If you would, turn with me to
Romans 6. Romans 6. Romans 6, and I'm going to start
with one verse. And that's verse 23. Romans 6,
verse 23. For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord. We have one verse here, and in
this one verse we see the gospel. As has been said before, you
cannot preach man too low and you cannot preach God too We
see two things here at least, and these two things are comprised
of a lot of other different things. We see what fallen sinful man
has earned, that is, in his flesh. And we see what Christ has earned,
and what he has earned includes all those to whom this is speaking
about. So we're going to somewhat or
to some extent pick apart this verse and see what we can see
in it. So we have the wages of sin is death, and eternal life
is the gift of God. So the wages of sin is death.
Now this first verse starts out with a for. So when we see that
starting a sentence, what do we do? We go back to look and
see what it's there for. The preceding verses tell us
things pertaining to these two things mentioned in this one
verse. We will start by reading the verses pertaining to the
first part of our text verse. So let's read verses 20 and 21.
For when ye were the servants of
sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye been in those
things, whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is
death." So in reference to verse 23,
where the wages of sin is death, we see here that there are some,
and I use this word some for a reason, but some who were the
servants of sin. We read who this some are in
verses 3 and verse 5. Let's read those, verses 3 and
verse 5. Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into
Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? And then verse 5. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection. Amen. That so many of us were
baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized in his death. Not all, but those of us who
were baptized in Jesus Christ. Who are those? Those chosen in
Christ from before the foundation of the world. That is what the
scripture testifies to us. So that's the way it is. If you
were not chosen by God and His Son, Jesus Christ, before the
foundation of the world, then you were not baptized with Him. You have no part in this. But
being the servants of sin, then we are or were exempt from righteousness. What is another way we can say
it from Scripture? They have no righteousness. This
exactly agrees with Scripture because we read in Scripture,
there is none righteous. No, not one. Now, that statement
does mean all there. But not all know this. What we
are reading in our text is to those who know they have no righteousness
of their own. There is none that have any righteousness
of their own, but not all know this. What these who are spoken
of here who were the servants of sin, and it says they were
servants unto it. Sinning is what they live for.
It is what they look for, so we can say that is what they
live for, and that is to commit sin because they serve sin. This is what they did. Those
things they lived for have a result. Fruit, as it is spoken of here,
is the result of work. What is the fruit said to be?
Death. Death is the result of the work
of sin. Any work we do outside of Christ
is a work of sin. The wages of this is death. Sin will have the wages do it,
and it will be paid. It is not just written off in
God's books. It must and will be paid. What men and women will get for
their works is death. It is the payment you get for
being the servants of I know this world has a thought of they
will do enough good that it will be more than the bad. First of
all, they cannot do any good. So right off the bat, they're
wrong. Scripture says there is none good, no not one. But it does not matter how much
good you do. If you sin, and we are told in
Scripture that we do sin, but if you sin just one time, then
the wages you earn for that is death. That payment will surely
come. Right in front of us, in the
pages of holy writ, we are given the sentencing from the great
judge, Jesus Christ the Lord. That sentencing is death for
serving sin. Him also being the prosecutor,
he gives us the proof of this, his holy law. God's holy law
It does not make us what we are and it cannot help us because
it is weak through the flesh. It can only tell us what we have
done and what we are. We have broken God's holy law. If we offend in one point, we
are guilty of all. We have offended in more than
one point, so there is no doubt we are guilty of all. So the
law of God tells us we are guilty before this mighty judge. His
law comes to us and puts us in handcuffs. He arrests us by his
holy law. In arresting us, he puts us in
his prison and we will see what it is that we have done. If God
never arrests you, you will never come to know and see that you
are guilty before him until it's too late. God tells us in his
word, sin is the transgression of the law. It is the proof of
our guiltiness before him. Because God says to do this and
live through his holy law, and we have not, and we cannot do
it. Why is this? Because we are already
dead. Dead men and women cannot do
the law of God. When Adam died, we all died. Romans 5 and verse 12 says, Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. So the sentence is already passed
down. Death has come. We cannot do
what God tells us to do in his holy law, because we are dead. We see this manifested in scripture
in John 3. We see that we are already in
a state of death and condemnation. John 3, verse 18, it says, He
that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. God says to do this and live,
but we cannot do this and live. Because we are dead and we are
servants unto sin as we are born in hell. Sin is the transgression
of the law and we have transgressed that law. So it is proved to
us that we are guilty. The law of God is not for God,
it is for me. It was given by Moses, is what
the scripture says. And it was given because of transgressions
of it, to show us what we have done. to prove to us, not to
God, to us that we are guilty. The penalty is already pronounced.
