Regular Dispatch: Eternal Life is the fruit of a life lived in Holiness

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. Rom 6:22

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 6:23

We are very familiar with Rom 6:23. But verse 23 is incomplete on its own if not considered along with verse 22. So a joint study of both these verses is very needed to understand what Paul is trying to say to the Romans.

It is very prevalent in the modern church and in the life of many Christians to emphasize Grace. This overemphasis, I fear is at the cost of Holiness. It is as if – you only need to take Christ as your personally savior, and eternal life follows, regardless the life you live or lack of holiness or the pursuit of holiness.

Jesus in the sermon on the mount (Mt 5:6) clearly states that the unique character of a believer is his or her hunger and thirst after righteousness (or holiness). A hungering person as such, will be filled with righteous behavior and be enabled to live a holy life.

It is true that we don’t live a holy life by our strength or by stringent methods of piety. But the urge (or intent or wish or a love) to live a life holy should come from within us. That hunger is then fulfilled in our life by the Holy Spirit.

A person who truly pursues righteousness will hate and be ashamed (Rom 6:21) of evil and sin in his (or her) own life and will desist from giving an excuse for it. It is for such a person, who hates evil and sin in his (or her) own life and pursues holiness and righteousness, that the Grace of God is applicable.

A saint who in the pursuit of Holiness and righteousness (Mt 5:6) and who guards (Psalm 39:1) his (or her) life from sin and has a right attitude to sin (Psalm 19:12.13, Prov 28:13, Amos 5:15, 1 Th 5:22 (KJV) and is not self righteous (1 John 1:8), when inadvertently or “once in a while” falls in sin, can cry out to the Lord for mercy and God applies Grace to forgive his (or her) sins (1 John 1:9). For such a person sin is not a way of life and Grace an escape shoot, but instead he or she considers grace a precious commodity and sin hated at all cost. This is why Paul reminds us that we can’t go on sinning claiming grace (Rom 6:1-2).

This is where Rom 6:22 comes in. It clearly states that when you are a slave to God and righteousness, and free from sin, you reap holiness which leads to Eternal life. In short, Eternal life is the fruit of a life lived in holiness (“…the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life” 6:22(b))

In this light, let us ask the Spirit of the Lord in us to enable us to repentance and lead us in a pursuit of righteousness (holiness).