Romans 6:19-23: a reflection

Paul draws a stark contrast between what sin pays and what God gives: the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ. The wages of sin is death, Paul says, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Notice the two words Paul chooses: wages and gift. Sin pays wages, what is earned, deserved, owed; and the wage sin pays is death. But God's eternal life is not a wage, not something earned or deserved; it is a free gift, given not because we have earned it but out of God's grace, in Christ. The contrast could not be sharper: death as the earned wage of sin, eternal life as the free, unearned gift of God. This shows the contrast between sin's earned wage of death and God's free gift of eternal life. Sin pays the wage of death; God gives the free gift of eternal life. Eternal life is a free gift, not something earned. The wages of sin is death; the gift of God is life. God's gift of life is grace, not wages we deserve.

Notice the careful choice of words. Sin, Paul says, pays wages, and the wage it pays is death. Wages are what is earned, deserved, owed; when we sin, we earn death, and it is paid to us as our due. But when Paul speaks of eternal life, he does not call it a wage; he calls it a free gift. Eternal life is not something we earn or deserve or are owed; it is given freely, out of God's grace, in Christ. If eternal life were a wage, it would have to be earned, and none of us could earn it; but because it is a gift, it can be given to those who have not earned it, freely, in Christ. This is the heart of the gospel. We cannot earn eternal life; by our sin, we have earned only death. But God, in his grace, gives eternal life as a free gift, not because we have earned it, but because of Christ. This frees us from the impossible task of trying to earn what can only be received as a gift, and casts us on God's grace. We receive eternal life not as a wage we have earned, but as a free gift of God's grace in Christ, with empty and grateful hands. Eternal life is God's free gift, received by grace, not earned. We cannot earn eternal life; we can only receive it as a gift. Do not try to earn what God gives freely in Christ. Receive God's gift of eternal life with grateful, empty hands.

That is worth resting in, for eternal life is God's free gift in Christ, not a wage we could earn, so that we receive it by grace rather than by earning. We can try to earn our standing with God, to deserve eternal life by our own efforts; but Paul says the wages of sin is death, and the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ. Eternal life is a gift. Do not try to earn what God gives freely; receive his gift of eternal life with grateful, empty hands, resting on his grace in Christ. Rest in the truth that eternal life is God's free gift in Christ, not a wage we could earn, so that we receive it by grace and not by earning, as Paul drew the stark contrast that the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord; for sin pays wages, what is earned, deserved, and owed, and the wage it pays is death, but God's eternal life is not a wage but a free gift, given not because we have earned it but out of God's grace in Christ, and if eternal life were a wage it would have to be earned, which none of us could do, but because it is a gift it can be given freely to those who have not earned it, which is the heart of the gospel, since we cannot earn eternal life but by our sin have earned only death, and yet God in his grace gives eternal life as a free gift because of Christ, freeing us from the impossible task of trying to earn what can only be received as a gift and casting us on God's grace, so that we receive eternal life not as a wage we have earned but as a free gift of God's grace in Christ, with empty and grateful hands.