JAN 15

Romans 6:23
Memorise Romans 6:23
“…the wages of sin is death.”

When a person goes to work, he deserves to be paid wages according to the labour that he puts in. In like manner, God deems that the wages we deserve for our sin is death! Besides spiritual death which we have considered, sin brings two other deaths: physical death, and the second death which is eternal punishment (as opposed to eternal life) in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14). There may be some that think that a loving God surely cannot send His creation to hell, but that contradicts what our Holy God has justly stated in His perfect Word that death is what sin deserves.

Sin often appears to be very alluring and pleasant. There is an attraction about it that is deceptive. Remember that Satan can appear as an angel of light to deceive. It leads to a vain and useless life of self-pleasure. It also leads to iniquity and wickedness to others, and yields sorrow and bitterness. Ultimately the end is death. If we turn from such a life and come to Christ and walk in His commandments, the believer is made free from the bondage of sin. The road may be up-hill, narrow and difficult but there is everlasting life at the end.

Salvation is a gift of God, for none of us in any way are deserving of being saved from this death nor can we save ourselves. For believers, if not for the Holy Spirit that pricked our hearts to see our need for Christ as Saviour, we would never have done so in our own depraved state. It is this gift of God that has made us spiritually alive instead of being dead in sin, it is this same gift that convicts us we need not fear physical death, it is this same gift that brings us eternal life rather than eternal death.

Dear teen, if we know that our sin deserves this terrible penalty of death, how can we continue in sin after we are saved? To do so is telling the whole world we take hellfire lightly, and that we take the gift of Jesus Christ for granted! Nay, let us always remember that it is our sins that put Him on the Cross. If not for Him, we can only live our lives miserably looking forward to eternal torment in hellfire that we justly and fully deserve as our wages for sin. Why do you prefer to have sin as your master that will eventually reward you with such a terrible end, instead of embracing Christ as your Lord and Saviour who has sacrificed Himself to save you?

Thought: What was the ‘wages’ of Christ’s perfect life and death?
Prayer: O God, may I give You my total service and allegiance!