn it!  It never stops giving!  It has no end!  It is forever!

Are you still searching for it?  Do you have it?  When did you receive it?

Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the GIFT of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Romans 3:24 says, “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

If a person wants to be saved, these verses tell him or her how to be saved.  Salvation is ALL the work of God, of God's grace and of God's grace alone. It is not of man, not to any degree whatsoever.

Titus 3:5 says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us…”

Salvation is a free gift of God. It is by grace alone that a person is saved. Man can do nothing whatsoever to save himself.  He cannot earn, win, or merit salvation.  All a person can do is accept the fact that God says He will save him and accept the free offer of salvation (Romans 11:6).

But before we go further, let’s stop and talk about what a gift is.  A gift, no matter how valuable, must be received from the giver, before it becomes theirs.  Thousands of people die every year, having known all about the gift of eternal life but have never personally reached out and received it.  Some hear about the gift so many times that they could travel around the world and tell others all about it, but just knowing about the gift is not going to make it theirs.  Each person must receive the free gift of eternal life personally, or they will die and spent an eternity in the lake of fire.

John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him [Jesus], to them gave He power [or the right] to become the sons [children] of God…”

In other words, as many as reached out and took Jesus, received Him into their life; to those God gave the right to belong to His family.

1 John 5:12 says, “He that hath the Son hath [eternal] life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not [eternal] life.”

To have Jesus living in your heart is to have eternal life; to have eternal life is to have Jesus.  You cannot have one without the other.  So, the question we must ask ourselves is, have I accepted, received, or taken Jesus and His eternal Life?

When you understand these things more clearly, then the rest of the New Testament makes more sense, too.  For instance, look at the following portions of God’s Word:                  

Romans 8:9-11 says, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

The Spirit dwells within the believer, putting the Spirit of Christ within him.  The word "dwell" is the picture of a home.  The Holy Spirit dwells within the believer: He makes His home, takes up residence, and lives within the believer just as we live in our homes.

1 Cor. 3:16 asks the question, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”

And again 1 Cor. 6:19 asks the question, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”

Jesus, right before he went away, told His disciples in John 14:16-17, “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

The world cannot receive the Holy Spirit. Note the word "cannot." It is impossible for the world to receive the Holy Spirit.  The world lives only for what it can see and know, only for what it can touch, feel, and taste, only for what it can follow and belong to.  And, don’t be fooled into thinking that only non-Amish are of the world.  Any person who is putting their trust in man-made religion and traditions of the forefathers for salvation is considered an unbeliever by Scripture - and of the world.  Eternal Life does not come through a certain church denomination, nor does it come through baptism.  It comes through Jesus Christ and Him alone!  That is why we can say with assurance and confidence, that if the Holy Spirit dwells inside you and He dwells inside me, we are brethren in Christ; we belong to the same family.  Being from different cultures, or belonging to different church denominations, or having different color skin, makes no difference (Rom 10:12).

Romans 6:23 says “… the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Anyone who has, at some point in the past, received Jesus Christ and made Him Lord of their life, also possesses eternal life today.  However, maybe you are reading this today and in all honesty, you cannot remember of a time when you reached out and received eternal life through Jesus Christ.  If that is the case, please read the next few verses very carefully and consider its powerful and everlasting truth.  Jesus spoke these words:

John 5:24-26 says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath [right now] everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the [spiritually] dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.  For as the Father hath [eternal] life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have [eternal] life in Himself;”

1 John 5:12 says, “He that hath the Son hath [eternal] life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not [eternal] life.”

The consequences of not having Jesus Christ dwelling in you will be devastating at Jesus’ return.  In the next portion of scripture, the Apostle Paul outlines very clearly what will happen to those who don’t know God and have not obeyed the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 Thessalonians 1:8-10 says, “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:  Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power; When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.”

Will you receive the GIFT of eternal life today?

Romans 10:8-13 says, “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

To those who already possess the GIFT of eternal life!

1 John 3:1-2 says, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons [children] of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

Oliver Greene makes an excellent statement on this verse.  He says, “What we shall be hereafter is not fully revealed, but we know that we are sons of God now and that we are predestined to be conformed to the image of His dear Son (Romans 8:29). We shall be like him.” What is involved in this tremendous declaration we do not fully know now, and even if God had seen fit to explain it to us, we would not be able to understand it with our poor, limited, finite minds! Why do I say that? The Scriptures tell us that after His resurrection, Jesus ascended to the Father and then returned to earth again—perhaps in a matter of seconds. He entered a room where all doors were closed and the windows were locked, and appeared in the midst of His disciples (John 20:19-28). He invited them, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have...and they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them (Luke 24:36-43).”   

— by Joe Keim      

 

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