THE WAGES OF SIN
-For the wages of sin is death, but the gift
of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.-
Romans 6:23
Sin…is…costly. It’s so costly that it will rob you of your
life, peace, joy, and hope. It’s insidious, conniving, and greedy. Indwelling
sin and its presence in the lives of man can even seem right, when in all
actuality it’s wrong. And if you’ve lived any amount of time, you can see the
effects of sin in your own life. For its temporal pleasures are fleeting in
comparison to the everlasting punishment it can bring without the right remedy:
Christ Jesus. Even still if it comes as a surprise to you that mankind is
totally depraved and loves the fruit and pleasure of sin, then you may be
self-deceived and in need of your spiritual eyes and ears to be opened to the
necessity of the Gospel of Christ. So, let me share with you a bit of my testimony
and how the Lord enlightened my heart to this truth, this year.
In
my estimation, 2015 started off to be an outstanding year full of optimism,
aspiration and goals for the future. My wife and I were headed into our second
year of marriage and everything seemed to be copasetic. Some call it the “honeymoon”
phase. Progressively, we began cancelling debts, working on our five- year
plan, applying for graduate school, and really discussing our life pursuits and
business, outright. We also began reading the New Testament together, praying,
and really seeking the Lord’s direction. I believe our hearts were truly bent towards
living for Christ, but it was also riddled with some natural anxiety and fear
about the unknown. That’s when death showed up.
In
the process of my life plans, death came sharply to my doorstep, too close for
comfort. I had an older cousin, James Roberson, be brutally murdered by an
ex-girlfriend in cold-blood. The reasoning behind the heinous crime really is
inexcusable and it left my family and me with more questions than answers, and
more frustration than joy. Even attending the wake and funeral seemed surreal. I
couldn’t believe what was happening to my family and to me. In fact, the entire
situation had me reevaluating my own life, and I thought seriously about what and
who I lived for.
James
and I were the exact same age, and although we grew up in early childhood, we
drifted apart over the years. Due to God’s grace and different lifestyle
choices, I navigated around some of the challenges and dismal circumstances
that James and other close relatives have lived through. The generational
curses in my family perpetuate the cycle, and healing is still taking place. However,
that doesn’t excuse me from the indwelling sin that I tolerated.
Of
course, it is a well-known fact that within the Christian walk, we will face
challenges of many kinds. It would be unrealistic to expect to live for Christ
and not be met with opposition, whether it is self-induced, or inflicted upon
you by temporal circumstances. Yet, the promise of Christ to be an anchor for
our souls still stands sure, and we should grow confidently in the reassurance
of our salvation in Him. So, since we know that’s the truth, then why does fear
and anxiety grip us so?
Fear,
anxiety, and continuous stress are all derivatives of sin, and a lack of trust,
assurance and faith in the Lord in some area. I would venture to say that all
of my personal fears, anxieties, and stressors this year were all
self-inflicted because of my inability to see Christ in light of scripture and
truly trust Him with my future. When we attempt to take our lives in our own
hands, manage the outcomes of every situation, and overthink the future, we
fall a debtor to sin and every evil work.
Matthew
6 has to be one of the hallmark chapters for me concerning our Christian walk.
Jesus teaches his followers of the importance of living our faith and love for
God out in simplistic, and steady ways. Our devotion to the Lord is not to be
used as an occasion to entertain and be seen of men. Christ says that those who
do this have received their reward in full. Further in his teaching, He also
says that with our lives we should consider the lilies of the field, and the
birds of the air, how they don’t have stress over the circumstances of life,
because our Heavenly Father takes care of all of their needs. So, how much more
will God take care of his own people. Our faith must hold in Christ and Christ
alone.
Sometimes,
this truth is easier said than done. I began paying attention to the
circumstances of life around me: death in the family, rumors of impending war
on US soil, worry about when and where to move for graduate school, and the
deceptive lie from Satan that Christ would not be enough for me. That’s when
the greatest battle of my life began. Satan used my own intellect, fears, and
analytical nature against me, perverting simple profound truths I’ve known for
a long time, but flipped them upside down to make me focus more on my own
flaws, rather than Christ’s provision. The enemy used a lie that in order for
me to be truly saved, there was work I needed to do. But the truth is Christ
has done all that needs to be done for my salvation, and he simply asks me to
come, die daily, rest in his provision, and fight the good fight of faith in
Christ.
To
add fuel to the fire, I began to relive all of my past failings day after day
after day, to the point that I thought and talked myself right out of faith in
God, and into faith for the grave. That’s a debt that I could NEVER afford to
pay. And as I hear the words of the Apostle Paul, “the wages of sin is death,
and the gift of God is eternal life through Christ,” I ask myself if it’s
flirting with sin on any level worth it? Is pornography worth losing my soul over?
Is worry, stress, little faith worth losing my soul over? Is vain-conceit,
selfish-ambition, and apathy worth losing my soul over? Furthermore, is the
fear of man rather than the fear of God Almighty worth losing my soul over?
The
answer is NO! No sin of any degree is worth losing your soul over. Christ came
to pay for all sins and the wrath of God was satisfied in Christ when he died
on the cross. Praise GOD for the outstanding gift of Christ! What a price and
what a gift! Life is only worth living for Christ. Paul said, “To live is
Christ, and to die is gain.” We should regard every sin, every distraction, and
every temporal, fleeting pleasure a total loss just for the sake of gaining the
greatest and most treasured prize in the universe: CHRIST! Heaven and hell are
at stake every day, and what we do with the Gospel matters. Take the Gospel,
study the Gospel, love the Gospel, treasure Christ and grow in discipleship. Let
God be your exceeding great reward rather than the fleeting, empty rewards of
sin. For the wages of sin is truly death, but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord!
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)