And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ro. 6:23)
Romans 6 begins with the question, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” The chapter ends with, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The chapter highlights the stark contrast between the wages of sin and death vs. the free gift of God and eternal life. The sinner plows iniquity, sows lust, and reaps death. The redeemed plows righteousness, sows faith, and reaps an eternal relationship with God. To choose sin is to earn its paycheck that depletes, takes, and does not give. To choose Jesus is to receive His free gift of grace that restores, gives, and offers hope. To continue in sin is to remain in the talons of its death grip. Jesus’ love-sacrifice on the cross made a way for all to live forever in a relationship with Him. He has given His perfect Word, sure, pure, and clean, for the one willing to receive Him by faith.
In Jesus we are righteous, we are forgiven, and we are loved. The Lamb of God came to sacrifice His life that we may be free from the bondage of sin. The flesh, the devil, and the world press in on us with no mercy. This becomes a daily, an hourly, even a minute-by-minute struggle. It is our choice whether we yield to our natural interests and desires or to His will. Is it a struggle? Yes. Is it worthwhile? Yes. Our heads know this truth, but our will struggles to work it out in our lives. Yet, when we surrender our will and our heart to God’s gift of grace through Jesus, we are set free from the law of sin. What a glorious liberty is ours. When we bathe in His blood, the truth is no longer locked away from us. The responsibility, blame, and punishment of guilt are removed (I Jn. 1:9), and replaced by the grace, liberty, and righteousness imparted to us by Christ Jesus.
Won’t you break out of the chains enslaving you, your passions and lusts? Will you choose this day to live yielded to God, to His Spirit, to His truth as you traverse the path He has set before you? He has given you eternal life, free from guilt and sin. In Christ, you are alive from the dead, an instrument of righteousness to God, under grace. What a magnificent declaration is yours to make as you receive the gift of God, no longer condemned. Sing it loud, sing it clear: “And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.”