The apostle Paul taught those in Rome who were Christians regarding sin and eternal life. At one point, he spoke these words, “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” (Romans 6:22-23). Jesus Christ set us free from the bondage of sin – we no longer seek to lead a life of sin. The end result of this is eternal life. In the previous verse, Paul said eternal life is the gift of God (see also Romans 5:20-21). Notice that there is nothing we can do to “earn” our way into heaven. The freedom from sin and the entry into eternal life are gifts from God. That not only makes us humble, but thankful that our God is that concerned about us to enable us to humbly confess our sins and receive Christ’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life.

We know that in this life, there are no real guarantees because human tendencies are fallible. However, the guarantee of eternal life can only come from God Himself. God lives in a perfect realm and His claims are perfect. That is why Jesus Christ was quick to proclaim to the inquiring Jews that He is truly the Messiah, the One Who was sent by God the Father, and is God Himself. His mission was, and still is, to restore lost souls to Himself. Our souls were lost because of sin, but Christ restored us to God Himself through the sacrifice of Himself on the cross. That is why Christ could exclaim with authority about all those who humbly repent and come to Him for forgiveness: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27).