I woke one morning with this verse. I wasn't sure why, so I started to look into the meaning. The concordance definitions are as follows:

Wages - His stipend, or pay, rations for a soldier.

Sin - To miss the mark, to err, offend, sin, trespass.

Death - To be dead, to die.

Gift - A divine gratuity, deliverance, a spiritual endowment, religious qualification, free gift.

Obey - To listen attentively, to heed or conform to a command or authority, hearken, be obedient, to obey, to hear under (as a subordinate).

It seems pretty obvious that the price, result of sin is death. We have been taught the truth in part, but not how to grow up into Christ. The average Christian believer has experienced the new birth, and is then basically told that's all there is and he or she must now attend every service and support the "church" with their time as well as tithes and offerings, and their place in heaven is assured. At least that is what I was told.

There is so much more to be found in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Matt. 23:13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces: for you neither enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who are about to go in to do so. That's pretty emphatic! Shutting the kingdom of heaven in men's faces has been going on for a very long time. There have been overcomers in every age and generation down through the centuries. Yet in comparison with the number of people alive at any given time, their numbers are small. Why is this? One reason being what the leaders teach. You see in Paul's letters to the churches of his day, that he was ever encouraging them to "press on toward the goal to win the supreme and heavenly prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward" Phil. 3:14. Warning them of those who would try to stop their development, "Not that there is (or could be) any other genuine Gospel, but there are (obviously) some who are troubling and disturbing and bewildering you (with a different kind of teaching which they offer as a gospel) and want to pervert and distort the Gospel of Christ into something which it absolutely is not." Imagine, if this was going on when Paul lived, how much more diluted is what we receive of men today? That is the reason why we must seek to know Jesus, and through him the Father, for ourselves, personally and intimately.

As you come to know Him, you must believe and obey all He tells you, both in His written Word as well as what He speaks to you personally. Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father Who is in heaven. Matthew 15:8,9 These people draw near me with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from me. Uselessly do they worship me, for they teach as doctrines the commands of men.

People are kept from entering into the walk that the Lord desires for them to walk in, by being kept in darkness; in infancy; involved in forms and rituals, never even hinting that there is so much more to our calling to follow Christ, than what we are practicing. The very places that are supposed to be nurturing them and training them in the way they should walk, are in many cases nothing more than very attractive prison houses. Keeping the people subject to the rules and ordinances of men, and never helping them to grow up into Christ. Jer. 50:6 My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.

As long as there have been religions this has gone on. And it will continue, until the Lord begins to tear down all that man has built and establishes His Kingdom in the earth. Man has taught that all we have to do is accept Jesus as our Savior, and we will not suffer anything unpleasant. In recent years we have had movements teaching faith, prosperity and healing, all of which are scriptural. It is true that God desires to bestow spiritual gifts on his children. Yet these things are not ends in themselves, as some would have us believe. How often has anyone ever set you down and told you that as a new Christian, your world is going to be turned upside down? That many of your friends and family are going to cast you off and reject you? That as a Christian you are going to suffer tribulation and persecution? We are glad enough that Jesus went to the cross and paid for our redemption back to God, but we are often at somewhat of a loss as to just exactly what this cross means to us.

Matthew 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Mark 8:34, 35 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.

I Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

Hebrews 12:2-4 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

From these verses we begin to see that there is a price to pay, that we will suffer, that we must take up our own cross and follow Him. As long as we are obedient, all his promises to us are yea and amen. He will never leave us or forsake us, He will empower us and give us the strength and ability to accomplish all that HE asks of us.

For the wages of sin is death. What the Word says regarding sin is quite different than what the churches teach. James 1:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Man's focus is on the outward things, where we go, how we dress, our outer appearance and conduct. God looks at our hearts; He knows each and every thought we think. Nothing is hidden from Him. There are many from pews to pulpits who have the outward appearance of holiness, according to man's standards. But they are pretenders and hypocrites. They may appear to walk the walk and talk the talk, but are only fooling themselves and those foolish enough to trust in them. God sees their inner motivations and God will judge them accordingly. Let us not be counted among their numbers. God is not mocked and each man shall be rewarded according to his deeds. Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Romans 6:6,7 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.

This generation has been fed a diet of "be #1"..."if it feels good do it." Self sits on the throne in most men's hearts. Everyone, when pressed, wants to end up in heaven, given the choice between heaven or hell. Whatever your own personal philosophy may be there's a Church out there that will cater to it. Just because we have amassed so many doctrines and Churches all claiming to have the truth and the way, in no way takes away from or nullifies the Gospel of Christ. He was and is our example, the firstborn among many brethren. We are given the choice of believing everything He said, and taking up our own individual cross and following Him, or rejecting Him and going our own way.

Unbelief is sin.

Disobedience is sin.

Self-will is sin.

If we follow Jesus, our flesh will die. Not this body of dust we walk around in, but our carnal nature with its appetites. The Lord knows how to bring each one of us to the end of "self," till we like Christ can say, "Not my will but thine be done." And only when we come to that point, the place of desiring God above all that the world holds, will we be free. We can rest assured, the wages of sin are death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

There are countless examples of how God deals with man in the Word. These are given for us to learn, by others mistakes if you will. My experience has been that I never really took lessons to heart until I experienced them for myself. An old expression comes to mind, "all that glitters is not gold." How many times have you wanted something so bad, that you thought you couldn't be happy until you had it? Only to find that once it was yours it didn't give you the pleasure you thought it would. The only thing that I have ever found in life that gives more than I could ever think of or imagine, once obtained, is a relationship with Jesus Christ. There are no bounds to God's love, and His goodness to them that believe. In Exodus 32 Moses had been on the mountain talking with God. While he was out of their sight, the people built a golden calf to worship. When Moses returned and saw what they had done, he went back before the Lord and pleaded with God to forgive them. Exodus 32:31-33 And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of my book.

Every man will be held accountable for his own life. Let us not be deceived, for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. There is nothing hidden from God. I Chron. 28:9 And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a blameless heart and a willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts and minds and understands all the wanderings of the thoughts. If you seek Him, you will find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever!

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. May we meditate on Him and His Word. Romans 8:1,2 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Amen

Cathy Morris

05/18/04

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