What Shall a Man Give in Exchange for His Soul?

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 7
 
Would you be interested in a plan for your life that gave you temporary profit but that might cost you your immortal soul?
Can you answer the question, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
There are a lot of ways of gaining the world. Think of a new car, a brand new car. If you could have it tonight, if the devil would hold it out and say, “Here it is; here is this car, but I want your soul,” would you give your soul to him in exchange for the car?
Think of the handsomest man you know, or the prettiest woman. If the devil could get him or her for you, and if he could give him or her to you tonight, would it be worth it if you lost your soul for all eternity?
I ask anyone in the working world today: If you could climb the corporate ladder into the chair of the president of your company—if you could become CEO of all this wealth and could have the sports car, the yacht, the magnificent house and all that goes with it, would it be worth it if you lost your soul in hell for all eternity?
“What shall a man [or a woman-or a boy-or a girl] give in exchange for his soul?”
When God created man, He breathed into him and he became a living, never-dying soul. That never-dying soul will go on through all eternity in a place of everlasting torment or a place of everlasting pleasure and joy.
That first man, Adam, sinned. Because he became a sinner, you and I inherited that sinful nature. We have a nature that is not capable of pleasing God. It is spiritually dead, and no matter how many good works you may perform in your lifetime, God will never use them to balance out the bad that you have done.
You can never buy salvation, never pay for a place in heaven, never ransom your own soul. You may sell your soul to the devil for some temporary gain, but you have nothing to give to God for your soul.
Only God could pay the price of salvation, and He has done it. What a terrible price it was: “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold...but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-1918Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: (1 Peter 1:18‑19)).
God gave His “only begotten Son” to purchase salvation for you and for me, and He offers it freely to all who will receive it. There are “no strings attached”; it is “without money and without price.”