Would you open your Bibles with
me to the book of Romans, chapter 6. Romans, chapter 6. Now, my text
is the last verse of this chapter. It's a verse of scripture that
many, many people quote, know by memory. Verse 23 says, the wages of sin
is death. But the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And what I want to talk
to you about this morning is the true nature of God's gift. The gift of eternal life, the
true nature of God's gift. Many people will tell you, you
might read various commentators on this subject, and they'll
talk about eternal life and how eternal life is not so much the
length of life as it is a quality. Now certainly there is a length
of life there. Eternal life being in the sense
of a life that never ends. Salvation from death. We talk
about salvation. How salvation means salvation
from sin. It's also salvation from death. live forever, the resurrection
life, spiritual life, and eternal life. Well, what is eternal life?
And I want to, I basically am just going to give you four words
to consider on this subject. The first word is cause. What
is the cause of eternal life? And you could also use the word
in the same sense there, the source of eternal life. And then
we're going to talk about the ground of eternal life. And then we're going to talk
about the fruit of eternal life. And then lastly, the evidence
or evidences, there's more than one, of eternal life. And we'll
talk about them briefly. Obviously, you could preach several
messages on each point. I'm not going to do that and
belabor the points. Let's give you a general overview
here. But you notice here it says the wages of sin is dead. Now, what do you know about a
wage? Well, a wage is something you earn. That's what it's about. And what it's talking about is
in our natural state as fallen in Adam, fallen sinners, ruined
sinners, born dead in trespasses and sins, that all we can earn
is death. And I'll show you in just a few
passages here how the scripture sets that forth. In other words,
when it comes to a relationship with God, when it comes to salvation,
when it comes to obtaining or gaining eternal life, for a sinner,
you can just forget any notion of earning anything from God. The wages of sin is death. There
are a lot of people who think they can earn their way into
salvation, work their way into salvation. And what's subtle
about this today is many people call it grace. It's a cleverly
disguised system of works. And then there are those who
think, well, maybe I can't earn my salvation, but I can earn
my rewards in heaven. The Bible doesn't teach that. In fact, if you look up the word
reward, you won't even find it in the plural. It's in the singular. And the reward is eternal life,
but that reward comes by Jesus Christ, our Lord. It's not what
I earn from God, it's what Christ earned for me. There's a difference,
and it's important. And the issue there is grace
or works. It is. But earning doesn't come
into the picture here. Grace is totally undeserved and
unearned. I heard a preacher on radio talking
about it yesterday, and he had this right. He went into some
other things that he just messed totally up, but he had this right.
He said, if you want to talk about mercy, well, mercy is God
not giving me what I earn and what I deserve. The wages of
sin is death. If God has mercy on me, he does
not give me what I deserve. How can God do that? He's a holy
God. He's a just God. He must punish
sin. Well, that's the next one. The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. And that's grace. Grace is God
giving me what I don't deserve. So that's the issue. The true
nature of God's gift. But I want you to look back up
in verse 17. Anytime I go to Romans 6, I always
I'm always inclined to read the whole chapter, but we don't have
time to do it all in one message. So I'm going to start at verse
17. But what he's talking about here is the believer's position
in Christ. What I am in Jesus Christ. And
if you're ever going to understand the Bible, you have to make a
distinction as a believer now. I'm talking about those who truly
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. True Christians, true believers.
