Wages of Sin

So, when I think back to my Campus Crusade days, sharing the 4 spiritual laws here and there and everywhere.... It went a little something like this.... italics are my explanations :o)

1) God loves you and wants to have a personal relationship with you.

2) "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" - Romans 3:23
a/k/a - Nobody's perfect. Are we trekin'? And "the wages of sin is death" - Romans 6:23 -
This means, in our admitted imperfection we are unable to have a relationship with God and deserve eternal separation... We have earned it.

3) "For God so loved the world, he gave his only son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16 Nothing we do can reconcile us to God - we have earned death - Jesus, God's own son, took our place on the cross. Died, was buried, and three days later rose from the dead. He was our atonement, he took our place.

4) "If we confess our sins, He who is faithful and just, will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us of all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:9 Confessing your sinfulness and that you believe Jesus died for you on the cross assures your salvation and reconciles you to God... blah blah blah. If you want the real deal visit here.

Yeah.

So Sunday in Church, Pastor Don refers to some passage in Romans 6 - and I read the rest of Romans 6:23. The verse doesn't say - For the wages of sin is death (period) It actually says "For the wages of sin is death (comma), BUT the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." I always made it be a stearn kind of mean verse of conviction. But really, the part after the but is so much more important.

In college a friend asked me if my faith is Empty Tomb dependent. Uh, Heck yeah.
I mean, The Passion of the Christ was an amazing film. It reminds us (I'll get back to those words specifically in my next entry) of exactly what Christ endured. It wasn't all warm and fuzzy like we make it out to be sometimes.... And Christ's death is important. BUT his resurrection is what seals the deal for me. Christ did die a horrific death for each of us BUT three days later he AROSE FROM THE TOMB!!! I realize it was just me - but at the end of The Passion, sad as it was in its entirety - when they showed the garments rise with breath and Jesus stood up and you could see the hole in his hand and he walked out of the tomb - I wanted to stand up and cheer. "YEAH! That's MY Jesus! Get a load of MY SAVIOR!"

So, as it is now past midnight - and it is officially Ash Wednesday - that's what I'm thinking about to start off my Lenten season. The wages of sin IS death, BUT the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus. Not all that original, but, umm, it is what I've been thinking about.