No strings attached
We’ve all heard these warnings at some point in our lives:
There’s no such thing as a free lunch (or a free dog).
Whoever offers something for free is only trying to sell you something else.
Campaign promises are checks that can never be cashed.
We’ve all experienced “free” things that ended up being rather expensive. Whenever someone offers to give us something at no cost, our skepticism meter is immediately pegged. We start thinking of questions in order to really get to the bottom of whatever is being presented to us. We get defensive and suspicious, especially if we don’t know the person making the offer.
Keeping that in mind, it’s not too much of a surprise that when Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman about a gift of living water…she was a little skeptical:
John 4:10-12
Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and Who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him and He would give you living water.”
“Sir,” said the woman, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this ‘living water’? You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.”
Jesus wasn’t sidetracked by her questions. He wasn’t upset that she had her mind on tangible, earthly things instead of the spiritual, eternal idea He was talking about. He continued:
John 4:13-14
Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.”
Jesus offers her living water that will forever satisfy her deepest thirst for life. And this living water will become a spring of water for eternal life. A little later in His ministry, and with a different crowd, Jesus used the same analogy:
John 7:37-38
On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.”
So we see that belief in Jesus guarantees streams of living water flowing from deep within the believer. This is a MASSIVE promise we can claim – that just one drink of living water (i.e. – believing) produces a well of water springing up for eternal life. Because Jesus is the one offering this free gift, this means that the person who believes also has eternal security. We can’t lose it, and it can’t be taken away…no matter what we feel…or think…or do.
Throughout the book of John, Jesus offers people eternal life if they believe in Him for it, no strings attached. When making His offer of eternal life to anyone there are, however, a few things He never does:
Jesus never…asks them to confess all their sins first.
Jesus never…tells them to repent (i.e. – turn from their sins) before they can “really believe”.
Jesus never…tells them to make Him Lord of their life in order to believe.
Jesus never…tells them to look at their works for the rest of their life to find out if they are a “true believer”.
Confession, repentance, living under Jesus’ lordship, and doing good works are all important for a Christ-follower…but they are not conditions that Jesus put on us in order to receive His free gift of eternal life. They matter to a person’s fellowship with Jesus, but they do not impact His gift of eternal life.
So what, exactly, does Jesus mean when He says to believe in Me? To believe is to be persuaded that something is true. We don’t “make a choice” to believe something or not – either you are convinced something is true, or you are not convinced. Believing in Jesus is being persuaded that He guarantees eternal life to all who simply believe in Him for it. That’s all. It is a gift of God that we receive. Do you believe that? Jesus presented the Samaritan woman (and us!) with no other condition. There are no strings attached…and that truly is good news!
Keep Pressing,
Ken