Really No Choice at All – October 28, 2019

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

Really No Choice at All

Let’s say your employer gives you a choice. At the end of the week, you can receive what you have earned, or you can receive something that your employer has chosen as a gift instead. Which do you choose?

You might be tempted to take what you earned. After all, you have earned it. But then you remember that your employer told you to get a project done, and you aren’t even close to finished. Suddenly you’re not so sure that it’s smart to take what you have earned.

But will your employer’s gift be any better? It depends on who your employer is, doesn’t it? If you trust that the gift will be something good because your employer is good, you’re more likely to go that direction. If you’re not sure you can trust your employer, you will be suspicious of the gift.

God says that without him at the end of life you will be paid for what you have done, and since you have sinned, the wage you receive will be death. When God mentions death, he’s not just talking about the separation of soul and body. He’s talking about eternal separation from him.

But God has a gift for you. That gift is eternal life with him in heaven. You have that gift only through Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus earned that gift for you by living a perfect life—without sin—and then taking the punishment for your sin when he died. Through faith in Jesus, you have his perfect life credited to your account. It’s a gift, and it comes with the forgiveness of your sins and eternal life in heaven.

Thank God he has promised not to give us what our sins have earned. Thank him that he has chosen instead to give us the gift of eternal life.

Prayer:
Lord God, thank you for the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.