This morning, I invite you to turn with me to Romans 6. Romans 6, as we read the chapter, the text being the very last verse, verse 23, a familiar verse, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans chapter 6, as we read together the chapter. Hear now the Word of God. What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means. We died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may have a new life. If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again. Death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all. But the life He lives, He lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master because you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? By no means. Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey, whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness. But thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let's bow together, asking God's blessing upon His Word this morning. Father, we do thank You for Your Word. We acknowledge that Your Word is beautiful and true and the truths that You have there and have to reveal to us are indeed wonderful. We thank You for this Word we have read and pray for Your blessing upon it and for Your blessing upon the preaching of Your Word. Father, may it be living and powerful and active in our hearts, each and every one. Illumine us by the power of Your Holy Spirit that we might indeed understand, believe, and obey, and indeed be strengthened in that gift of the most holy faith and be given greater assurance of the salvation which is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen. Beloved in Christ the Lord, as you think about your life, How often have you received something you didn't deserve and at the same time didn't get what you did deserve? Now, of course, this can work two ways. Either you can get something bad that you didn't think you deserved like a speeding ticket and at the same time not get something good that you thought you deserved like a compliment for your good driving. Or you might receive something good that you didn't deserve and not get something bad that you truly deserved. Now, boys and girls, whether you think so or not, most often the second example might be true for you. And I'm thinking about being punished for being naughty or doing something you should not have done. And I'm sure that most of you would say, as I used to think, that you get punished even when you don't deserve it. Certainly, it wasn't that bad or I didn't deserve it. But the truth is, the truth is how often do you really get the punishment you deserve? How often have you done something that you know is going to make your parents really, really mad and you deserve the worst punishment, the most severe punishment that they can think of for you, but much to your surprise and even much more to your happiness, The punishment was not so bad. Or maybe you didn't get punished at all. You slid right through. Next week, the Lord willing, we will feast at the Lord's table. And as the preparatory form has already reminded us, in Christ Jesus, we have not received what we deserve. But we have received that which we absolutely do not deserve. The Lord's table reminds us, beloved, of what we were in ourselves apart from Christ Jesus. And at the very same time, it reminds us of what we are now in Christ Jesus. And as we prepare to come, we are called to be reminded of these very things. We are called to examine ourselves. We are called to examine our hearts and to remember our sin and misery. And the reason for that is not just to make us feel bad. Sometimes that's how we deal with one another. Sometimes we like to keep each other humble. For example, if one has hurt you in some way and they feel terrible about it, as soon as we sense that they don't feel quite as bad today about it as they did yesterday, then we are tempted to remind them of how they hurt us. We might say, remember when you did this to me? Remember when you said that to me? Because indeed, in our heart of hearts, we want them to continue to feel bad. We want to continue to hold that little bit of power over them. But you see, that's not the purpose of this call to self-examination. God's purpose here is not to make us feel bad. Indeed, we are to be sorry for our sin. But God's purpose, you see, is to lift us up in the joy of salvation. The Bible says, He remembers our sin no more. But you see, for our benefit, we are called to remember our sin and misery because through that, God works through the power of His Holy Spirit to lift us up in greater joy and in greater assurance and greater understanding of such a great salvation. And as each one of us is called to take spiritual inventory of our lives, may we receive the comfort of our God as we consider this text together, considering deserving death, receiving life. This is the blessed estate of God's children who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And there are two details that I would like to draw to your attention this morning. And the first is the extreme contrast. And the second is the only cause. Now this last verse of Romans 6 is a sort of a climax. It's a sort of a summary of all that Paul has preached in this chapter. And we must understand that in the book of Romans, Paul is addressing the church. He's talking to believers, to those who confess Christ, those who are no longer slaves of sin, but who are now who have been brought to be slaves or servants of righteousness. And he continues throughout, especially chapter 6, he continues throughout to contrast sin and righteousness. And his point is very simple. The two don't mix. Sin and righteousness don't mix. That's not to say that believers are