You have to make that distinction in keeping in mind of what I
am in myself and what I am in Christ. Because there's a difference. And that's not hypocrisy. It's
just a fact. For example, I can tell you right
now that in Jesus Christ, based on his blood, having been washed
in his blood and clothed in his righteousness, having his righteousness
imputed, charged, accounted to me, that I am perfectly righteous
in God's sight. In fact, I can't even be charged
with sin. The scripture says, who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that died. But now in myself, as you see me, as you hear me,
as you deal with me in whatever capacity you do or not do, I'm
a sinner saved by the grace of God and nothing I do is perfect. That's right. I'm in a struggle
constantly. It's called the warfare of the
flesh and the spirit. And that's what it is. But look
at Romans chapter six, look at verse 17. He says, but God be
thanked that you were the servants of sin. Now a servant of sin
is an unbeliever. And I want to make this point
now. You need to understand this. You can be the most religious
person that ever hit God's green earth. If you don't know Christ,
if you're not, listen, if you don't believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, if you're not washed in his blood and clothed in his
righteousness, you're a servant of sin. I don't care if you're standing
behind a pulpit somewhere. That's what a servant of sin
is, and it's a bond slave, it's a legal slave to sins, what he's
talking about there. And he says, you were servants,
slaves to sin, but you have obeyed from the heart. that form of
doctrine which was delivered you." Now, literally, that would
read, you've obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which
you were delivered to. That's what the original text
says. In other words, you were brought under the preaching of
the gospel. That's the form of doctrine. Doctrine meaning teaching. The teachings of the gospel,
the teachings of Christ, the teachings concerning His person. The teachings concerning his
finished work on Calvary to redeem his people from their sins by
the shedding of his precious blood. You were delivered to
that. Now who delivered you to that?
God did. And how did he do it? By his providence. You know what
providence means? That means God's in control.
That's God's government of things. You thought you did it, but you
didn't. God did it. And he says, you've
obeyed from the heart. Now what is the heart? That's
the mind, that's the affections, that's the will, that's the inner
man. And here he's talking about an obedient heart. Now in the
scripture, an obedient heart is a regenerated heart. It's
the heart of one who has been born again from above. Sometimes
it's called the circumcised heart. Romans chapter two, verse 28
and 29. The cutting away of the filth of the flesh is what that
refers to. It's the born-again person. In
other words, you're believing the gospel. Believing in the
Lord Jesus Christ was not the product of any goodness in you
or in me or any act of will in ourselves. If left to ourselves,
we would never believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Most of us
wouldn't even care. But he says you were servants
of sin but you've obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine
which you were delivered to, verse 18, being then made free
from sin. Now that word free there means
liberation. That's important, it means you
were liberated. It's like you were taken out of jail. And you
became the servants of righteousness. Now a servant of righteousness
is a believer who rests in and follows Christ for all salvation. now paul says in verse nineteen
he says i speak after the manner of men because the infirmity
of your flesh they said i'm gonna he's not telling him he's not
saying i'm going to talk down to you but he said i'm going
to speak to you in human terms because of the limitations of
our flesh all of us and he explains that he says for you as you have
yielded your members the members are your hands your eyes your
ears your body all that you are your members You've yielded your
members as servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity. Even so now yield your members
servants to righteousness unto holiness. Now that word iniquity
is an interesting word. You know the Bible has many words
for the word sin. The most common word for sin
in the New Testament literally means missing the mark. For all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You've missed
the mark. There are other words like trespass,
that means you cross the line. Transgress, that means you break
the law. But iniquity, now what does iniquity
mean? Well, the reason I say this is
important is because most people when they read any of the words
for sin in the New Testament especially, those words, sin,
iniquity, whatever, Most people naturally think of the dregs
of society, the most perverted, rebellious people in society. And that's got to apply to them.
But it certainly doesn't apply to the churchgoers, the moral,
the responsible citizens. But you have to understand something
about iniquity. Really, it comes from, you've
heard of the word equity? Well, that's what it comes from.
And equity means something is equal, something balances out. Alright? If it's inequity, it
means it doesn't balance out. It falls short of the standard. And what inequity means is this.
It means that no matter how much we try to do, whether it be in
religion or morality, or dedication or sincerity, we cannot measure
up. We cannot equal righteousness. We just can't do it. No matter
how hard we try. Now, why is that? Well, because
we're sinners. Look back at Romans chapter three. And look at verse 10. It says in verse 10 of Romans
three, As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one,
not even you, not even me. And you all know how I always
go to that scripture. I said, most people, when they
read scriptures like that, they read it, they get the accept
me syndrome. There's none righteous, no, not
one, except me. No, no exceptions. No exceptions. Now what does that mean? Does
that mean that there's nobody in the world that's moral? No, there's
all kinds of moral people in the world. Churches are full
of them this morning. Are there no religious people
in the world? There's a lot of religious people, a lot of dedicated
people, a lot of sincere people, but there's none righteous, no,
not one. Now what's he talking about?
