The Gift Of God
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
The Apostle Paul clearly told us that salvation is the gift of
God. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ. And grace is the
unmerited favor of God! God bestows His gift freely to all
who believe in Jesus.
This gift of God cannot be earned by doing good works. Before we
knew Christ, we did not know anything about God or His ways or His
commandments. All our good works, if any, were just filthy rags
before Him. We did what was right in our own eyes! Some of us even
thought that we could purchase the gift of God with our money!
Acts 8:18-21
18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’
hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,
19 saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands
may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you,
because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with
money!
21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for
your heart is not right in the sight of God.
By bestowing this free gift to us, God shows us His agape love! He gave His One
and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish
but have eternal life.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life.
Though this gift of salvation is free for all of us, it costs God
everything! Jesus Christ had to pay a great price for our sins! He
died so that we can have eternal life. In order to save us, He could not save
Himself from the death on the cross!
Romans 5:15
But the free gift is not like the offense. For if
by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of
God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ,
abounded to many.
Before Christ found us, we were utterly lost and helpless, not
knowing how to live or how to face the judgment of God after death! Jesus came
at the right time, and died for us while all of us were still
sinners. We were both ungodly and unrighteous but the grace of God
abounded and overflowed towards us!
Romans 5:6-11
6 For when we were still without strength, in due time
Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a
good man someone would even dare to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while
we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, having now been justified
by His blood, we shall
be saved from wrath through Him.
10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God
through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled,
we shall be saved by His life.
11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Most people would not be willing to die for another person,
though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is
really good and upright. But God showed His great love towards us by
sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
As we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ,
the Lord will certainly save us from the wrath of God. For since our
friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we
were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life
of His Son. Yes, the life of His Son! We can now rejoice in our
wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ
has made us friends of God.
How do we become friends of God? How do we live the life that He
desires us to live? Salvation by the blood of the Lamb is just the
beginning of our walk in Christ! As friends, we need to agree, and
walk together.
Our sins were buried with Him by baptism when He died. But God the
Father raised Him from the dead by His glorious power. And by the
same power of the resurrection of Christ, we are now able to walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:4
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism
into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness
of life.
Who raised Christ from the dead? God the Father and His Holy
Spirit!
Romans 8:11
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead
dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also
give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in
you.
1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust,
that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but
made alive by the Spirit,
God has not only given us His Son, He has also given us His Holy
Spirit. The gift of God continues! The Spirit of God, who raised
Jesus from the dead, now lives in us. And just as God had raised
Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to our mortal bodies
by this same Spirit living within us. We now can walk in His Spirit,
and live with Him in His light. The abundant and new life in Christ
begins!
Our old selves have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer
we who live, but Christ lives in us. As we now live in our mortal
bodies, we will trust and obey God, believing in the Son of God who loved us
and gave Himself for us.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who
live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live
in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and
gave Himself for me.
Now let us take a look at the example of Israel. They were once slaves in Egypt.
They did not know God. They did not even know His name! But God sent
a deliverer to them! They kept the Passover. The Lord saved His
people by commanding them to kill a lamb, and then to sprinkle the
blood on the doorposts of their homes.
God saved them not because they had done good works! In fact, they
were stubborn and stiff-necked. All of them had sinned, and had
fallen short of the glory of God. None of them were righteous in the
sight of God! And they were not saved by their good works for there
was none! God saved them simply by the blood of the Lamb! God saved
them because He loved them while they were yet sinners! It was a
free gift! It was not something that they deserved!
Then God led them through the wilderness. It was there that the Lord
showed them His ways, and taught them His commandments. He was
teaching and instructing them how to live in the Promised Land! But
they chose to go against the Lord. They still chose to do things
that were right in their own eyes! Many even murmured against the
Lord, wanting to go back to Egypt! They were not willing to let go
of the Egyptians ways and lifestyles! In doing so, they wandered in
the desert for 40 years!
Of all those who were twenty years old and above when God rescued
them from Egypt, none except Caleb and Joshua, entered the Promised
Land! They perished because they had not obeyed the Lord
wholeheartedly.
Numbers 32:11-12
11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt,
from twenty years old and above, shall see the land
of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they
have not wholly followed Me,
12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the
Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have
wholly followed the LORD.’
God has given us gifts. First, His Son, and then His Holy Spirit!
But what have we done with His gifts? What fruits are we bearing?
Righteousness or unrighteousness? The fruit of the Holy Spirit or
the works of the flesh?
