Imagine a phone conversation like this:
“Congratulations, Mr. Bryanw92, we’re giving away a limited number of brand new Porsche 911s, valued at $120,000, and you’ve been selected to receive one.”
“What?! I can’t afford that!”
“No, Mr. Bryanw92, you don’t understand. We’re GIVING you one.”
“Oh, that’s great! I look forward to receiving it!”
“Wonderful. Now, Mr. Bryanw92, we need you to come down to the showroom on Tuesday to show us your driver’s license, fill out the registration and title transfer forms, pick up the keys, and pose for a news story photo.”
“Wow, that sure sounds like a lot of work just for a Porsche 911. Lemme guess, you also expect me to pay for oil changes, annual inspections and tags, fill it up with gas when it gets low, and put new tires on it every few years, huh?”
“Well yes, Mr. Bryanw92, those will be your responsibility. But you understand the car is a free gift.”
“Doesn’t sound free to me! Sounds like I’m EARNING IT!”
That’s the way some people treat the gospel invitation. The caller might reply:
“No, Mr. Bryanw92, if you had to earn it, you wouldn’t be able to afford it. What we’re requiring of you are things you’re able to do. And what we’re offering is something you couldn’t acquire on your own. Don’t confuse ‘conditions for receiving’ with ‘earning’.”
For many people, the price of entering the kingdom is too high. Only few will get in.
Sorry, you are mistaken. The Porsch is driven right up to the door and the keys handed tot he recipient and the title to the car is in the name of Jesus as payer of the price and Mister BryanW as lawful owner for use. By this we know BryanW can obtain insurance on what He has been Given by the Grace of God in Christ. There is no ‘earning the gift’ else it is not a gift, not Grace but an earned thing. You may conceal the earning game as going down to the dealership, but that is not what Jesus or The Bible teaches concerning being born from above.
Your reasoning has a distinctly Mormonesque scent to it. They express this twist to the Biblical promise of God as ‘after all you can do to become worthy’.
>>“Well yes, Mr. Bryanw92, those will be your responsibility. But you understand the car is a free gift.”
Excellent analogy. I equate those “conditions” with the faith you need and the “call” of Christ to bring you to him.
Now, the rest of the stuff: oil changes, tires, tags, etc are the fruits of salvation. I could own a 911 and never drive it one mile and it would still be mine. The oil would last forever, the tires would never wear out. I could keep it in the garage with no tags or insurance and it would still be mine.
But, I would not get to enjoy it. Same thing with the fruits of our obedience. Its not payment or a condition. They are the things that make Christian life better than secular life because we know that we are living out a public life in Christ.
Now, I would take that Porsche as I took my Christianity: I’d get out there and drive the wheels off it. I’d change the tires, change the oil, buy insurance, etc.
And I would know that if I stopped because I was too tired to drive anymore, that it would still be mine waiting in the garage. No one can come and say, “You didn’t change the oil in the car, so we are taking it away from you.”
Only about 15% or so of all Mormons will get to be with GOD the Father on Level One.