He's talking about mankind in his natural state as born ruined
in Adam. We don't have righteousness.
And our attempts to make ourselves righteous by our works is what? Iniquity. Doesn't measure up. You say, well now I'm going to
start today. I want you to think about it.
I'm going to start today and I'm going to do the best I can
in every way to measure up to righteousness. And I'm telling
you, you won't make it. That's why those false preachers
stood before Christ as he spoke in Matthew 7, 21. Not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
Many will say unto me, Lord, haven't we preached in your name?
Haven't we cast out demons? Haven't we done many wonderful
works? And he said, depart from me. You that work iniquity, I
never knew you. Now, what was wrong with what
they were doing? Is there anything wrong with preaching in his name?
No, nothing wrong. I'm preaching in his name this
morning. Is there anything wrong with casting out demons? Well,
no. I mean, if God has given the ability to cast out demons,
which he gave in the early New Testament church, nothing wrong
with that. Anything wrong with doing many
wonderful works? No, there's nothing wrong with
it. But they will not measure up to righteousness. I stand before you preaching
the gospel of Christ from God's Word. Does that make me righteous
before God? The answer is no. It does not
make me righteous before God. Well, then how can a sinner be
righteous before God? Well, hold on. Now look back
at Romans 6. He says, even so now, verse 19,
even so now, yield your, last part of it, even so now, yield
your members, servants to righteousness unto holiness, in other words,
strive to be like Christ. He says in verse 20, for when
you were the servants of sin, when you were an unbelief, you
were free from righteousness. In other words, you were under
a system of works that condemned you. What fruit had you then
in those things whereof you're now ashamed? For the end of those
things is death. Now, if you get caught doing
something wicked, usually you're ashamed. But what he's talking
about here, think about Saul of Tarsus. You know, Paul the
Apostle, that was his name before God saved him, Saul of Tarsus.
What was he doing that when he saw Christ and believed in Christ
that he became ashamed of? It's all his religion. All his
efforts to make himself righteous, which he was so proud of before,
but now he was ashamed. The end of those things is death.
Verse 22, but now be made free from sin, liberated from sin
and become servants to God. You have your fruit unto holiness
and the end of the everlasting life for the wages of sin is
death. The gift of God is eternal life. Now let me give you those
four words. All right. And that's, we'll turn to some
scripture. Turn to Ephesians chapter one. The first word is
this, now eternal life, here's what we're talking about, eternal
life. Ephesians chapter one. Now here's the point. In order to have eternal life,
you must have righteousness, period. If there's any sin laid
to your charge or laid to my charge, there's no eternal life.
In order to have eternal life, or any segment of it, or any
part of it, we must have righteousness. Now, here's number one. What is the cause or the source
of eternal life? Well, the cause and source of
eternal life is the sovereign, powerful, grace, mercy, and love
of God in Christ. That's number one. The sovereign
powerful grace, mercy, and love of God in Christ. Look at verse
3 of Ephesians 1. He says, Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with what
now? What's that word? All spiritual
blessing in heavenly places in Christ. Now preachers are going
up and down this world talking to people, telling them things
that just are not scriptural. They'll tell you, smile, God
loves you. God's trying to do this. He's
trying to save you if you'll just let him. But here's what
the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that God's
people have already been blessed with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places. How? In Christ. I want you to
know that God is a just God and he must punish sin. God can by
no means clear the guilty. I preached this on TV this morning,
how there's several things, five things, I think I put it, that
you need to know before you die. Number one is God is holy and
just and righteous and cannot clear the guilty. Somebody says,
well, wait a minute now. I went to a church last week
and they talk about God's love and God's mercy. Yes, God is
love. Yes, God is merciful. Yes, God
is gracious, but not at the expense of his justice. Not at the expense
of his truth and his righteousness. That's why the main issue of
the gospel lies in that question of questions. How can God be
just and still justify a sinner like me? That's the issue. You see, people don't understand.
