The Gift

            There is a story that has gone around for a while:  A fifteen year old boy talked to his father about getting a car for his sixteenth birthday.  His father said that he would give him a car for his birthday, but with three conditions.  First, he had to improve his grades, second, he had to get a job after school, and third, he had to get his haircut.  Some time passed, and, the day before his birthday, this young man talked to his father, and bragged about his grades, which had improved, and about his job, and told his father that he was looking forward to his new car.  His father reminded him that he was also supposed to get a haircut.  “Dad, I was thinking about that, and I noticed that Jesus had long hair.”  His father replied, “I was thinking about that, too, and did you notice that Jesus walked everywhere He went?”

            Most of us are accustomed to our parents giving us things with conditions.  Sometimes it’s necessary.  Before parents give children something that has the potential to cause damage or destruction, they want to be sure that they have the maturity and responsibility that at least there is a reasonable chance that those things won’t happen.  It’s understandable, also, that parents, after giving something to one of their children, will not hesitate to confiscate that gift if it becomes clear that the child is not ready to use that gift responsibly.  Now, granted, sometimes parents do such things simply as a way to control their children.  Flesh-and-blood parents are sometimes controlling and/or overprotective; nobody’s perfect, except for the Lord.  In general, though, parents set conditions on such things out of a legitimate concern for the safety and well-being of their off-spring.

            If we accept the fact that our natural parents sometimes give us things with conditions, is it really surprising that our Heavenly Father would do the same?  Some would have you to believe that the free gift that Apostle Paul talks about in Romans 5 has no conditions; that it wouldn’t be a free gift if there were strings attached.  Well, Jesus listed a number of things that He said one had to do in order to be saved.  Unless Paul was talking about some other gift other than salvation, then that gift does come with some conditions (or maybe you don’t believe Jesus’ words).  In Matthew 10:22 and 24:13, Jesus said that one had to endure to the end to be saved.  Endure what? Well, he was talking about persecution, and the temptation to leave the faith.  There are some that would have you believe that you can’t leave the faith, but that would make Jesus’ words pretty foolish—why would He warn us against a situation that could never really happen?  In Mark 8:35 and Luke 9:24, Jesus said that if you saved your own life, then you would lose it, but if you lost your life for His sake (Mark 8:35 also says the Gospel’s), then you would save it.  I think that makes it clear that we should at least be prepared to surrender our lives for Jesus; I would like to think that most of us will never actually have to do that, but we should have our minds made up that we will, if the need arises.  In Luke 13:23-24, Jesus said that, to be saved, you must enter in at the strait gate (strait meaning narrow).  There are several places prior to the crucifixion that Jesus told people that their faith had saved them (Luke 7:50, Luke 18:42) but, after the crucifixion, He said that one had to believe and be baptized to be saved (Mark 16:16). 

In Mark 10, Jesus was approached by a man that is commonly referred to as The Rich Young Ruler, who asked what he must do to inherit eternal life.  Jesus reminded him of the commandments (He didn’t mention having only one God, I assume that was understood), which he affirmed he had kept from his youth.  Then Jesus told him that he lacked one thing: that he should sell all he had and give to the poor, and follow Jesus.   Now, I want to make it clear that Jesus never told anyone else to sell everything; I don’t believe that every Christian has to do that.  This man, however, was of a state of mind that Jesus knew that he wouldn’t be able to maintain his possessions and his walk with God.  After this man walked away, sorrowful, Jesus went on to tell his disciples that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.  Now, if all a rich man has to do is to believe in his heart and confess with his mouth, then why is that so difficult?  Of course, if anyone truly believes in their heart to the point of making a sincere confession with their mouth, then that person will seek to do the things which Jesus requires.  If you truly believe that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, then you are going to follow His commandments, because faith without works is dead.

If you stop to think about it, if the gift of salvation had no conditions, then what would be the point of even making a profession of faith?  If there are no conditions, then everyone is going to Heaven, whether they believe or not.  After all, Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, didn’t he?  It’s not God’s will that any should perish, right?  And yet, Jesus tells us that many are called, but few are chosen.  In other words, God would like to save everyone in the whole world, but most people are going to be too stubborn to accept His conditions.  I would also like to point out that the passage in Romans that I mentioned earlier ends by saying, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”  Of course, none of us could ever be righteous enough by our own strength or ability, but Jesus has given us a formula to obtain righteousness in Matthew 3.