Eternal life is not something that God gives to men because they have earned the right to have it. Instead, it is "the free gift of God." Consider the following.

God is not obligated and He cannot be obligated to give eternal life - salvation to any individual. For salvation is a "free gift of God," it is "by grace" it is "the gift of God."

But why must it be this way? It is because "all have sinned" (Rom. 3:23) and sin separates the sinner from His God and earns for him death - eternal death. The scriptures say "the person who sins will die" (Ezekiel 18:20). The death that is promised the sinner is spiritual death - separation from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). It is because God has promised that those who sin will die, that Paul could call this death the wage of sin (Romans 6:23a)

Why can’t man obligate God to give him eternal life? It is because no man has ever lived up to all the requirements of law. Instead, all have sinned - transgressed the law (1 John 3:4); and so they have obligated God to give them the death sentence. "For the wages of sin is death."

Believers in the Bible accept that eternal life is the free gift of God. It is free because it is offered and given to men who have done nothing to deserve it. However, some have not grasped this point and have concluded that it is free for another reason - it is free because there is nothing that one must do to receive it. This has lead men into two opposite positions, neither of which is scriptural.

On the one hand there are some who believe that since salvation is free then all will receive eternal life regardless of what they do or do not do, regardless of what they believe or not believe. Here is one way they argue this point.

There is nothing wrong with the logic. If both the major and minor premises are true then it follows that all men shall be saved.

However, as flawless as the logic may be the conclusion that all men shall be saved is unscriptural. For the Bible clearly teaches that on the final day many will be lost (cf. Matthew 7:13-14; 25:46; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9; Revelation 21:8). Therefore, one or both of the premises must be false. (I will come back to this in a moment).

On the other hand, there are others who, while holding to the same major premise come to a completely different conclusion.

As an aside, and just in case there are those who cannot believe that some would believe that God would withhold His grace from any man, consider the following, one taken from a well known creed and the other taken from reformer.

Philadelphia Confession of Faith

As for those wicked and ungodly men, who God as a righteous judge, for former sin, doth blind and harden; from them He ... withholdeth His grace, whereby they might have been enlightened in their understanding and wrought upon in their hearts ... ("Divine Providence," para. 6, page 7).

Jerome Zanchius

Now, if God invited all men to come to Him, and then shut the door of mercy against any who were desirous of entering, His invitation would be a mockery and unworthy of Himself; but we insist on it, that He does not invite all men to come to Him in a saving way ... [God] never did, nor does He now, will that every individual of mankind should be saved (Absolute Predestination, pages 14, 18).

Now returning to their syllogism, if the major and minor premises are true then so is the conclusion - only those exposed to the grace of God shall be saved. However, there are a number of Scriptures that make it clear that the minor premise is false. Titus 2:11, for example: "... the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men;" but there are others too, many others (cf. Ezekiel 18:23, 32; 33:33; 2 Peter 3:9). It is not the will of God that any perish, but for all to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).

The doctrines of Universalism and Calvinism are unscriptural. They reach unscriptural positions primarily because neither group understands in what sense eternal life is the free gift of God. Why is salvation the free gift of God through Jesus Christ? Is it ...

• Because there are not conditions attached to it? Or...
• Because it is offered and then given to individuals who do not deserve it?

The answer must be because it is offered and then given to individuals who do not deserve it? The reason why this must be the answer is because the New Testament teaches that men must do something to be saved by grace. Those who would be saved are required to ...

• Have faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God is a condition (John 1:12; 3:16; 8:24; Rom 5:1-2)
• Repent of sins is a condition (Luke 24:46f)
• Confess their faith that Jesus is Lord (Rom 10:8ff)
• Be baptized in water is a condition (Mk 16:16; Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:20-21)
• Be faithful to Jesus (Rev 2:10)