The moment you say that God forgives sins, you've got a problem. And
what is the problem? Well, God is just and he must
punish sin. Now, how can that God who is
just, how can he forgive sin and still be just? He's got to
be. You say, well, he's so loving.
He just says, forget it, fellas. You know, y'all made some mistakes.
No, not, that's not what the scripture teaches. So what is
the source? And the cause of eternal life.
Well, listen to it. Look, look on verse four of Ephesians
one. It says, according as he had
chosen us in him, that is in Christ before the foundation
of the world, that's election. People today, they don't like
that. They say, well, no, it's not what, it's not what God chooses.
It's what I choose. Well, look at it. He says, before
the foundation of the world, you weren't around then to choose
anything. He says that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love. That's God's purpose. How's he
done that? Verse five, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children, how? By Jesus Christ to himself. Had a fellow call me on the phone.
I've preached something, I preached out of this passage here on TV
up in Kentucky. And he called me, he said, he
said, I don't believe in that predestination. And I said, well,
where do you think I got that word from? I said, I got it from the Bible.
And I asked him, I said, you don't believe the Bible then,
huh? And he said, oh, I believe every word of the Bible. I said,
well, predestination is one of those words. I said, you better
not go around talking about how you don't believe predestination.
You better find out what it means. And I asked him this, I said,
do you believe the book of Revelation? He said, I believe every word
of it. And I said, well, do you believe those are things that
are going to happen? for sure, without fail, or things
that might happen. He said, I believe they're going
to happen without fail. I said, well, that's predestination,
friend. God's the one who determines these things. You say, well,
I can't understand that. Well, join the club. We'll all
get badges and wear them. That doesn't matter. This is
what the book says. This is what the Bible says.
He said, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself, by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of what? His will. There's the cause of
eternal life. The sovereign will and purpose
of God. Verse six, to the praise of the
glory of His grace wherein He made us accepted, accepted before
God, how? In the beloved, in Christ. Now
how does he do it? Verse 7, in whom we have redemption
through his blood, the death of Christ for the sins of his
people, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his
grace. And that brings me to the second word, the ground of
eternal life. The cause of eternal life is
the sovereign will, the sovereign mercy, grace, and love of God
in Christ. The ground of eternal life is
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ for the sins of his people, which
brought in righteousness. to enable God to be both a just
God and a Savior, to enable God to be both a righteous judge
as well as a merciful heavenly Father. How can God be just and
still justify a sinner like me? It's through the blood, the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the righteousness
of God in and by the Lord Jesus Christ that's imputed, accounted,
charged to His people. Look back over at Romans chapter
6. Look at verse 4. Here he's talking
about a sinner standing before God in Christ. And he says, therefore
we are buried with him by baptism into death. That word baptism
means to be placed into. It means we were united to Christ
in his death. All for whom Christ died were
united to him in his death. He died for me. My sins were
charged to him. He went to the cross and shed
his blood unto death to pay for the sins of his sheep. He said,
the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. And he says, verse
four, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the
glory of the father, even so we also should walk in newness
of life. That's eternal life. Well, there's
the ground of it. The ground of eternal life is
not what I do or what you do. It's what Christ did. Verse five,
for if we've been planted together in the likeness of his death,
united to him in his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection. All for whom he died shall be
risen. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him. The old man is our former connection
with Adam. That the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Look at
verse seven, for he that is dead, Dead with Christ is freed. Now what is that word freed there?
It's justified from sin. That's the ground of salvation,
the death of Christ. Justifies me from sin. Sets me free. Leaves me without
charge. It gives me righteousness before
God. That's what justified means.
It means to be totally, totally free from the guilt of sin. And
it means to be declared righteous before God. How is it possible
that I, a sinner, can be forgiven of my sins? Can be righteous
before God? Right there it is. The redemption
that is in Christ. That's the ground of salvation.
