Free

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 6:23

Free – “Free” used to mean something special.  But modern life-style advertising has done a tremendous job of corrupting this word (along with a lot of others life “pure”, “safe” and “guaranteed”).  Now “free” is really a ploy for “it looks like you are going to get something without strings attached but we are really seducing you until we get your personal information.  Then we will do a “bait and switch” sell.”  Free just isn’t “free” anymore.

Yesterday I conversed electronically with a Christian friend in Poland.  He told me that one mission organization he supports offered a free book just for asking about their missionary effort.  After a month of advertising and hundreds of hits, only 40 people made the request.  No one believes that it is really free.  They think it is a scam in order to solicit funds.  Do you suppose that Satan applauds when we allow fundamental truths like “free” to be so corrupted that no one trusts the meaning?  How would we ever understand Paul’s claim in this verse if the word “free” really means “packaged like a gift but is really a bait and switch”.  Does the slogan “There’s no such thing as a free lunch” apply to God’s gift of grace?

The word in the Greek text is charisma.  It really means “gift” but it carries two important nuances.  The first is that this gift is offered without any strings attached by the giver.  The emphasis is on the one who does the giving.  God does not require anything from us in this offer.  You don’t even have to fill out an entry form.  The second nuance is that this gift is bountiful.  It is complete.  There is no “bait and switch”.  You don’t find out later that you need to have the other part to make the gift work.

But here’s the catch.  The gift is free for you but this gift was not free for God. The only reason that this is a free gift is because God already paid for it.  So, this is not an advertising give-away.  This is the most precious thing in the universe.  It was also the most expensive thing in the universe.  But you get it free because someone else purchased it in full.

There is a debt built in to our “free” salvation.  It is a debt we could not pay.  Let us never forget that God knows the real meaning of free – it cost Him His Son.