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"The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord"
The Bible tells us that the reason for our struggles and darkness in our lives is because of sin. Sin is knowing to do right and not doing it. We are slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. We serve our flesh or we serve the spirit. If we try to do both, we become unstable in all our ways.
As Paul lamented in Roman's 7:18-20, "Oh what a wretched man I am. That which I would not do I do...who will deliver me from this body of death? For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me."
It is obvious to me that our culture has gone insane. We are living Roman's 1 where the world's spiritual condition is described. Today evil is called good and good evil. Humanity is becoming more depraved by the day. We laugh, joke, and boast about sinful behaviors, and we tease or ridicule those trying to be righteous and good. "Goody two shoes" or "church boy/girl " are monikers society places on those who will not wink at sinful behaviors. It is "cool" to be the bad boy and rebel. Freedom at all cost is the claim while in actuality we just become slaves to our lower nature and short term pleasures. We are proud to be independent and answer to no one but ourselves. We become lost in our sins.
Today the fear of death is more prevalent than ever before. We live for the here and now avoiding at all costs the prospect of dying, and heaven forbid dying penniless. If we truly believed in the eternity of our spiritual souls,we would have less regard for the temporal experiences we now define ourselves by. We prolong life at all costs and spend large percentages of accumulated wealth to feed the growing Healthcare industry to keep us ticking one day or year longer even when we know our bodies will and must die. The rich spend all they can to buy one day longer in decaying bodies. It is a form of insanity and faithlessness.
Sinful people are consistently putting their hand in the fire of disobedience, testing whether next time they might come out unscathed. There are cultures that walk on fire coals attempting to prove they can overcome the risk and pain of being burned. While there may be tricks to prove they can do it, none of them can survive just standing indefinitely in the fire. Eventually we all die because of sin and after that we all face the judgment of our creator for what we have done in our short, often meaningless lives.
Thank God for the Gospel of Jesus that declares the gift of salvation through faith in Him. We deserve to die for falling short in obeying our creator, yet God sent His Son to die in our place to settle the wages of our sin. He overcame death and dying and resurrected from death so that those who believe in/follow Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.
Not only does He promise eternity with Him, but He offers an abundant life here and now! He doesn't promise us great wealth or absence of suffering, but He has said if we abide in His love and forgiveness, He will fill us with His Spirit so that whatever we face in this temporal life, we will find meaning, peace, and strength to overcome our sinful natures.
Who can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Who can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Believe and trust in Him today. The power of His Word and truth will put you on a solid path of continual redemption and grace to live through whatever temporary trials this sinful world throws at you. There truly is victory in Jesus.