That's the ground of eternal life. Look over Romans 3. It's not by works of righteousness
that we do. He says in verse 19, look at
it, Romans 3. Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become
guilty before God. Remember we read up there a while
ago, there's none righteous, no, not one. Set out to do it. You will not make it. All who
are under the works of the law will be condemned by the law.
That's what he's saying. Verse 20, therefore by the deeds
of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in God's sight.
For by the law is the knowledge of sin. The only thing the law
can do for you or for me is to show us what sinners we really
are. and how we deserve nothing but
condemnation. That's why Paul called it, you
know, in 2 Corinthians 3, he called it the ministry of death,
the law, the ministry of condemnation. Because that's the only thing
it could do. It cannot save me. The law cannot save me. The law
can only condemn me. You understand that? Christ is
the Savior. He's the one who kept the law.
The Bible says in Romans 10, 4, Christ is the end, the fulfillment,
the finishing, the completion, the perfection of the law for
everyone that believeth. To believe in Him is to believe
that He fulfilled the law on my behalf. So look at verse 21
of Romans 3. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested. Now that's without my obedience
to the law. And he says, being witnessed
by the law and the prophets. The law being the first five
books of the Old Testament, the books of Moses, and the prophets
being the rest of the Old Testament. And he says in verse 22, even
the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ. That's a good translation of
the original there. It's the faithfulness of Christ
that gives me righteousness. It's not my faith that makes
me righteous. I, by God-given faith, believe
in Him who is my righteousness, but it's His faithfulness to
do what He came to do. to obey the law unto death for
my sins. Christ was faithful in all that
he did to do the will of his father, to save his people, and
it's by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, that is, it's to be
preached to everybody. We'll preach it to everybody.
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel and upon all
them that believe. In other words, where righteousness
has been charged, accounted, imputed, faith will be given
to believe it. There's no difference. All sin
and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely,
verse 24, unconditionally, without a cause, by his grace, undeserved,
unearned, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. You
see that? That's the ground of eternal life. Back over in Romans
6, 23, the wages of sin is death. The gift of God. That's a gift. is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord. There was a fella up in a little
town called Iron, Ohio, who had a shotgun he wanted to give to
a friend. And he gave the shotgun to his friend as a gift, and
the friend said, well, let me give you a nickel for it. He
said, a nickel? He said, yeah. He said, well,
why do you want to give me a nickel for it? He said, well, that way
I can honestly say that I paid something for it. And I said,
that's just like man by nature. You know, the most difficult
thing for a human being, a sinful human being to do is to receive
salvation totally as a free, unearned, undeserved gift. He won't do it by nature. That's why you have so many different
religions. Because with some people, they
have to pay more than a nickel for the shotgun. With some people,
you've got to get baptized, you've got to do this, you've got to
walk an aisle, you've got to give your tithe, you've got to
do this. With others, it's a little bit less, but at least a nickel. Make me feel better about myself.
Make me feel better about taking that gift. Well, you've got to
pay a nickel for it. It's not a gift. It may be worth
more than a nickel, but it's not a gift. You see, that's the
thing about it. Look at it. The gift of God is eternal life. But there is a price to pay.
There's a work to be done. Not by you, not by me. It's through
Jesus Christ our Lord. That's what grace is all about.
That's the ground of salvation. That's the ground of eternal
life. It's the righteousness of God in Him, in Christ. It's
the righteousness of Christ imputed to His people. And then there's
the fruit of eternal life. What is the fruit of eternal
life? Well, it's the new birth. Regeneration, conversion by the
Holy Spirit, which he imparts spiritual life to all for whom
Christ lived and died and arose. I read this earlier in John chapter
12. Look over at John chapter 12
with me. You see the new birth. is the impartation, the infusion,
you might say, however you want to put it, of spiritual life
and knowledge, faith, repentance, all the gifts and graces of the
Holy Spirit, whereby a sinner is brought to believe from the
heart that form of doctrine which he's delivered to. And here's
the way Christ put it in John chapter 12. Look at verse 31
or 32. He says in John 12, 32, and I,
if I be lifted up from the earth, that's his crucifixion, will
draw all unto me. In other words, out of his death
comes life for his people. And it says, this he said, signifying
what death he should die. Look back at John 6, verse 37. Listen to this, John 6, 37, he
says, all that the father giveth me, what? Shall come to me. Remember he said, come unto me,
all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.
