Romans 6:23 - August 10

Romans 6:23 - August 10

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

First off, what is sin? Sin is anything that falls short of God's will and His laws. God is perfect. John 1:5b we read, "...that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. " Darkness is symbolic of sin, so there is no sin in God. And what about Matthew 5:38 - "Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect."

How could we possibly live our lives without sin? How could we be perfect in this imperfect world? If the wages of sin is death, then we are all doomed! Or so it would seem. "..., but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Hallelujah!!! This gift is what we read about in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He sent His only Begotten Son, that who ever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Because of Jesus' sacrifice, when we receive Jesus as our Lord and repent of our sin [biblical meaning of the word "repent" is "to change one's mind" so true repentance will result in a change of action], God no longer sees our sin when He looks at us, He sees Christ in us. Praise be to God for that!

But we must recognize that the wages of sin still abides in the natural realm. Though we are in Christ and Christ in us, our flesh nature still has an affect upon our lives. That is why you will see people who have received Jesus as their Lord still walking in the ways of the world and still allowing sin to have more power over them then the Spirit of Christ in them. It comes down to choices, our own choices. If we drank heavily before we received Jesus as our Lord and we don't submit that area in our lives to Him, we will still drink heavily. We can't blame God for that no more than we can blame Dunkin Donuts for our upset stomach after eating half a dozen of donuts at one sitting! That might sound like a silly analogy but it is to point out that the things we put inside of us will affect us, whether godly or ungodly. Its time to stop putting the blame on God for all the things that are happening in the world and wake up to the fact that we all have a part in what is happening around us, whether by what we do or don't do.

God loves us so much sent His Son to suffer and die for our sins, paying the price for our redemption that we could never pay. He has given us an opportunity to receive this gift so that we can have eternal life in Christ. Meaning no disrespect to other religions, but Buddha didn't die for us. Reincarnation cannot give eternal life with God. Our good works can't save us. All the prayers in the world doesn't guarantee redemption. Jesus Christ, and He alone is the One who saves us. In 1 John 2:2 we read, "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." Think about it! If Christ Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, we no longer have to walk in sin because that is no longer our nature when we receive Him as our Lord. We are a new creation and as we submit to Him, that change takes place in us and sin no longer has no hold. Glory to God!!!