Answers

By   •   June 2, 2023   •   Topics: ,

Q:

Can we bargain with God when it comes to what He offers mankind? After all, God is the one who gave mankind its own will, right?


A:

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

God does not bargain. We can’t barter with Him. We must do business with Him on His own terms. He holds in His omnipotent hand the priceless, precious, eternal gift of salvation, and He bids us to take it without money and without price. Jesus never offered a bargain. There is no parlaying or compromising. Christ demands total loyalty, and what a privilege it is to live for Him.

Consider the age-old question: The best things in life are free, are they not? The air we breathe is not sold by the cubic foot. The water that flows crystal clear from the mountain stream is free for the taking. Love is free; faith is free; hope is free. We can’t reject God’s grace on grounds that it is too cheap, for the most precious things in life come to us without money and without price. Only the cheap, tawdry things have a price tag upon them. Salvation is free—but it is not cheap!

God puts no price tag on the Gift of gifts. Preachers are not salesmen, for they have nothing to sell. They are the bearers of Good News—the good tidings that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3), and that the “grace of God … has appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11). Money can’t buy it. Man’s righteousness can’t earn it. Social prestige can’t help us acquire it. Morality can’t purchase it. It is as the Prophet Isaiah writes, “Without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1).

(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

Have you trusted Christ for your salvation? Pray now.