"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Romans 6:23
Part 3
Yesterday:
“But the gift of God.”
No one understands the needs of sinners like God the Creator does. He has graciously provided a gift for all sinners!
Today:
What is the “gift of God” that is mentioned here? He names it for us, it…
“Is eternal life.”
We understand what “life” is, being around it every day. But “eternal life” may be a new idea for some. In verse 22, Paul used another term for “eternal life.”
“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Romans 6:22).
“Everlasting life” must mean then that this new kind of life, the “gift of God,” never ends. “Eternal,” tells the extent of this new life – it is forever! “Eternal life” is the gift that God will give a sinner. Jesus spoke of this life,
“And these [unrighteous] shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matthew 25:46).
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).
Since this eternal life is a gift from God, how is it possible for a sinner to acquire it? This new, life is made available to the sinner,
“Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.”
And only in Him. Yes, Jesus is the Hero of this story. What we could never earn – eternal life is freely given by the Father, through His Son, Jesus. Since Adam and Eve’s fall into sin, every person born is a sinner. We all inherited sin from Adam, and his sin was imputed[1] to each of our accounts. We all sin because we were born sinners. We all have the sentence of death hanging over our heads because it is the payment for our sin. Making resolutions and promises, like “turning over a new leaf,” cannot help us in this condition. God has said that sin must be paid for! The only payment He will accept is the sacrifice of blood.
How does Jesus Christ make a difference for the lost sinner? What is the blood sacrifice needed to pay for my sin? Tomorrow, we will look at Jesus as the Savior. Please come back then.
Quote: “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary”[2] (Jonathan Edwards).
[1] “To impute is to reckon to, or to lay to one’s account” (Charles Hodge). (Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 2, 194, Logos Research Systems, Orig. pub. 1871-73.)
“To impute is, to think of as belonging to someone, and therefore to cause it to belong to that person. God, ‘thinks of’ Adam’s sin as belonging to us, and it, therefore, belongs to us, and in justification, he thinks of Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us and so relates to us on this basis’” (Wayne Grudem). (Systematic Theology, 1244, Zondervan, 1994). Quotation borrowed from https://bible.org/article/what-biblical-imputation-think-about-it-and-take-it-credit.
[2] Quote attributed to Edwards. Downloaded: Tuesday, October 6, 2020. From: https://www.thescribesportion.com/salvation-christian-quotes/.