37. Eternal Life
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The gift of God is eternal life; the gift is a promise from God secured for us by Jesus Christ and guaranteed for us by the Holy Spirit. Eternal life is not earned or deserved (the only thing we deserve is death); a gift is always free, bought and paid for by someone else and given with no strings attached. Eternal life is something we have now and will enjoy forever, when the old life is burned up and destroyed forever; then only life will be left and the body will arise transformed.
The natural, inevitable and inescapable consequence of sin is death. Sin is the sole cause of death; there is no other reason for a God-created human being to die; death is not a natural part of created life; it was meant to go on forever. It only makes sense: why would God make a life only to have it die (and suffer)? Life is by definition eternal, without beginning and without end; however, in man’s case his life had to have a beginning since he is not God. God can share His endless life, which is the only kind of life possible. Life that ends cannot really be considered life. God created a never-ending life. Sin intervened and brought death and so robbed all men of life.
God promises: “I will give you what I originally intended you to have, a life that is not truncated or circumscribed.” God fulfilled that promise and gave us the gift. If God is real His Word must be trusted and His promise believed. He cannot lie and He cannot make empty promises. He gives you what you can live on, in this case eternal life. That life is yours and it will not be taken away. We live with the consequences of sin every day. Now we can also live with the consequences of Grace. We avoid the one and believe the other. This is living.