not sinners. Each one of us, I trust, knows that by experience. Paul himself says in Romans 7, For the good that I wish to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not wish. But those who have been delivered from lawlessness leading to death are justified by the grace of God. justified all of our sins forgiven taken away from us and in their place having been given the righteousness of Jesus Christ and now those who are justified are being are enjoying sanctification leading to life that blessed gift of the power of the Holy Spirit cleansing us more and more day by day from the power of sin, from the pollution of sin. And those who are justified and are being sanctified are called to live in obedience as servants of God. You see, you cannot be a slave to sin and a servant of righteousness at the same time. Jesus said you cannot serve two masters. It's impossible. What will happen is that you will love the one, he says, and you will hate the other. In verse 23, Paul reminds God's people of their blessed estate by contrasting that blessed estate with where they were headed. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Notice there the extreme contrast between wages and gift, between sin and God, between death and eternal life. We know what wages are. Wages are something we earn. We look forward to our wages. We do our work for the wage that has been promised to us. Boys and girls, you might already begin to understand what that's all about if you're given chores to do around the house and your Parents give you an allowance. That's kind of a wage for the work, the chores you've been given to do. We have a right to be paid the wages we earn. It's interesting that Paul uses this analogy here. What is it that man, by nature, all by himself, earns? What is it that he has a right to? Only death. And that's ours already in Adam from the moment of conception, you see. As the saying goes, in Adam's fall, sinned we all. You see, that's the earning power. That's the only earning power of sin. Young people, sin promises so much. Sin makes many, many things in this life look attractive. Sin makes many false promises and guarantees. But the only thing that sin can deliver is death. The way of sin often seems, it often appears to be pleasing and inviting, but the truth is it bites us. Its end is bitterness. And we experience that in many ways already in this life, don't we? Because sin destroys the peace of the soul. Sin destroys contentment in God's provision. not being satisfied with that which God has given to me, but desiring what God has given to you, having it taken away from you even and given to me. Sin destroys our love for each other. Sin makes our consciences numb so that we don't even care whether we offend God or sin against Him. One commentator says, salvation in sin is as much a contradiction as happiness in misery. And verses 22 and 23 of chapter 6 make it clear that there is no benefit in sin. We like benefits, don't we? So why would we look to sin? There is no benefit in sin. In all of mankind, we can speak of death in different ways, can't we? And all of mankind is spiritually dead by nature, alienated from God. And all of mankind, until Christ returns, will experience physical death. And boys and girls and young people, this isn't just talking about old people. As I reflected back on my life and thought about those whom I knew or were acquainted somewhat with, or knew about, who have died, I thought about Calvin, age 15, killed in a car, school bus accident. Brian, age 12, in a farm accident, crushed by a tractor. Casey, age 18, automobile crash, dead. Clint, 18, classmate of Casey, six months later, killed in a car accident. Carol, 15, cancer. Jeff, 16, died of cancer. Marlon, 17, leukemia. Not to mention the countless young boys and girls who die in tragic ways, whether it be getting accidentally run over by their parents' car or going out on the street getting struck and killed on their bicycle. Or we think of those yet unborn, yet maybe in the seventh or eighth month in the womb, and for whatever reason, they die. Or yet we think of sanctity of human life and the countless number of those who are murdered in the womb. Not just for old people. And all those, you see, who are not born again by the blood of Jesus will die, will forever die the eternal death. And you see, that death is final in that it is eternal and irrevocable, unreversible separation from God from His mercy and grace and only the everlasting presence of His anger and wrath. This is what sin pays. Death is the only thing that man, including you and me, can earn apart from God. And Paul makes this clear. In verse 13 he says, Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness. You see, this was their lifestyle. This is what they used to do, offering the parts of their body as instruments. Their wages were growing constantly. So then how can these believers heed Paul's command here? Because as he says in verse 2, they have died to sin. And in verse 22 he says, they have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God. How did this happen? Well, this is included in that gift of God. Eternal life is salvation. And this is given to the child of God fully and freely. Eternal life, we might say, is the highest expression. It is the total result of God's grace. And we all know that a gift is something that we do not, indeed we cannot earn. A gift is free. It's given. Even a birthday gift, boys and girls, is not deserved. Expected? Yes. Hoped for? Absolutely. Deserved? Earned? No. Our only comfort is in that which is given to us by God, not in that which we earn by sin. This is the gift of God's grace. His undeserved favor. What is that