AP

Romans 6:22-23   But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you 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 our Lord.

Throughout this chapter, Paul is dealing with the question he asks at the beginning of it: “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?”.

Up to this point in the letter he has been stressing the point that we are saved through faith alone by grace alone.  In Chapter 4 he had given the classic example of Abraham, who ‘believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness’ (Genesis 15:6), ie “The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness – for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:23-25).  Jesus has done everything necessary for us to be ‘put right’ with God (‘justified’), and there is nothing we can add  to it.

So Paul then, understandably, wants to guard against his readers interpreting this in terms of cheap grace: “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” – as many have done.  The great benefit God’s grace brings with it is holiness – living a life that is consistent with what God has already credited us to be!  Our eternal life, that lasts forever in the presence of our holy God, starts now, so we had best get used to it!

What a blessing it is to experience the Holy Spirit’s gracious work in us, enabling us to bear the fruit of the Spirit more and more throughout our pilgrimage here! “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23a).

– Bruce Christian