"I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus." (1 Corinthians 1:4)
The GRACE we receive is FREE. We do not earn, accept, or reject it. It is a gift given us “by Jesus Christ”.
And we are SAVED after death by the grace of God, it is also FREE. And it is ours “through Jesus Christ”.
“…the FREE gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23b)
I notice some translations leave out the word “free”. They have a problem with salvation being FREE. They add words like “offer” to their translations, but the Bible in the original language has no such "offer". Salvation is a "free gift" to “all humanity” by the "grace of God"…
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all humanity…” (Titus 2:11)
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.” (Titus 2:11 NIV)
I like the NIV because of the way it reads, but the Greek manuscripts do not include the word "offers".
I know most of you will not take time to look it up in the Greek so here it is for the verses above in Romans…
“…τὸ δὲ χάρισμα (free gift) τοῦ θεοῦ ζωὴ αἰώνιος ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν."(Romans 6:23 Greek)
The NIV leaves out “free gift”, and adds “offers” to the text. Their translators knew most people would not look it up. The offer is THEIR offer, not GOD's.
Rejoice in that as we approach the celebration of the birth of "the Savior of the world"...
"Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11)