"Imagine it's your birthday. Your friend comes by and gives you a beautifully wrapped gift. When you open it, it's something you've always wanted! After the party, you walk your friend to the door and just before he leaves, he says, "Oh, by the way, here's the receipt. Your gift costs $500. I'll take cash or a check" Could you really call what you received a gift?
The same principle applies to salvation. You don't have to buy it. Salvation is a gift. It depends wholly on God's grace.
Ephesians 2:8-9 reads, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Jesus paid the costs in full for our salvation. Acts 4:12 says, ". . . there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven . . . by which we must be saved." - Tony Evans
Romans 10:9-13 New International Version
9 If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, "Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame."
12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile-the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . .
—Matthew 6:20
"Many young people are building their lives on the rock of materialism. I find across the country a deep economic discontent among people in every walk of life. People want more and more things. They forget that we are enjoying the highest standard of living the world has ever known. We still have poverty, and hundreds of agencies are trying to do something about it; but we are dissatisfied. We want more, more, more. But Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and money.” He said that a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possesses. Adolf Berle, in his study of power, points out that riches often make people solitary and lonely and, of course, afraid. Many times a rich man knows loneliness and fear, because when he makes wealth his god, it leaves him empty. You see, without God life loses its zest and purpose and meaning." - Billy Graham
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