So that brings us to a familiar verse,
Romans 6:23:
23
For
the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The interesting thing about where this verse fits in the
context is that it's just not a statement about sin and the
comparison of being lost and saved, although it is that. It is in the
context that we just discussed where there are two different paths a
person can take in presenting ones self either to righteousness or to
sin and the consequences of those choices. This is a verse written to
Roman Christians in the middle of this discussion of which choice we
might make as we faced with opportunities to yield to one or another.
So this is a warning that to yield to sin leads to death.
Here's where it gets tricky and I want to be careful not
to contradict other teachings in the Scripture. It is clear to me
that when a person comes to know Christ in a saving way, his behavior
cannot undo the justification he has received. In other words, sinful
behavior does not cancel the justification we have in Christ.
Instead, his behavior will change because if we are in Christ we are
a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). And because we are under the
new covenant, we have the new covenant promise of the removal of our
old stoney heart, the giving of a new heart and new spirit, the
presence of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives and the motivation to
be obedient (Ezekiel 36:26, 27).
But, given these truths, it is also clear that this
verse is a warning not to yield to the sin nature. Yielding our
members to sin is a path that ultimately leads to death, so why would
a Christian want to venture down that path? Warnings are given to
help us avoid the dangers along the way and we should heed them.
We should not look at promises and warnings as
contradictions. In the story of the shipwreck on one of Paul's
journeys, Paul was told by God that no one would be lost in the
wreck. Later on however, some of the frightened sailors started to
lower some lifeboats to escape the doomed ship. Paul warned them that
if they took a lifeboat, they would not survive. Was that a true
warning given the fact that Paul had already promised no one would be
lost? Of course it was. The result was that the sailors did not take
the lifeboats, their lives were saved and God's promise to Paul was
fulfilled. Promises and warnings can both be true and valid. I
believe the same thing is true in the passage we are studying.
Principle 9: Remember yielding to
sin leads to ever increasing lawlessness and ultimately to death.
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