The Price is Right

Modern thought is that things come easy if not free.  As a hard-working man who never got things for free, my pet peeve is the existence of self-indulgent people who seek free things. Why so? "Free things" are not free. Everything costs, and costs have their price. When a "free thing" is obtained, it's because someone paid the price.

At Christmastime, as anytime, I love to be charitable. It gives me joy to help some needy person whether I know them or not! Their color, belief, or social status has no bearing on my charity. I like to give to wealthy people as well as those in poverty. Of course, the gifts are different; the former it is support or acknowledgement, but to the latter it may be monetary. I have a single criteria: that the person to whom I give does not expect a gift. Expectation comes with the thought, I deserve this! There is only one thing on earth that everyone deserves:

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 6:23 For the wages of sin is death...

Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

If you miss the point, since all are sinners, everyone - even you, deserves death! You see, this is what Scripture is all about: we all deserve to die and because we have a way out, God has grace upon us. Grace is receiving something which we don't deserve.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God...

Let's reword this: even though you deserve death, because you trust Jesus, and not yourself,  God's gift to you is eternal life. Being born again, is when this is recognized, which is the sinner comes to enlightenment. 

John 3:15 ...the Son of man be lifted up: 16 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already... 21 he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest.

These passages say much: Those who do not trust Jesus are condemned already since they deserve to die - forever (verse 18).  That is the truth (verse 21), and one who sees that truth, is enlightened ("cometh to the light"; verse 21). Basically, without belief in Jesus, people will have everlasting death because that is all they deserve. Verse 16 is the most often quoted. It is how to escape the punishment we deserve. God wants that none should perish - eternal death.  How do we escape that? By "lifting up the Son of Man", i.e., Jesus Christ (verse 15). How does lifting up Jesus save us from the death which we deserve?

1 Corinthians 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. 

Jesus paid the price. He redeemed us from sin-guilt by taking on all the sins of everybody in the world, and dying on our place.

1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

That passage describes the payment - the price Jesus paid so that we without the currency get the price paid for us.  Jesus's propitiation was by the blood unto His own death, as a sacrifice, once and for all, for all my sins and everybody's! His own blood was the currency which paid the price, and not us - "saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" from Ephesians above. That is part of the enlightenment which leads to rebirth: you deserve death, you have no payment for life, and Jesus already has paid His own life in exchange for us guilty ones.

When we lift up Jesus for what He did, then we are born-again. We sell ourselves to Jesus because we were costly. Jesus bought us with a great price - His own death instead of us. We become servants of him because we are his! 

Most people, as they are born-again, get stuck half-way through the birth canal. They see the light at the end of the tunnel but their head (mind) gets stuck at the gateway to life - the spiritual cervix as they become stiff-necked.  In the rebirth process they see the light but fail to lift Jesus up by changing. Within the womb, they are the old person, and as people get stuck in the rebirth, they don't like what they see in the light at the end of the spiritual canal - that is the new creature with a new nature; not one of the flesh but one of the spirit. Most people seem to have been stuck halfway reborn because they prefer being served to serving. Rebirth is all about themselves, and not lifting up Jesus!

Why is the Church dying out? Because half-born creatures stalk the aisles, and sit comfortably in the pews, being served but not serving! The price paid for your life is Jesus's death. In gratitude, the price you pay is your old life for a new one; from served to serving. Just like Paul, we are to be a servant set apart for the gospel of Christ (Romans 1:1).

When we are not set apart as a servant, then we take for granted the cost of our salvation, and that Jesus paid the price. Ungrateful babies are only nourished because they are loved. Sometimes fretful parents deny their own children because of their demands. They think: Whose baby is this? He can't be mine! We know the answer: the baby is ours. Jesus knows the answer: he's not mine!

When we're born-again, we are of aware of the cost of our salvation and Who paid the price.  Since salvation is free, the price is right! We just need to reject the idea that things are free. They all come with a price.

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