Where's the catch?

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy (Titus 3:5).

Snow. How can something so pretty be such a nuisance? Snow protects vegetation from the harsh cold of winter. Snow covers brown fields and leafless trees with brilliant, sparkling white. But heavy snow is hard to shovel. Snowdrifts form in the most inconvenient places. Snowstorms make it dangerous to travel. As a child I loved the snow; as an adult, I have decidedly mixed feelings about it now.

Of course, most things in life are a mixed bag of good and bad. That wonderful person you married turned out to have some very annoying habits. The best-tasting foods are usually full of salt, fat, or sugar. The money you worked so hard to earn causes no end of frustration as you wrestle with taxes and investment strategies. Your precious children can make you feel guilty, shopping for new clothes can make you feel overweight, and buying a house saddles you with endless repairs and maintenance. No matter how wonderful it is, everything in life seems to come with a ‘catch.’

Because this is our experience, people curious about Christianity usually wonder ‘what’s the catch?’ God sent His Son to die for me, and I don’t have to pay him back for that? To be forgiven, all I have to do is tell Jesus I’m sorry? To get out of the grave and into heaven, all I have to do is believe in Christ? That can’t be all there is to it—what’s the catch?

There is no catch—God doesn’t expect us to repay Him for the suffering Jesus endured to set us free. God does not demand restitution as a condition of His mercy. Access to heaven is not earned by scoring ‘brownie points’ with God. Forgiveness, help in life, rescue from the grave—it all comes to us freely because God is loving and generous.

But aren’t Christians supposed to change how they live—turn away from sin and serve God and each other in love? Yes, Jesus wants us to be changed by His love. But that’s not a condition; the new and better life that Jesus offers is not earned or repaid by our efforts at being ‘good.’ And anyway, sin is a bad thing—it gets us into trouble with God and each other. Giving up sin is not a drawback to Christianity, it’s a blessing! The only downside to being a Christian is that it makes the devil your enemy—and it’s not like he’s ever had your best interests at heart anyway.