S10P5 – Righteous slavery: rewarded with eternity
Romans 6:22-23
But now since you have been set free from sin and have become [willing] slaves to God, you have your benefit, resulting in sanctification [being made holy and set apart for God’s purpose], and the outcome [of this] is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The great tactic of the enemy of our souls is to present us with counterfeits. These come in the form of false gods, false love, false hope, false peace and myriad other shams. We can buy a knockoff of everything God offers, and the price is our souls. God provides the free gift of sanctification, through which we gain eternal life. Being a slave to righteousness works in us to this end.
Those who remain slaves to sin might do so because of what they believe they gain in the process. Lack of self-control is disguised as freedom, lust disguised as love, hatred of God disguised as tolerance. God has a design for the model human life, and only that lifestyle brings true eternal benefit. The counterfeit designs for life only bring temporary illusions of virtue. The only eternal result of being a slave to sin is destruction.
God desires to spend eternity with us. Is that not an incredible realization? He makes the way for us to be justified, then sanctified, to be prepared for eternal life with Him. Sin comes with a cost, which is death. What God offers is free, and the life we give in exchange for salvation is not ours anyway. God entrusts us with this life, and we are to be stewards of it, which means living as He guides. And in exchange for relinquishing this temporary existence, we gain eternity. Father, thank you that justification and sanctification are free gifts, and remind us daily that it is You who desires to spend all His days with us.