Romans 6:23:  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This Gem, like the previous Gem, captures the essence of what is removed from us when we receive the gift of Eternal Life. It also uses an illustration that conveys a very particular connotation.

“The wages of sin is death” – Eternal Death is the just payment due any one who fails to do everything God commands.  “But the gift of God is eternal life” – but this comes through Jesus Christ.

Do you see the starkly contrasting pair of words from these phrases (other than ‘death’ and ‘life’)?  The first phrase uses the word ‘wages’ and the second phrase uses the word ‘gift’.  This is a profound observation because the Holy Spirit does not mish-mash his words.  He uses precisely the words that convey his intent.  In this Gem he uses the precise word ‘wages’ and then the precise word ‘gift’.

What is the key concept conveyed by ‘wages’?  A wage is something a person earns!  What is the key concept conveyed by ‘gift’?  A gift is something that a person is given without earning it!  Now look back at this Gem.  We earn death (because we do not keep God’s commands perfectly).  But we may have eternal life without earning it (through Jesus Christ)!

Imagine if the day after Christmas everyone that had given you a Christmas gift called you and demanded that you now work off their gift!  When is a gift not a gift?  When you are required to work off its cost in some fashion.

Romans 4:4: “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.”

But this is the way LDS doctrine often portrays the concept of a ‘gift’.  Often this is stated as “but you must accept this ‘gift’ by <<insert the required works here>>” or by stating you must perform certain actions before you can receive the ‘gift’ or by stating you must ‘qualify’ for it. But in every case the conditions attached to the ‘gift’ turns the gift (something given) into a wage (something earned).  As this Gem reveals Eternal Death may be earned as a wage but Eternal Life is only given as a gift.  Here are but two examples of LDS doctrine misrepresenting a 'gift' as something that must be worked for (earned).

D&C 14:7: “If you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God”

Teachings of Presidents of the Church – Spencer W. Kimball page 72: “A testimony is a personal revelation – one of the important gifts – and may be enjoyed by every soul who will pay the price.”