Keeping the law is not what God tells us to do. He tells us to
believe Jesus Christ. But we cannot being dead in trespasses
and in sin. God says the soul that sinneth
it shall die. There might be some who think
they do not I hear that there are many a criminal who are in
jail who think they have done nothing wrong to deserve their
punishment. They will tell you or they may
think that they are not guilty of the crime they are accused
of, but just because they say it or just because they think
it, it does not make it so. If they have the indictment against
them and the evidence is put forth to show their guilt and
they are found guilty, then the court says they are. guilty. No matter how much they think
or say otherwise, it will not change the fact that the court
says they are guilty. Their thinking, it is not so,
will not change this. Now I know in this world's court
system there might be some who are accused and found guilty
who have later been proved to not be guilty of that particular
crime. But the court we are talking about is not the court of this
world. The court we are talking about
is the court of God Almighty. God never gets it wrong. God
says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So our guilt is set before him. God is judge. God is prosecutor. God is jury. God sets the sentence. I want everyone listening to
me, everyone hearing me, To keep in mind, God has already set
the sentence. Death has already come. It is
not that he will pronounce it one day. He will announce it
one day, but it will come as a surprise to some. God does
not change, so his sentence does not change. No one will be given
a pardon. All must pay the penalty. They
must get the wages for sin. The wages that come from sin,
which we all are and we have all committed, that wage is dead
and that punishment will be carried out. However, we do have a but
here. In this verse, we see one of
those but gods that we speak about, that scripture speaks
about in some places. And this leads me to my next
point. Eternal life is the gift of God. Since we have a 4 that starts
out this verse, let's go back and look at the verse that speaks
about this part of our text verse, verse 22. Verse 22. But now, being made free from
sin and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness
and the end everlasting life. So we see that those who were
servants to sin have been made free. from sin. Not free to serve
self, but free to serve God. The fruit that is found in this
is a fruit unto holiness, is what it says. The end of that
fruit is everlasting life. In other words, there is no end
to that life. So there is what we are talking
about in this verse. When we read this second part
of our text verse, we have a gift from God. That gift is not a
gift we reject or we accept. It is either a gift we have or
we don't have. If you are given this gift, you
will not reject it. You will just possess it. If
you are not given this gift, you obviously will not accept
it, but you will never know it. It is not up to you. God gives
or withholds his gifts as he sees fit. And that is just the
way it is. This eternal life we get from
God is given to us through Jesus Christ our Lord, it says. Romans
5.18 we read, Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came
upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness
of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life. So by one man we have all died. Death has passed on all men,
for that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
But here we have a righteousness coming to all men. The all men
here being all different kinds of men, from every tribe, kindred,
tongue, and nation. That's what it means, and that's
just the way it is. The preponderant testimony of
scripture agrees with this, and the context of this passage agrees
with this. But this righteousness has come
upon them unto justification of life." That word there means
acquittal. We have been acquitted. Those
in Christ have been discharged completely of any guilt before
God and by and through Jesus Christ. Acquitted can mean to
pay off. So the wages we earned have been
paid off. We are not pardoned, we are acquitted
by Jesus Christ. Come with me to Ephesians 1.