You think that's an act of man's free will? No, sir. That's an
act of God's sovereign will. and power he says all that the
father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out that doesn't mean he's going to turn
away anybody anybody who wants salvation God's way in Christ
will have it problem is that man by nature doesn't want it
God's way he wants it his own way he's like Cain Cain wanted
salvation Cain wanted forgiveness Cain wanted blessings but he
wanted it his way on the ground of his works. But Abel came with
the blood of what? The Lamb. Grace. That's God's way. Christ said,
I'm the way, the truth, the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. You come based on anything else,
you say. So what does he say here? All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Look over at verse
44 of John 6. He says, no man can come to me. except the father
which has sent me draw him." Now remember he said, I, if I
be lifted up, will draw all unto me. Well, he says, no man can
come to me except the, that word can there is the, is the word,
uh, it's the word we get, we get our English word dynamite
from. It's the ability, the power. No man has the power to come
to me except the father which has sent me draw him. And I will
raise him up at the last day." Well, how does the father draw
him in the new birth? It says, it's written in the
prophets, they shall be all taught of God. That's out of his word.
Every man therefore that hath heard. Now how does hearing come? Spiritual hearing. Faith cometh
by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Remember he told
his disciples, he said, blessed are your ears for they hear.
Now you're hearing what I'm saying. You have that physical ability,
but do you have spiritual ears? And you know what the difference
is? Well, there's a lot of ways to describe it. But spiritual
ears hear, and they value what they hear. When you hear of Christ,
when you hear of the forgiveness of sins by his blood, when you
hear of justification by his righteousness, when you hear
of the glory of his person, it means something to you. It's
your life, means everything to you. So therefore that hath heard
and hath learned of the Father, how God can be both a just and
righteous judge as well as a loving Father, cometh unto me." That's
the fruit of eternal life. And then lastly, let me give
you several things here in closing. The evidences of eternal life.
Well, there are many. First of all, there's faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Do I trust Him for all of salvation,
or am I looking somewhere else? I was telling a couple of the
men earlier, I said, you know, when most people, when you start
talking to them about salvation, are you saved, a lot of people
today, they'll always go back to some experience in a church
that they had when they were younger. Well, you know, when
I walked an aisle, and I gave my heart to Jesus, and I got
baptized, and all of that. Let me tell you something. The
Bible speaks of salvation as a sinner being brought to Christ
and continually looking to Him as the author and finisher of
their faith. Is my hope built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness? I mean today. I'm not talking
about when I was 12 years old or when I was 14 or whenever.
or even when I was baptized. Should believers be baptized?
Yes, they should confess Christ publicly. But I mean right now,
am I looking to Christ as my only salvation, my only righteousness
before God? Right now. We can talk about
the evidence of repentance of sin and idolatry. That's a gift
from God. Acts 11, 18 talks about how God
granted repentance to the Gentiles. Has God granted me repentance?
Do I see everything that this world holds dear and highly esteems
as an abomination in light of the blood and the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ? We can talk about preservation
by God's power and grace by means of perseverance in the faith.
Sinners who are brought to Christ will never leave Him. Not truly. They may stray for a while. We
can talk about obedience to the commandments of Christ motivated
by what? Love, grace, and gratitude, not
legalism, not legal fear of punishment or mercenary promises of earned
reward. Why do we serve the Lord? Paul
said, the love of Christ constrains me, drives me, motivates me. We can talk about fighting the
warfare of the flesh and the spirit, leading to godly sorrow
over sin, a continual life of repentance. All of those things. The gift of God. The whole gift
of God. That's what eternal life is all
about. That's what the nature of God's
gift is. It's not just segments of religion,
or religious practice, or religious duties. It's the gift of God
which is eternal life, that quality of life which brings a sinner
to Christ and keeps that sinner looking to Him for all salvation,
for all righteousness, for all forgiveness, for all glory.