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ROMANS 6:23 “FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH, BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.” (KJV, NKJV, NIV)
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NASB, ASV, RSV, TLB)
We mentioned the “Roman Road to Salvation,” which is typically agreed to be a series of Bible verses from the New Testament book of Romans that explain how to receive salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. These include: Romans 3:23 (previous chapter), now Romans 6:23, and also Romans 5:8 (“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”), Romans 10:9-10 (“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”) and Romans 10:13 (“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”)
Other verses that are sometimes included are Romans 5:1, 8:1, and 5:12. You might have taken a class in learning to lead someone to the Lord using these verses. They are all certainly worth memorizing and I would encourage all Christians to learn them and practice using them to help us evangelize the world. That is our call, by the way.
In Romans 6:23, I notice the distinction between wages and gift. Quite literally, because we all have sinned, we must receive the wages for those sins…death. The Lord told Adam and Eve, on the day that they disobeyed and ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, they would die. They did not die a physical death at that point. That would come later. They did however, experience the spiritual death that is the consequence (or wages) of that disobedience, just like we do because we are born of Adam’s race.
Remember, we all have sinned (Romans 3:23). If anyone wants to argue that point with you, just examine the life lived. It doesn’t take too much soul searching and honesty with how we live to demonstrate that we all have sinned. A holy and righteous God demands penalty for that sin. Without Jesus, some day we will receive the payment for our sins which will be death and eternal separation from God in an endless hell.
In contrast to that wage we all receive for a life of sin, the good news is that Jesus came to pay that price for our sins. The contrast and alternative to our wages or death is a GIFT! Without Jesus, we get what we deserve, we get what we earn. Jesus lived a perfect life and was the only man who ever lived who could say He did not deserve that penalty. Instead, as a sacrifice for our own sins, He hung on a cross and paid the price Himself. As a consequence, He offers us the gift of eternal life in place of our justified wages…we pass from certain death to promised life, thanks to Jesus sacrifice. Now, that’s a gift!
Later in Romans, Paul reminds us that it is a free gift, nothing we could ever earn, nothing coming from our own good works, just in case we might want to boast. The truth is none of us have anything, apart from Jesus, we can honestly boast of. That’s why it is called a GIFT. WOW!
We should all have that “WOW” moment. I can forego getting what I deserve (death) and receive a gift instead, if I will just trust in what Jesus did for me and ask Him to forgive me for those sins. That gift is eternal LIFE. And, as the verse says, it is only through Jesus Christ.
It baffles me why any person who hears that message would reject it. If you are seriously taking on this challenge of memorizing 100 Bible Verses, I can only think that you have received that gift already. If not, do it now! If you have, memorize this verse so you can share it with others who have not yet.
It really is that simple. Jesus did not make it hard. All we have to do is accept His sacrifice, acknowledge that He paid the price for me, truly repent of all the sins that promise to bring me death and He keeps His word to give us eternal life. That’s the good news. Spread it to everyone you know…the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ!
Questions to Consider: Have you ever heard of “easy believe-ism?” That’s the belief that believing isn’t enough. Sure, we must repent of our sins…that is doing something. See Romans 10:9, “confess with thy mouth.” Jesus said even the demons believe in Jesus. Is believing enough? What kind of confession is acceptable? Is this something that, after I have believed in it, I can choose to not believe it any more? Faith is believing in what we cannot see. We did not see Jesus crucified. For 2,000 years now, Christians have become followers because they received this promise by faith. Is there any other way?
Other Scriptures to Study: Review again the Roman Road: Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9-10, 10:13. 1 John 4: 15 “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God.” John 10:32 “Whoever confesses me before men, him will I also confess before my Father in heaven.” Acts 20:21 “…they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” Romans 10:9 “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
 
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