Ephesians 1. Very familiar to you, but I want
to read this. Ephesians 1 and verses 3 and
4. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. I have been saying that this
is talking about or talking to a certain people, a specific
people. Those who come from every tribe,
kindred, tongue and nation. Right there in Ephesians 1 we
see this said by God through the pen of the Apostle Paul.
Verse 4 says, According as he hath chosen us. It is God's choosing
that has us in Christ. We choose nothing. we are just
chosen. Had he not chosen us, then what is said next would
not happen to us. That we should be holy and without
blame before him in love. Verse 3 of Ephesians tells us
that it is him who is to be blessed for this. There is nothing said
there about blessing us because we chose him. Therefore, he chose
us. Many places in today's religion
will spout off that lie. They can read right in scripture,
just like we read in Ephesians, that it is God who has chosen
us, yet they want to rest the scripture to their own destruction. I am glad that God chose me in
Christ, for had he not chosen me, I would never have known
him. We are told in scripture, there
is none that seeketh after God, not one. Yet men and women want
to insist that they find God on their own, that they can please
God on their own, and that they are kept by themselves. Justification
of life comes through one man and one man alone. If you were
not chosen by God in Christ, then you will never see this
righteousness which justifies you before God to life in Christ
Jesus. Those who believe Jesus Christ,
as we've already read in God's Word, it's what God's Word tells
us. But those who believe Jesus Christ
are not condemned. Those who believe not are condemned
already. Believing Jesus Christ does not
come from yourself. This is nothing new. It's just
a reminder of what we are told in Scripture. Faith is the gift
of God. Without this faith, it is impossible
to please God. But if he is pleased to give
this to you, then it is accounted to you for righteousness. If he does not, you are condemned
already. Believing Christ is believing
who he is, and that is God. Jesus Christ is God. So if you
do not believe Jesus Christ is God, then you do not believe
him. It also believes what he has done. So if you do not believe
that it was him and him alone that saved his people from their
sins, then you do not believe God. It is as simple as that. But let's go back to our text
first, and I want to conclude with this thought. The wages
of sin is death, and those wages had to be paid. They were not
just thrown out by God. God brings or he will bring you
before his throne of justice. He is judge, he is prosecutor,
he is jury, he is the sentencer. His law says we are guilty, so
guilty we are in and of ourselves. Anyone listening to me, you are
guilty before God with nothing to pay. So his indictment is
that you must die. You will die. In fact, we have
already died, as we've already said. But there's one more thing
that Jesus Christ is. That is, there is one more thing
that God is. He is a redeemer. He is a substitute. That sin had to be paid for.
It was not just pardoned. He had to pay for those sins
that were committed by those we read of in our text. God says
the wages of sin is death. So it is. That has to be paid
for. God is angry with the wicked
every day, just as Jonathan Edwards points out in his message, Sinners
in the Hands of an Angry God. There are people in churches,
but I'm not even talking about this religious world and their
religious institutions. I'm talking about people who
attend sovereign grace assemblies, who do not know about this angry
God. They have not been given by God. They have not been called by
God, and they believe that their knowledge only of these things
is what saves them. They are deceived. The bad thing
about being deceived is you don't know you were deceived or you
would change it. God is an angry God. God is an angry God against sin,
and sin will be dealt with in full. For some, though, God himself
came down, that is, Jesus Christ came down and he suffered the
wrath of this angry God in their state. You've heard this before,
but back at 3.2 we read, O Lord, I have heard thy speech and was
afraid. O Lord, revive thy work in the
midst of the years. In the midst of the years make
known, in wrath remember mercy. God will either show his wrath
towards you, or if he does, and if he does, it will be for eternity.
You cannot change this, because God does not change. Or, he has
dealt with your sin in his Son, Jesus Christ, in your spirit.
In his wrath towards Christ, he shows mercy to those for whom
he died. So sin will be paid for. Some
have had this done in their substitute. Others will have made manifest
one day that they will be the ones who will pay for this eternally.
