1. Revelation 22:17 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What is meant by the phrase “take…without price”?

Revelation 22:17 (ESV)

17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

The words without price communicate the repeated emphasis of Scripture that the work of Jesus Christ comes to sinners at no cost to the sinner (Romans 3:24; Ephesians 2:8–9). At the same time, those who would benefit from Christ’s grace have a responsibility to accept and receive what God gives. The term John uses does not communicate the aggressive action of a bully who takes but the quasi-passive action of the person who receives what is given. Those who heard the reading of this Revelation had that duty to receive what God in Christ had laid before them.