The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
All of us have sinned, all of us will sin, all of us will die a physical death. However, spiritual death is not a certainty if we understand and receive God’s invitation to eternal life.
Left alone, there is not one person who could ever hope to reach heaven. God could see this clearly and He decided to do something about it. He sent His only Son that whoever would believe in Him would not die but have eternal life. God the Father sent Jesus into the world because He loves us but we need to understand that we never deserved Jesus. In fact, the reception that Jesus received was rejection. Christ was crucified for our sins and died for us even though we all are sinners who actually embrace sin. Without Christ, we will die in our sins. That is a very bleak and black picture but a true picture nonetheless. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned away from God and remained in sin. That is the condition of every human being – it is called original sin. We were born with the nature of sin so that it is quite natural to sin. As we grow up, that nature always produces big problems. Without help, we self-destruct.
God saw that helpless condition and did something about it. Jesus said that He did not come into the world to condemn the world but to save the world from sin.
Jesus came into this world out of compassion and kindness. Revealing our sin is a necessary first step to getting rid of it. God does that by shining the light of His law on our hearts so that we can see sin for what it is – a deadly enemy. In John 3, Jesus tells us that He calls us into the light to see sin and remove sin. It is like a doctor who uses an xray to expose any problems we may have.
What good doctor would not use an x-ray if he thought it might reveal the problem and enable a proper diagnosis? What good doctor would not tell the patient the truth if he knew what the problem was? What good doctor would not provide the correct antidote if he knew what would solve the problem? Finally, what reasonable patient would refuse to take the medicine and possible surgery to remove the problem? That is in fact the situation with all of us as we will either ignore sin or confess it and ask Jesus to forgive us. The Cure is ours to take by faith. The Cure is the cross and the gift is freedom from sin and death forever! Even though Christ has provided for our sins perfectly and completely, that will not kill sin unless we choose to submit to God’s answer.
Belief in Christ as the payment for our sins is the greatest gift, the greatest decision we will ever make. All of us must make that choice. It is sin and death or Christ and life.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life. John 3:36
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. John 3:18-21
If you are already a Christian, you will still need to deal with sin, that can be a messy topic. Watch the video titled “Kill Sin” by Pastor Alan Brumbach, First Naples Church and receive some good medicine!
