Sunday, March 24, 2013

You Earned It

You Earned It
March 25, 2013
Romans 6:23  "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."


Wages are compensation for work.  If you've worked, then you've earned your wages; you are due that paycheck.  The paycheck is owed to you until you've received it.  It is rightfully yours.  You never get paid before you work, that's why it is called earned.  We'd often like something for nothing but all of us understand that we are due our paycheck for the work we have performed.  Our paycheck is justly deserved.  Scripture uses these same terms to describe what is due us.  It says that if we perform sin then we are due death; we have earned it.  We are justly deserving of death for our sin.  While you may not think you deserve to die for what you have done, the Lord sees it differently.

No matter your interpretation of your sin, if it is wrong then it is wrong, despite the weight the world may place on it.  If it is wrong in the Lord's eyes then it is a sin no matter how you classify it.  The Lord says that if we sin, then we are deserving of death.  This death is not just a physical execution but an eternal separation from Life, from living with the Lord.  Conversely, the Lord says that if you want eternal life, then you must accept the free gift.  We've earned our way to Hell but getting out of Hell requires the acceptance of the free gift.  You cannot earn your way to Heaven; you must accept the free gift.  But there is more to this lesson than where you will spend eternity.

When Paul was writing to the Romans regarding the wages of sin being death, he was discussing with them righteous living versus living with sin.  He talked about the benefits of each, that there are present-day benefits as well as long-term, more permanent benefits.  Obviously the long term benefits are Heaven instead of Hell, but there is more.  There is life or death in the present, too.  If you sin in your present life, you will earn rewards in those present situations (remember, it is death).  Stated another way, if you sin presently, you can expect to receive present death in your situations.  For instance, if you sin in your marriage, you are earning death for your marriage.  If you sin in your employment, you are earning death for your employment.  If you sin in your parenting techniques, you are earning death for your children.  This list could go on and none of us want present-day death for our situations.  If you have a situation that feels like it is on the brink of death, maybe you have been earning it through your actions, through your sins.

The converse of this is the gift of life.  We've already earned death; now let us accept life for our situations (for our marriages, for our work, for our children, for all of the situations that are on the brink of death).  This acceptance of present-day life is a free gift from the Lord but requires you to receive it.  After you have received it you must cease to earn the wages of sin in that situation.  You are feeling the prompting of the Holy Spirit even now as you read this regarding situations in life where you have sin.  It is time to stop earning those wages and start accepting life, present-day life in every area of concern.  Start living life without earning more death.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:   Job 4:8, Proverbs 11:18, Proverbs 22:8, Hosea 10:12-14, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Romans 6, Galatians 6:7-8

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