The same Jesus who saves us from sins also says, "Go and sin no
more." Jesus is not demanding for sinless perfection. He is
against wilful disobedience to God, and deliberate decisions to
return back to sinful lifestyles and evil routines. He does not
desire us to continue in the same path of sins and rebelliousness.
God knows that we may sometimes slip, and fall along the journey of
faith. We may sin against Him somehow someday. He is always willing to
forgive us if we acknowledge and confess our sins before Him.
Psalm 51:2-3
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
About sins, we need to acknowledge and confess those as and when
the Lord deals with us. One by one, slowly but surely. For example, in a surgery, the doctor will
only focus on those parts that are designated for operation. They will not do a
complete overhaul!
On the night that Jesus was betrayed and arrested, He washed the
feet of His disciples.
John 13:1-11
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus
knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to
the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved
them to the end.
2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the
heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His
hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God,
4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and
girded Himself.
5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash
the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with
which He was girded.
6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You
washing my feet?”
7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not
understand now, but you will know after this.”
8 Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”
Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part
with Me.”
9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also
my hands and my head!”
10 Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash
his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of
you.”
11 For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not
all clean.”
When Jesus came to wash the feet of Simon Peter, Peter did not know or understand
what the Lord was doing. He protested and said, "You will never ever
wash my feet!”
Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to Me.”
Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord,
not just my feet!”
Jesus replied, “A person, who has bathed, does not need to be
washed, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you are
clean, but not all of you.”
In Israel, the feet of the people were exposed to the dust and
dirt of the roads as they wore
sandals. Only the feet needed to
be washed to be entirely clean if they had taken their baths! During
the Last Supper, the disciples had already bathed before coming to
the meal.
Along the journey of faith in Christ, we may get
dirty as we travel on the roads. If we have bathed, we need to wash only our feet.
If we have not bathed, we need to take one. If our garments and
robes are dirty, we need to wash them. We need to confess and acknowledge
our sins as the Lord searches our
hearts! How do we wash ourselves such as our feet and our robes?
Psalm 119:9
How can a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed according to Your word.
John 15:3
You are already clean because of the word which I
have spoken to you.
Ephesians 5:25-27
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church
and gave Himself for her,
26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing
of water by the word,
27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she
should be holy and without blemish.
Christ has given us His life. We are called to be His Church!
How does Jesus sanctify His Church to be pure and holy? With the
washing and cleansing by the Word of God. Our Lord will present to
Himself a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any other
blemish. She will be holy and without any fault. She is not worldly.
She does not have to be
famous, super rich
or gigantic in size! She has undergone the tests of the Refiner's
fire. And she will be shining bright and glorious! She will be
ready, fully refined and tested when He comes!
1 Peter 2:9-10
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, His own special people, that you may
proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light;
10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had
not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
We were once lost, and were less than nothing. But now we have
become God’s own people. Once we knew very little of God’s love,
grace and mercy, now our lives have been changed. We have been
chosen by God Himself. We are now priests of the King. We are called to be
pure and holy. We are to show others how God has called us out of
the darkness into His wonderful light.
Revelation 22:14 (NIV)
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they
may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates
into the city.
Revelation 22:14 (NKJV)
Blessed are those who do His commandments, that
they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through
the gates into the city.
Revelation 7:14
And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the
ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
The phrase "wash their robes" (NIV) in Revelation 22:14 is in the
present tense, and it signifies
an ongoing action like "do His commandments" (NKJV). But the phrase
"washed their robes" in Revelation 7:14 is in the past tense. We
were washed by the blood of the Lamb. Our robes were white as
snow. But how do we continue to keep our garments clean and white? The
continual washing of the robes is by the Word of God! Thus the phrase "wash their robes" is the same as
"do His commandments."
Ephesians 5:25-27
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church
and gave Himself for her,
26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing
of water by the word,
27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she
should be holy and without blemish.
To remain pure and holy in Christ, we need to be sanctified and cleansed
continually with the washing of water by His Word!
Revelation 14:12
Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep
the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
We are encouraged to endure patiently every trial, tribulation
and test in our walk with Christ. As His saints, we must remain
faithful to Him to the end by our obedience in doing His
commandments, and by our unwavering trust and hope in Jesus.
Matthew 24:13
But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
Revelation 21:7
He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I
will be his God and he shall be My son.
Remembering what had happened in ancient Israel, only those who
followed the Lord wholeheartedly entered the Promised Land!
Written on 27 August 2021