The real and adequate punishment with which God threatens those who hate Him and transgress His commandments is death. "The wages of sin is death." "In the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die," God said to Adam in Paradise, when He forbade him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Gen. 2:17). What is death? Let us add another Word of God to show us what death really is: "Cursed is he that confirms not all the words of this Law to do them." (Deut. 27:26; Gal. 3:10). The curse of God and death go together. So death is God's wrath and disfavour, temporal death, and eternal damnation. The curse of God is upon the transgressors of His commandments, His wrath and disfavour; and through temporal death they enter eternal death, eternal damnation. It is a terrible thing to hate that God who is Holiness and Righteousness itself, and to transgress His commandments. No creature can do that and go unpunished.- But there is a great and gracious deliverance. "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord." In Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Atoner, there is grace for us sinners and blessing and eternal life. In Jesus Christ the love of God embraces us in time and eternity, and abolishes death. But this is a gift, a free gift of God; we cannot merit that with works as we have merited death. God gives us eternal life in Christ, freely and without price, by grace only. And He offers us this gift through His Word and His Spirit. And we, we Christians, who believe in Jesus Christ and accept this gift of God, have eternal life.