eternal life? We hear that often, eternal life, eternal life, eternal life. in Scripture, we hear from the pulpit. Eternal life. What is that eternal life? It is that new life in communion and restored fellowship with God forever. You see, boys and girls, this life that we live today, this life that we enjoy, has a period at the end of it, like a sentence has a period at the end to signify that the sentence is complete. This life has a period at the end of it. It's called death, but not God's gift of eternal life. And do you know what? It's not just for after this life. It begins in this life for the child of God. Jesus said in John 3, verse 36, He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. He doesn't say shall have, but has. Of course, in this life, the believer does not yet have eternal life fully, as it were. That harmony is not yet perfect. Yet he has the promise of it, and he enjoys it through regeneration, being born again, through conversion. You know, that U-turn. By nature, we're headed toward hell, toward Satan. We desire to sin, and by God's grace, we do that U-turn away from that, and we desire God and to be obedient. The believer enjoys it through repentance and faith and the assurance of forgiveness as well having been adopted into the family of God. Brought in from outside. And this new life, beloved, means that when God's child is sick or sins, He is disciplined by the hand of God. When He is sick, He is comforted by the hand of God. When evil and temptation surround Him in this life, He is strengthened by the peace of God. And this new life is then demonstrated by the child of God through righteousness and obedience in the strength of the Holy Spirit. And it's demonstrated through fellowship with God's people, not through fellowship with the world. But that eternal life, though we enjoy it in this life already, will be fully the believers after this life and for eternity when Jesus Christ comes again. Then, on that day, we will enjoy the completion of it. No more sin. No more sorrow. No more sickness. Only eternal security. Then, there will be full communion with God in His very presence where we will enjoy life in perfect harmony with God. Then, there will be perfect righteousness, holiness, obedience, and worship given to God by His people. His will will be my will. His glory will be my only delight. There's so much more, beloved, that we cannot yet comprehend. Someone has said the life graciously produced and graciously sustained is at last graciously crowned with eternal glory. This is the blessed estate of God's servants, those who deserve death but receive life. And this eternal life is forever. It sounds redundant, but that's the truth of it. It can never be taken away. It shall never be taken away. And this is also true in this life for you and me as well as the next. No one can take away from the believer the free gift God has given to him. No one can snatch the believer out of the Father's hand. And not even death can separate the child of God from his Heavenly Father. Death for the unbeliever will be terrible, horrible. Death for the believer has no sting. It's simply the doorway into the eternal presence of God. Yet to see the opposite is also true, as we must understand. Paul says in Romans 8, verse 1, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But that opposite is also true for those who are not in Christ Jesus. They stand condemned before God. Those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ have only their wages to look forward to. Death, that second death, that eternal death. There's no comfort in that. Instead of eternal life with God, this is eternal separation from God. The presence indeed of His wrath and anger. Instead of the glory of heaven, the unbeliever's inheritance will be the anguish of hell. And of course, there are many who wrongly believe that, well, yes, the believer goes to heaven upon death. Who wouldn't want to believe that? That's so wonderful. That's comforting. But the unbeliever's soul, they say, is annihilated upon death. In other words, it's just gone. It vanishes in the thin air, as it were. The body, of course, is lifeless, but the soul is no more. There's no conscious afterlife for the soul of the unbeliever, they say. But that's simply not true. The Bible is clear from the very mouth of Christ Himself that the deathly wages of the unbeliever includes the lake of fire where the worm does not die and where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus is clear about that. And that certainly doesn't sound like something unconscious to me. Death does not separate the child of God from God, but eternally separates the rejecters of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And this is a truth that we must face and a truth that must cause us to ask, what's more important to me? My wages or God's gift? Those who reject God are fully responsible for their own rejection by God. They are to blame. for their eternal predicament. But God's children, those who receive the gift of God, enjoy the blessed estate of eternal life because of the only cause. Paul says, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now when Paul contrasts sin and righteousness in this chapter, it's clear. It's clear that the sin rightly belongs to us. That's our contribution. In fact, our sin is the only thing that we can contribute toward our salvation. The need to be saved. But the righteousness, the righteousness that replaces the sin in the believer's life is what we might call an alien righteousness. Boys and girls, that means it is a righteousness that comes from outside of us, from another. You see, the believer's eternal life is indeed a gift given