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 ²³ For the wages of sin are death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. [The word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart (so you may obey it); that is, the word of faith, which we preach. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Christ speaking to you from within your heart). Rom 10:8,17. To receive the gift of eternal life is to have heard many words spoken from Christ within your heart, which words you hear are engrafted in your heart, James 1:21; and which words you hear him speak to you are life-giving, John 6:63; which life that is given is Jesus, who is the life; thereby forming Christ in you, Gal 4:19; until Christ is fully formed and actually raised in you to be your true Lord in thought, word, and deed. To receive Christ, the eternal life of God, is as Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." Gal 2:20.

This is the life that Adam lost in his fall in the garden, when he was cut off from the tree of life; men then became dead to the life of God. You enter paradise to once again eat from the tree of life, being translated into the Kingdom of Heaven while on earth. Union and eternal life come with the second step of perfection, described in detail in the Footnote to Gal 5:24. All this is to be experienced, not presumed in high notions.]