LEARNING DAILY

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

Sin is serious and not something to be thought of as trivial. There are those who laugh and even brag about the sinful things they have done. Sin to God is no laughing matter. God hates sin. In Mark 6:43-48, Jesus said if your hand or foot causes you to sin, you are to cut it off; if your eye causes you sin, you are to pluck it out. Obviously, Jesus was not recommending self-mutilation. No, He was saying a person must do whatever it takes to not sin.  Paul wrote in Romans 6:23 that the result of sin was eternal death, being separated from God throughout eternity.

In writing this page of the blog, I had to think back over the sinfulness of my life and what I have observed in others. The only conclusion I can make is there is nothing to be proud of regarding sin. There is nothing that is worthwhile, nothing good comes out of a sinful life. To ignore or think that there are no consequences for sinful actions or words or even thoughts is just wrong thinking. Sin only thinks about today and never thinks about what might occur as a result of sin in the future. The individual who is a slave to sin or believes he/she can live a good enough life to have nothing to fear about life after death – well that is foolishness.

Romans 3:23 states, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. This verse means everyone sins; everyone has sinned. There is no distinction here, there is no one who does not sin. Knowing the difference between right and wrong does not make us morally right. Even knowing the consequences of our sinfulness does not keep us from sinning. “Sin is basically an act of moral folly, and the greater the folly the greater the fool” (A. W. Tozer). Tozer continues, “The sinner’s life is foolish because it neglects to give God His proper place. Any way of life, any attitude, any political philosophy, any moral philosophy or speculative philosophy, any kind of thinking in any sphere of human thought or life, any standard of morals adopted or followed by people, however loosely, that does not give God His proper place is declared by the Lord God Himself to be foolish or empty.”

There are those who will perish and spend eternity separated from God who are kind, courteous, and considered to be good people who live without giving any thought to God. They assume there will be no consequences for their way of life (without God) or if there is any thought of consequences, the thought is ignored. There are always consequences for sinful living, for living without consideration of God.

But God (Pastor Newton would say, “If it wasn’t for God’s but, where would mine be?), has given every person the opportunity to be set free from the sinful nature through Christ Jesus our Lord. The blood He shed for all who would believe in Him cleanses the individual who asks to be cleansed from all sin – past, present, and future. Believers are made sinless through the cleansing blood of Jesus and are declared righteous and sinless. It is by God’s gift of grace we gain what we do not deserve. Always remember that walking on a narrow way is hungering and thirsting for God’s righteousness and placing His kingdom before everything else!