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If it was a free gift, you could set it on fire and drive it into a swamp.

That's what unbelievers do.

Precisely. But the notion is that the gift was given because of one's belief, right? God doesn't grant unbelievers eternal life, right?

Others would have us believe that the gift comes with no conditions, and yet they admit that they do indeed need to follow through with the conditions anyway. And that if they don't, the gift is a mirage.

Precisely. But the notion is that the gift was given because of one's belief, right? God doesn't grant unbelievers eternal life, right?

Most believe that the gift is offered to everyone.
Romans 5:8 For, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Believers have accepted the gift.

It is a gift, nonetheless. Unbelievers have, simply, rejected it.

Others would have us believe that the gift comes with no conditions, and yet they admit that they do indeed need to follow through with the conditions anyway. And that if they don't, the gift is a mirage.

I'm not sure whose views this would represent. Let me explain how I see it.

God created us to abide with Him within the household of God. Early on, despite the warnings of God, we chose to see what life was like beyond God's household. Once ensnared in the evil which existed beyond God's door, we found that we could not return, for to do so would be to bring the evil with us back into God's house, and this He could not allow.

But God devised a plan to bring us back into His household.

Through the death of His only begotten Son, God opened up a way for us to come home. This is His great gift to us. Those of us who have accepted His gift are, once again, at home (in relationship) with Him.

However, God has expectations for those who have returned to Him. In coming home, we have, once again, placed ourselves under His parental authority. So, He now works with us (individually and collectively) to mold us into His image, once again.

He is patient, and has promised that He will never cast out of His home those who have come home to Him. He does chasten us, as a loving Father chastens His children, but, ... so long as we desire to be His, ... His we will be.

Hehehehe, if Ginny and I can drive our mirage all over the Tampa Bay area, is it still possible it's not real?

Driving carefully in Florida, JH :-)