Can something be both earned and a gift?
No. Something cannot be both earned and a gift. Wages are what one earns by work, but a gift is given freely. Romans 6:23 contrasts the wages of sin, which is death, with God's gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Salvation is received as a gift, not earned by works.
Les explains that while there are areas of reward that every believer should work for, salvation is entirely different. You don't work for salvation; it is a gift. He points to Romans 6:23, where the wages of sin is death—something earned—but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Les emphasizes that you cannot work for something and then call it a gift; as soon as you work for it, it is no longer a gift. This is a concept many struggle with because they've been taught they must do something for salvation. But Scripture blows that out of the saddle: salvation must be taken totally as a gift of God without doing any work of any kind.