Salvation in Christ is so free. It really is unlike any other transaction.
In our economic decrescendo the government is offering money buckets to bail out certain industries that are supposedly too big to sink. The government is printing money to make numbers look better on paper. The government is offering loans to some businesses to help them get through a rough season. Without saying much more than that for now (except that the majority of these decisions and offers are wrong-headed, counter-productive, and unjust), just think about how these stimulus packages compare to the gospel.
In God’s economy, no person (or family or nation) is too big to fail. God needs to preserve or protect no single individual in order to accomplish His purposes. A kid can be saved no matter his dad’s condition, a poor person, or a rich one, can be saved no matter what a king or president or Federal Reserve Chairman decides. Absolutely anyone can fail, can die in need of forgiveness without repentance, and God alone remains indispensable.
Yet in His sovereignty over the entire system and every sphere, He offers grace. Grace is unconditional. God’s grace is not based on any amount of merit or qualification; not gender, age, lineage, occupation, network, portfolio, health. He considers none of those factors in considering who to save.
And He saves entirely at His own expense. Salvation is not a loan. We do not pay Him back. If we use the language of debt, it is one of love, but that is not a debt to work off. He does not tax us next year, or tax our grandchildren, or anyone else.
Christ died for our moral bankruptcy. He atoned for our foolishness and selfishness and pride, for our lack of submission and faith and thanks. His forgiveness and gift of life is free, and He makes us free to serve Him.