WAGES OF SIN Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death. Sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4), that eternal rule of right to rational beings, the moral law of God. It is sin, all sin, every sin, that is here spoken of. Death, whatever that word means, is the just and certain reward of every sin committed in thought, word, or deed. But what is death? The death of the body is its separation from the soul. You are a sinner; and this effect of sin you have begun to feel in all those pains and sicknesses which are bringing your body to the grave. You are now a dying man. The death of the body, or its separation from the soul, will occasion its return to the dust from whence it was taken. But death in the next means vastly more: the death of the soul. What is that? It is something as much more dreadful than that of the body, as the soul is of more value than the body. It is the separation of the soul from God, as its life and happiness; hence it becomes a state of unavoidable sin, and first or last, a state of self-tormenting anguish, arising from the forfeiture of the friendship of God, with all its attendant blessings. Spiritual death, or the death of the soul, consists not in the loss of consciousness or feeling, but in the loss of the image and favor of God. For in His favor is life (Psalm 30:5); and in His frown is death. If you, my dear fellow sinner, are not made alive by Gods converting grace, this is your state. You are dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1); and unless you are quickened by Gods Spirit, communicated to you before your departure hence, in this unhappy state you must forever continue; for the death spoken of in the text, is opposed to eternal life in the following clause (Rom. 6:23b). And oh, if the effect of this spiritual death be misery, even in this present life (as the experience of every man testifies, if he will own the truth), then what must it be in the world to come? Ah! Who can tell? We read of a worm that never dies, to prey on the tormented conscience; of fire that never can be quenched, to destroy both body and soul in hell; of weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and all this is to last forever. But is there not a disproportion between the offence and the punishment? Let God be true, and every man a liar. He says the wages, the just reward of sin, is death. Gods truth binds Him to fulfill His threatenings, as well as His promises. O fly from the wrath to come; for Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? (Isaiah 33:14). friendsofjesus.mwb.im/
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 08:17:48 +0000
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