Why is Eternal Life a Free Gift?

[other one]

8 hours ago, Your closest friendnt said:

Hello brother, O.O. when I buy something and paid for it, I have  in my possession something, someone else had before me.

Is it the same when we say "Jesus paid the price for the eternal life",

That he bought the eternal life from someone who had it before him.

And who was the seller, if Jesus is the buyer? 

Is this a just thought following the statment "Jesus paid the price for it".

Hope I don't burden you. 

Well I hadn't really thought of it as a commodity. But I guess you could look at it as though Adam and Eve had it, Satan deceive them into giving it up, and jesus paid the price for us to get it back. 

[Your closest friendnt]

29 minutes ago, other one said:

Well I hadn't really thought of it as a commodity. But I guess you could look at it as though Adam and Eve had it, Satan deceive them into giving it up, and jesus paid the price for us to get it back. 

It is interesting and yet confusing.

[enoob57]

eternal life is not a existence of being without end  but a quality of being in existence with God alone as God...

[other one]

1 hour ago, Your closest friendnt said:

It is interesting and yet confusing.

True, that is.

[Guest Thallasa]

On 2/10/2016 at 4:40 PM, Omegaman 3.0 said:

Well just a little.

I think we are all used to experiencing the exercise of our will. As nearly as we can tell, we are not coerced to think or act in certain ways.  However our free will does have some limitations. I might be able to make some decisions, like at a restaraunt, I might order a medium steak, instead of one well done. That kind of choice is open to me, and I have no reason the think that choice is not mine alone. Personally, I would not choose a raw steak.

On the other hand, if I was at a zoo and I placed a raw steak in front of a lion, and another in front of a zebra, the lion would likely eat the steak, but the zebra probably would not. Could they both choose to eat steak? Yes, they could. Why would I think the lion would, but the zebra would not?

The answer lies in their natures. By nature, the lion eats meat, by nature, the zebra avoids it. We also have nature. We have a sinful nature. That sin nature makes us slaves to sin, and slaves to not have totally free choice. 

Check here to see instances where our sinful nature is referred to.

Roman 6: 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Now, God also has a nature, He has a righteous nature. I might shock you to realize, that there are things that you and I can do, that God cannot do.

Example, Titus 1:2

1 Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, 3 but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior.

Everything does what it does, within it's own nature. That limits our real choices. I might like to choose to fly. It is not in my nature to fly. No matter how hard I flap my arms, not matte how much I desire to fly, I cannot do what is an easy thing for most birds, due to differences in our natures.

Read Romans 7. There you see a description of an inability to carry out what one wishes to do. Sin in us is so compelling. Our flesh, our nature, is at war with the spiritual side of us that would desire to please God.

In one verse of that chapter, Paul says:

  14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.

There again, we see that idea of slavery, not freedom. In verse 18 it says:

18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right,but not the ability to carry it out.

I think that is a  strong indicator, that our will is not as free, as some like to make it.

Thankfully, God gives a new nature, at the new birth. We still, in this life have the old nature, and will as long as we are stuck in these bodies, the body that Paul called the body of death in Roman 7:24:

24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

In other places, the Bible tells us that no one seeks God, no one does good, etc.

We are told that we are blind, deaf, have hard hearts, are dead in our sins, and are slaves to sin. Basically, because of these things, we will not seek God, we cannot see or hear Him, we have no real understanding, and we are not truly free. We are lost and in desperate need of a savior.

However, God, and God alone, can fix that. We are not drowning, gasping for air, seeking rescue. We are already dead, stuck in the mud at the bottom, and it is God who reaches down, and pulls us up to Him, and breathes life into us.

Then, we are no longer deaf, no longer blind, we can begin to understand the things of God, and hear His voice. Then, we are given a new heart, a heart of flesh, instead of stone. Then we are given freedom, and can resist sin (1 Cor 10:13) and we pursue a life of righteousness, as we are being conformed to the image of His Son. Then, we have crossed over, from death, to life.

Is that enough expansion to give you an idea of what I am talking about?

Like a stream of cool clear water , soothing in it's clarity and truthfulness ,  and I thank you for it ,

particularly at this moment , on this day of all days  .

[Omegaman 3.0]

8 hours ago, other one said:

Well I hadn't really thought of it as a commodity. But I guess you could look at it as though Adam and Eve had it, Satan deceive them into giving it up, and jesus paid the price for us to get it back. 

Things paid are not always for the purchase of an item. Fines are paid. Blackmail is paid. Taxes are paid. One term that the Bible uses of what Jesus is, is the word "ransom".

[Omegaman 3.0]

1 hour ago, Thallasa said:

Like a stream of cool clear water , soothing in it's clarity and truthfulness ,  and I thank you for it ,

particularly at this moment , on this day of all days  

You are more that welcome, may God bless you in your efforts to know Him better, and thank you for appreciating my efforts as well, it is a source of encouragement.

[other one]

38 minutes ago, Omegaman 3.0 said:

Things paid are not always for the purchase of an item. Fines are paid. Blackmail is paid. Taxes are paid. One term that the Bible uses of what Jesus is, is the word "ransom".

 

Ah,  I should have thought of that.....  My mind is on something else I think...

[FresnoJoe]

On 9/13/2015 at 11:15 PM, Ezra said:

But when we come to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are shocked to find that God literally offers us the gift of eternal life freely. So why is eternal life a free gift and not something to be earned with our own efforts at being righteous, moral and good?

Priceless~!

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 1 Peter 1:18-19

[Guest Thallasa]

On ‎10‎/‎02‎/‎2016 at 1:16 AM, thereselittleflower said:

I don't understand how you got "O.T. and Paul's teachings" are above the Gospels from what I said?

 

It was to an earlier post I think .