Romans 6:22-23 - The Wages of Sin vs. The Gift of Life

Romans 6:22-23 - 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Message: Eternal life is a gift

Time: Paul wrote Romans from Corinth as he prepared to leave for Palestine. Phoebe (16:1,2) was given the great responsibility of delivering the letter to the Romans believers. At this time, Rome had a population of 1 million, many of whom were slaves. The Romans church was doctrinally sound, but it still needed rich doctrine and practical application. Rome had massive buildings but also slums.

What the Lord is Saying:

A Review of Romans
I can't help but take a moment and review where I have come from in this study. Paul began Romans talking about the Gospel and that is his central message. He is all bout the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the church of Rome is about this as well. In the 2nd half of Romans 1 Paul instructs the church that some reject God by making their own god, serving themselves rather than the revealed creator.

Romans 2 looks at God's judgment of man and it is impartial. Specifically, toward the Jewish person, holding on to the law, instructing it, having circumcision, being Jewish, this spiritual identities doesn't give a person a free pass in order to exempt them from God's wrath.

Romans 3 answers the why question for this. Because everyone is a sinner. It is our unrighteousness that brings us to the righteousness of God. And Paul reveals this further at the end of Romans which culminates with the Gospel message. God's righteousness is imputed or credited to a person through their belief in God. But belief doesn't then earn a person grace. Faith is in accordance with grace. God justifies the sinner. Never does the sinner boast in anything but Christ. Never in themselves.

And this act of God crediting people as righteous is not a new thing. It was evident in Abraham and David. This is the focus of Romans 4. Righteousness comes to the believer because of their faith in God and His substitutionary death. God makes a way for man through a promise not through a ritual such as circumcision or obeying he Law.

The result is the peace of God in the life of the believer. And hope. And we get to experience tribulations or trials. These are good things to confirm our faith and give us hope for the future. Later in Romans 5 we can see the clarity that we were in Adam and therefore our life would end in death, but through faith we are now in Christ. In Adam, helpless; In Christ, completely secure. Adam and Christ have similarity. Adam's sin resulted in condemnation for all. Christ's dying for sin resulted in justification for all.

So, now, Romans 6, what does it now mean for the believer that sin has been paid for on the cross. How should we then live? This chapter confirms that our life is no longer about sin, in any degree, for we are freed from sin. God no longer sees us as sinners and so our lives should be lived apart from sin. Our problem is we mess up, but God wants us to know that He sees us free from this sin and so our lives should be lived focusing on the instruments of righteousness.

Freedom from Sin equals Eternal Life
The focus through most of this chapter has been on the believer's response to being free from sin. The believer wondered if sin really could not any longer be a part of their life. Is is possible that sinning is good for grace? Is it possible that being freed from the law means that a person can still sin once or twice without it being a big deal? But, Paul clearly lets the Christian know that having been freed from sin we no longer really have a desire for sin because our life is now about being righteous. One cannot try to have both lives. Sin has been crucified. Sin is dead in our life, so don't give into it ever again. We are freed from sin, and thus a slave to righteousness not a slave to sin.

To be freed from sin means eternal life is ours. Verse 22 could be misunderstood in thinking that when we are moved to righteousness and live free from sin that we inherit eternal life. Eternal life however is not earned, but is a gift (verse 23). By believing in God our ownership is now in heaven and that can't change. The sinner should no longer desire to sin. After being justified and credited with righteousness our life is about being sanctified. We are obedient Eternal life is what we receive by being in Christ. In Adam, death was our outcome. In Christ, eternal life is our outcome. This is the point of verse 23. And this concludes Romans 6. 


Promise: By faith, God credits us with righteousness, frees us from sin, changes our life to focus on living righteous lives and we can look forward to eternal life.