“Benefiting The Gift Of God In Christ Jesus!”

“Benefiting The Gift Of God In Christ Jesus!”(Rom.6:20-23).
A flashback that honestly reminisces on our teenage activities and when we entered the youth age bracket may bring back to memory things we may laugh at, but which may make us ashamed as well.
The past always have those things for which we are now ashamed of. The things of the past that bring us shame, if we do them today will still bring us shame today and tomorrow.
Paul raises the issue with us, “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the contrBenefitingol of righteousness. What benefit did you reap from the things you are now ashamed of?” A teetotaller asked his friend who joined the “Alcoholic Anonymous”: “You have come back to what you were before you started taking alcohol. What did you gain for all the time you had been taking it?
There was no gain from the life of sin, “But now that we have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit we 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.”
There is a kind of hidden nuance in this last two verses. Becoming slaves of God benefits us holiness, whose result is eternal life. But that eternal life is “the gift of God…” that is in Christ Jesus. A gift is a free offer! It is not so much because we have worked for it. It is simply that believing in Jesus Christ, the incarnation of grace makes us obedient as a response of gratitude for the gift. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”(Jn.3:16).
May we remain slaves to God so as to bask in the glory of the gift of God in Christ Jesus!
Prayer: Thank you LORD for the free gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.