Wages and Gift

Romans 6:23. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Two nouns carry the verse. Wages are what you earn. A gift is what you receive. Sin pays out exactly what it owes, and what it owes is death. God does not pay out at all. He gives.

It is worth noticing what Paul does not say. He does not say the wages of sin is death but the wages of righteousness is life. That would have been symmetrical and it would have been false. Life is not earned by anyone. It is given, in Christ Jesus, to people who had been working for the other employer.

On a Monday morning, when the week's labor is in front of you, hold the two words apart. What you earn from sin will always be paid in full. What you receive from God was never on the payroll. It is a gift, and it is yours.