What is The Gift?

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 ESV)

This verse in the Bible is probably one of the most critical of the misquoted (quoted out of context) verses in the Bible. Ever since I was learning to share the gospel message back in the early 1970s we were taught to quote this verse independent of its context and in the context of a stream of other Scripture verses taught out of context that someone then put all together in a gospel tract to share with others. And that is a very dangerous practice!

Why? Because you can end up teaching a false doctrine of salvation that way, and that has been happening for a very long time, perhaps all of my 74 years of life and beyond. For, as a stand-alone, this verse has come to mean that the punishment for our sins is death (truth) but the free (nothing required of us at all) gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, as though this gift is just handed to us and we do nothing. Wrong!

Now, can any of us do anything in our own flesh to earn or to deserve our own salvation? No! Is our salvation a gift to us from God? Yes! Is our faith to  believe in Jesus a gift from God? Yes! None of it is of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man. All this comes from God, is empowered of God, is persuaded of God, and is perfected by Jesus Christ. We can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father draws us to Christ.

[Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44]

So, they have it right, correct? Wrong! For this is not a free handout to promise you eternal life with God based on lip service to the Lord only. A mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ, or a mere acknowledgment of him and who he is and of what he did for us on that cross is not enough to secure us salvation from sin and eternal life with God. Why? Because we need context! We need to know what that faith and salvation are.

“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:20-23 ESV

So, what is this saying in context? This isn’t about just being delivered from the punishment of sin, is it? This is about us being delivered from slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin. So if we are still walking in sin, making sin our practice, we are still in bondage to sin, and righteousness has no part in us. And what fruit do we get from being enslaved to sin? Death! And what is the alternative? No longer live as slaves to sin but now as slaves of God. 

And what is the end result of us putting sin to death in our lives and us now living as slaves of God and of his righteousness, in the power of God? The fruit we get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So what is the gift? It is freedom from slavery to sin so that we can now become slaves of God and of his righteousness, empowered by God.

And if we go back and we read all of Romans 6 this will become even more clear to us that the “gift” is not a handout and we do nothing. The gift is the empowerment of God in our lives to now put sin to death in our lives (not just once, but daily) and to now walk in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to the Lord, now as his slaves (servants), with him as our Master (Lord, Owner), and with us as his possession. For by faith in Him:

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (v. 4)

“We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” (v. 6)

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.” (v. 12)

“Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (v. 16)

“I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.” (v. 19)

Are you getting the BIG PICTURE now? The free gift of God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, trains (instructs) us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:11-14).

Jesus Christ said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience to his commands, in practice, then we have the hope of eternal life with God (Luke 9:23-26; cf. Ephesians 4:17-24).

So, the “free gift” does not just free you from the punishment of sin, and it does not free you to continue living in sin without conscience and without the feeling of guilt. It frees us from our slavery (bondage) to sin, but only as we walk in that freedom and we choose God’s choices and we obey them in his power, which is what it means to (agape) love God. For if we continue to live as slaves to sin, it ends in death, but obedience leads to righteousness.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Just a Closer Walk with Thee  

Hymn lyrics by Anonymous/Unknown

Music by American Melody

“For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you” (2 Co. 13:4 NASB).

I am weak, but Thou art strong;

Jesus, keep me from all wrong;

I’ll be satisfied as long

As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Through this world of toil and snares,

If I falter, Lord, who cares?

Who with me my burden shares?

None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

When my feeble life is o’er,

Time for me will be no more;

Guide me gently, safely o’er

To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

Just a closer walk with Thee,

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,

Daily walking close to Thee,

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Ks49apflE 

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