Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This verse is rightly right up there after John 3:16 as one of the most famous verses in the NT, but that doesn’t mean we really grasp all that it means. The first thing it says, that completely escapes the vast majority of people, is that death isn’t so much punishment for sin as it is the automatic outcome. When you work at a job, you expect to get paid. The problem is, most people don’t think of themselves as “working for” sin or the devil. That’s because the devil tends to work through “shell companies,” seeming to be something else. Lots of people will will concede they are working for physical pleasure, social advancement, or whatever, without realizing at all that by ignoring God, they are working for the devil. Such work doesn’t pay a living wage, it pays a dying wage! Continuing the metaphor, that certainly isn’t a decent wage. God isn’t trying to “spoil our fun,” as the devil would try to make us believe, He’s trying to rescue us from a “dead end job” that only pays death. That’s why the second half of this verse is so wonderful. Since all have sinned, (Romans 3:23) all have earned death. However, God has given His son to “accept our pay” from sin and give us life instead. That is grace indeed! All we are asked to do is acknowledge that we have been serving sin, quit that job, and start serving God. The pay is much better! The Bible is clear that there are glorious rewards for serving God faithfully, but the eternal life that is the foundation of it all is a free gift that we don’t deserve and can’t earn.

I have of course known this most of my life, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been enticed into working for one of the devil’s “shell companies” more than once. The thing is, God knows our hearts, and our motives are even more important than our actions. Two people might be doing essentially the same thing, and for one it would be sin and for the other, not. Paul touches on that in Romans 14. I’ve got to keep watch over my heart, that I am not deceived. I am charged with communicating the good news of God’s grace with those around me. Actually, every believer is so charged, but as a pastor, my commission is perhaps more stringent. I need the help of the Holy Spirit to open people’s eyes to see what and whom they are serving, and what the wages are that they will be collecting, so that they may repent and change jobs, for their salvation and the glory of God.

Father, thank You for expressing this so clearly this morning. I think You’ve given me a sermon! Help me be faithful in communicating all You speak to me, so that as many as will come may be brought into Your kingdom, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!