This is adapted from a video, which you can watch here.

What do you need to do to receive God’s blessings in your life? Maybe you need a healing, or a financial blessing, or some kind of breakthrough. Something you want for your life but have not yet received.

Various Christians and churches will give you a wide variety of answers to that question. Probably the most common thing we’re told is that we need to have more faith — not just general, saving faith in Christ, but faith specifically for whatever blessing we desire.

We’re told we need to believe for that healing, that new car, that new job, that future wife or husband. You’ll hear words like claim it, declare it, or decree it. We need to press in, step out in faith, and go deeper. We need to allow God to move in our life; we need to release Him or activate Him; we need to give Him permission.

Some preachers will make it more practical and say that our faith requires us to do something — often, giving money. Sowing a seed of faith. Make sure you’re paying your tithes.

Related: Christian, you don’t need more faith to be healed

Some will say that it’s a sin issue, that there’s something we need to repent of, that there’s some secret sin we’re hiding. Maybe you’re in disobedience of your spiritual leaders, and you need to submit to them.

Other things we may have to do include going to a conference, buying a book or a video, going to see some “anointed” preacher, or getting hands laid on you. I’ve even heard that it matters where you’re sitting in the church or auditorium.

What all these ideas have in common is that they’re conditional: God will do that if we do this. It’s a transaction, like we’re buying something. If we want a certain blessing from God, it’s going to cost us something, either money or effort or performance. And if we’re not paying that cost, God will withhold that blessing from us. In some way, we have to earn it.

‘Freely you have received’

The word of God destroys this line of thinking. Just search the Scriptures for the word “freely.”

In Matthew 10:8, when Jesus sent out the twelve disciples, He said, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”

In that verse, you see several tangible blessings: healings, casting out demons, even resurrections. And Jesus says to give these things freely, because they have received freely.

The Greek word translated “freely” is dorean, which is the adverb form of the Greek noun dorea, most often translated as “gift.” In several texts, this word conveys the meaning of something that is given unilaterally — not in return for anything, not as part of a transaction.  

Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 3:8, “nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge.” The phrase “free of charge” is dorean, the same word that Jesus uses.

Galatians 2:21 says, “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” The phrase “in vain” is also dorean, meaning, for no reason.

In John 15:25, Jesus says, “But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause (dorean).’”

See a pattern? No charge. No reason. No cause.

That is what Jesus means by freely, because that is how He gives.

‘Freely given to us by God’

Let’s look at a couple of other Scriptures. Here’s 1 Corinthians 2:

9 But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

That passage talks about the things that God has prepared for us, for those who love Him. Some Christians interpret verse 9 to mean heaven, but it’s a lot more than that; it’s all of His promises to new covenant believers.

The Greek word translated “freely” in verse 12 is charizomai, the adverb form of the noun charis. That word appears often in the New Testament, and most of the time, it’s translated as “grace.” Like dorea, it’s favor from God that is unearned and unmerited. Again, it’s a gift, which by definition is free.

In Luke 7, Jesus told a parable about two debtors who owed a man large sums of money. The story goes, “And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely (charizomai) forgave them both.” The man showed favor toward those who had nothing to give him. There was nothing transactional about that blessing. It was 100 percent grace, mercy and kindness.

Jesus told that parable after a woman who was a notorious sinner anointed His feet with fragrant oil and with her tears — not to earn His favor, but because she had been freely given His favor. Her many sins had been freely forgiven, as there was nothing she could do to merit anything from God.

‘Freely give us all things’

Likewise, there’s nothing we can do to merit anything from God. Many Christians would agree we don’t earn our salvation or forgiveness, but they still think we need to jump through hoops to receive blessings in this life. It’s as if God’s grace stopped after the cross.

That leads to our next Scripture, in Romans 8. In verse 30, Paul writes about our justification — our salvation. But in the next section, he expands the scope of God’s favor:

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

So it’s not just our salvation that’s freely given; all things that God gives us are free. Verse 32 illustrates the absurdity of thinking that salvation is free, but we have to earn other blessings.

Think about it: What has God already given us? His own Son, delivered up to take our place under His wrath for our sins. God gave us the brutal, bloody, excruciating death of His beloved Son. He gave us forgiveness of a lifetime of sin, reconciliation with Him, eternal life, and a personal relationship with the King of the universe.

What did we do to deserve all that? Nothing. But if we want a healing or a financial breakthrough or some other blessing in this life, we have to earn it?

Paul’s point is, if God gave us His Son freely, how could He not give us anything else freely (charizomai)?

Why does God do that? Because He loves us. That’s the rest of the chapter:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God gives us gifts because He loves us. There is nothing we can do to earn His love, or to separate us from His love. He loved us before the foundation of the world, and while we were His enemies; would He love us less now?

God has already freely given us the greatest thing He could possibly give us; how could anything cost more?