to him, but it too has been earned for the sinner by Christ. One who is in Christ is one who has been crucified, died, buried, and raised with Christ spiritually so that his new life is founded firm upon him. We're going to sing in a few moments how firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in His excellent Word. what more can He say than to you He has said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled. The blessed estate of God's servants includes true faith, and it includes the demonstration of true faith. The Holy Spirit grafts God's people into Christ by true faith, just as the branch is grafted into the vine and becomes one with the vine, and draws life-giving nourishment from that vine. Beloved, to be in Christ Jesus the Lord means to be intimately connected with the Anointed One of God, the only Savior, who is our Master and who governs and rules over our life. To be in Christ means to live from grace. To live on charity. And that charity is the charity of the cross of Jesus. It is there that Jesus Christ fought the battle against Satan, sin, and hell. the wages of those who believe on Him were paid out against Christ. And He won, hallelujah! And therefore, those who believe on Him already in this life, by God's grace, may enjoy the blessed estate of eternal life. Christ purchased it. He prepared it. He prepares us for it. And He preserves us to it. We are called to take spiritual inventory. What do you find? Where do you stand in your relationship with the Lord? Are you working for the wages of sin, which is death? Or are you living from the gift of God's grace eternal life? You see, there's no middle ground. It's impossible to have it both ways. And the blessed estate of God's servants is accomplished only one way through Jesus Christ and His saving sacrifice. And it is received and made mine only through repentance of sins and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by the grace of God. And His promise is sure. The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to His foes. That soul, though all hell, should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake. The sinner who has fled to God in Christ for refuge receives the most for the least, eternal life for nothing he has done. If you are here this morning and you have not yet looked to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith, you must know that today is still the day of salvation. That's good news. In God's mercy, that final wage of eternal death has not yet been paid to you. It is not yet too late. He alone provides the way to escape the power of death and the payment of death's wages and that only way is Jesus Christ. And brothers and sisters, as those who do own that joy of salvation, that precious gift of God's grace, we are called to live in the joy of that gift and we are called to demonstrate the joy of that gift in our daily lives. How? By being servants of righteousness. We are called to speak the truth in love. We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are called to treat others as we desire them to treat us. Husbands, we are called to love our wives even as Christ loves His bride, the church, and gave Himself for her. All of us, we are called to strive for purity in our lives. We are called to promote the honor of God's name. And we are called to let our yes be yes and our no, no. Children, we are called to honor our parents. We are called to understand that whatever we do, it is to be done to the glory of God, recognizing that we continue to sin, but comforted that the blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient for all of our sins, past, present, and future. Today, He still gives to us the opportunity to examine our relationship with Him. And our comfort, as 2 Timothy 2.19 says, is the Lord knows those who are His. If you are His, He knows it. He will not forget you. He will not miss you. And He calls us to answer the questions, do I have true faith? Do I demonstrate that? What's next for me? Am I one of His children? Can I say, when Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart? Then I shall bow in humble adoration and there proclaim, My God, how great Thou art. You see, to answer that, we must ask, do I bow before Him today? Only the redeemed child of God can say in confidence that He deserves death. But by the grace of God, he receives life. Only those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ can confess with the psalmist in Psalm 62, my soul finds rest in God alone. My salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress. I will never be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God. He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Beloved, the free gift of God, eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. How precious. Is it yours? Amen. Shall we pray? Indeed, Heavenly Father, Your gift is the greatest gift that we could ever receive. We thank You and praise You for Your mercy and Your grace for not leaving us in the depths of hell into which we had cast ourselves by our sin, but that You have seen fit to save a people for Yourselves and to include us in that number. Indeed, Father, we are humbled because we know that we do not deserve to be called Your children. We do not deserve to call You Father. That we praise your most holy name for the precious gift of salvation in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Continue, Father, to uphold us in that most holy faith. And again, we pray that you would prepare us for that great day when Jesus Christ comes again in all of his splendor, in all of his glory, to take his children home. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen. Thank you.