The Gift of God

“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)

We are all sinners. This is not a distant truth but a personal reality that weighs heavily upon us as our sins accumulate daily. It's a truth that demands our introspection and self-awareness. For those without Christ as their Savior, the burden of sin can be overwhelming. Like a heavy load, these sins leave lasting spiritual scars that never fade.

David put it best in Psalm 51 when he wrote, “My sin is ever before me.” Our sin is not a fleeting memory but a constant presence, like a video that plays over and over in our heads. This continuous presence of sin underscores the need for forgiveness by the power of Christ's sacrifice. It's an urgent need that we must address. Many wish these memories could be erased, but not I. The memory of my sin helps me to remember who I was and how Christ saved me.

But despite our sins, Christ gives us the gift of eternal life through Jesus. It is not a gift we earn or win. No one can buy it. This gift was purchased with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 15:

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.”

It is through our faith in Christ and our repentance of our sins that Jesus saves us from hell.  Many sinners think they are saved, but they do not know what they did to be saved or what they are saved from. Becoming a Christian takes a deliberate conscious act, and a profession of faith and a repentance of sin. John, the beloved apostle, wrote in 1 John 5:11-15:

“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”

The record of your election to salvation was written in the Book of Life of the Lamb Who Was Slain before creation.  God knows who is going to be saved and when they are saved.  Do you know Christ? Is Jesus your Savior?  Jesus told the woman in John 4 at the well:

“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.?”  

Do you know the gift? Have you drunk the living water that is Christ, or are you still thirsty? If you do not know Christ it is time you did.

 Amen