Freely given us

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? – Romans 8.32

We all know that nothing in life is free. Everything cost somebody something.

But things are freely given. That is what a gift is all about. We pay the price for something and if it is a true gift we give it without reservation, freely, without strings. A freely given gift is final. It is not taken back by the giver.

I have known a few situations when a friend gave a gift to another. But, eventually, because they later needed it again they asked for it back. That is certainly not a gift that was freely given. It was a conditional gift.

That is the kind of gift that salvation is. God delivered up His son to the cross for us. When he gave us His son He gave us justification. He gave us glorification. And He gave them to us freely, without reservation, no strings attached. As we would have said when we were children in Alabama (and please forgive my political incorrectness) God is not an 'Indian giver.'

Thank God for my costly, but freely given, salvation.