The Wages of Sin is Death

 

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

Many followers of Jesus believe that God has given us the grace to overlook our sins, misunderstanding that grace isn’t a free pass to sin. The Bible defines grace as acceptable, benefit, favor, gift, joy, liberality, pleasure, and thanks. Grace is a gift that Jesus gives us that we do not deserve. We cannot work for grace or prove ourselves worthy. Jesus provides us with grace once we accept Him as our Savior. The biggest portion of His grace towards us is His forgiveness. We sin daily, unknowingly because we are part flesh (Romans 8:3) – the very thought of foolishness is sin (Proverbs 24:9). Because we were created in sin (Psalm 51:5), doesn't mean that we should go looking to sin. Once we accepted Jesus as our Savior, we became dead to sin. Sin no longer has dominion over us  (Romans 6). The Holy Spirit now resides in us, warning us before we sin, convicting, teaching, and correcting us after we sin. Once we know better, Jesus expects us to do better.

Grace fills in the gaps when we unintentionally mess up or sin out of ignorance, but once we come into the knowledge of knowing right from wrong, then Jesus holds us accountable for that knowledge (James 4:17). We are still accountable even if we choose not to receive the understanding of God’s precepts (Hosea 4:6). The same credence holds in the laws of man. For example, in the state of California, a convicted armed robber learns after the fact that she will face the death penalty for murder in an armed robbery. In the middle of a home robbery, her partner in crime shot and killed the resident after being alarmed. Although she did not commit the murder and was not aware that if a murder takes place during a robbery, she’ll still face the death penalty.

If you had a hectic morning and are running late to catch your train on time, Jesus may grant you grace and allow your train to arrive late, so you don’t miss it. But you don’t say to yourself, “Well, I got a few extra hours, I am going to sleep in late and pray that I catch the train on time tomorrow morning”.  Planning to sleep in late, knowing that you may miss the train, and expect God to hold the train for you is intentional – many believers apply this same logic to sin. They’ll plan to sin and then tell themselves that “Jesus is a forgiving God, He’ll forgive me.” However; we get upset when someone applies the same logic to us. For instance, if a husband plans to cheat on his wife and then tells himself, “My wife is a loving and forgiving person. I know she’ll take me back.” The husband's planning to cheat is called willful sinning, knowing that adultery is wrong. After having come into the knowledge of knowing right from wrong, there is no grace for willfully sinning (Hebrews 10:26). And there are no blessings for choosing to live a life of sin. Yes, Jesus is all-loving and forgiving, but the wages of sin is still death. Back to the scenario about the death penalty: the ruling judge may be a very nice person once you get to know her, but she still has to uphold the law even though the defendant wasn’t aware of the extent of her punishment. God has given Jesus the authority to judge (John 5:26-27). Jesus does not want to punish or send people to hell, but because of His authority, His faithfulness, and His character, He has to uphold His Word. Otherwise, He would be considered a God who is untrue to His Word, lacking integrity.

We have the power to choose life or death. So choose life. Choose Jesus.

 

XOXO,

 

Jay