Suppose God charged a thousand dollars, or a hundred or even one for eternal life—would it be a gift? No.
Suppose He charged only one cent—would it be a gift? No.
Suppose He charged the person who needs eternal life so many prayers, or so many good works, or so much love—would it still be “the gift of God”? No.
Whatever else God may have put conditions upon, He has put no conditions, no price, on eternal life. It is His prerogative to give it, and He freely gives it to every one who comes to Him acknowledging his need.
Do you know what eternal life is? It is the life which God gives to everyone who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, who receives Him in their heart—the life which makes one as truly the child of God as children are their parents’ children by natural birth.
Think of it! The man, woman or child who has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is a child of God! Such a one now has a life which cannot see death and which thrives and grows only in the things which God loves and enjoys.
It is not at all an improvement of the sinful nature. No, that was born of the flesh and remains the same, but this new life is born of the Spirit and it is spirit. It is not the restoring of man to his innocent state, as in Eden. No; it is making him “a new creature” in Christ Jesus. It is not gradually cultivating him, until he gets up to a high standard of goodness. It is an immediate, absolute passing from one thing to another: “from death to life.”
If you perish, it will be because you were too good in your own eyes to need eternal life or too blind to see the grace of God or too proud to accept the gift. And what will you do in the day when such grace has ceased to call, and you must face the eternal realities of sin and judgment?
“By grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God: not of works,
lest any man should boast.”