That's just the way it is. I have no problem saying that
unless God has chosen you in Christ, you
will not be saved. I will have no problem saying
that unless God has chosen you in Christ, you will not be saved
and that you cannot do nothing about it. That's what Scripture
teaches. I know some will say, well, if
I cannot do anything about it, then why would I do anything?
Even those whom God has dealt with your sin and His Son do
not come into this world knowing and loving this. We are all born
to children of wrath, even as others. We hate God just like
everyone else. That lump, that same lump that
Joe was speaking of earlier. Those who he did die for, though,
he will give them life and faith, and they will turn to God for
mercy in his Son. They will not come to God demanding
he do anything. They will come to God pleading
for mercy, knowing they do not deserve it. They know that it
is only if he will be pleased to give it. They know they are
just like everyone else, and they deserve to go to hell forever. I know folks might not think
we believe that, or we teach that those who are His will be
willing to come to Him. But we believe this whole article.
But we believe what God has said in His word about the matter,
and this only by His power and grace. Philippians 2 verse 13
we read, For it is God which worketh in you both to will and
to do of His good pleasure. Scripture says specifically,
because it says here, For it is God. So we're not talking
about anything we work up. This is something done solely
by the sovereign God of heaven and earth. What is it that He
does? He will only do this if He is
pleased to do this. If He is pleased to do this,
then He has always been pleased to do this because God does not
change. God never changes His mind about
anyone. else we would be consumed in
a moment. Key, God works in us both to will, so if you desire
to do something toward God, it will be Him that works this in
you. But it also says He works in
us to do. So if you do it, then He has
enabled you to do it. Let's go back to our verse, Romans
6.23. For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord." The wages of sin is death. Those wages either will be dealt
out one day on those who do not love God, who do not believe
God, or it was dealt with in his son, Jesus Christ, on their
behalf. In his anger towards his son,
he poured out his wrath and dealt with sin in him. Jesus Christ
is God, so God dealt with sin in himself for his people. Those
for whom he has done this have been given this gift of eternal
life. Not through anything they have
done, but what he done on that tree. Those who are his will
in time come to see this, but it will be because he works in
them to do this. What did we read in Ephesians?
We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. He
provides everything we need to do that which he requires. What does he require? Does he
require us to keep God's holy law? No. He requires us to believe
his Son, of which we cannot do unless he works in us both the
will and to do of his good pleasure. He gives us faith, the faith
of Jesus Christ, and we believe him to the saving of our soul.
We fulfill the law by believing Jesus Christ. It does not say
we keep the law, but we fulfill the law through believing him.
This saving is not so God knows we are saved. God knows we are
saved because he sees his Son and what he did. With this, the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ, he is satisfied and the wrath of
God has been abated. Those chosen in Christ are seen
in Jesus Christ, so God is satisfied with us. He saves us so that
we now take sides with God against ourselves. We come to that place
where we will confess, God, you are everything and I am nothing.
Thank you God for your gift of eternal life. Had you not given
it and had you not did what was needed to enable us to receive
this gift, that is to pay the debt of sin I owe and also working
in me both the will and the due of your good pleasure, then it
would not be done. So may he always give it to me
to thank him for his gifts. It is the gift of God to give
his people eternal life through Jesus Christ. Amen. Our holy,
sovereign God, merciful God, dear Lord, we thank you, although
we do not do it as we should, dear Lord. Cause us to be thankful,
dear Lord, because all things come from you, dear Lord. Be
with those or several of us, dear Lord, dear Lord. healing
and stuff, dear Lord. Be with us, heal us. It be your
pleasure to do so, dear Lord, in whatever way you are pleased
to do that, dear Lord. And we trust in you, dear Lord. We have
to, all things come from you, dear Lord. And may it be that
you cause us to always look to you. And all these things we
ask in Christ's name. Amen.