Paul wrote, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Have you ever noticed the wording? “Wages” is plural. “Death” is singular. Sin pays many wages, but all of them take life from us.

The acts of sin we commit pay wages, and the life we surrender to sin pays wages. The wage may appear as guilt that drains the joy from our emotions. It may appear as shame that makes us hide, bitterness that poisons our peace, dishonesty that destroys trust, selfishness that wounds a relationship, or an appetite that gradually becomes a master. Different wages. Same currency. Death.

Something dies. Peace dies. Trust dies. Intimacy dies. Freedom dies. Innocence dies. Sometimes relationships die. Sin may initially make us feel more alive, but eventually we discover that it has been taking life from us all along.

And all of those little deaths point toward the great one. Physical death entered the human experience because of sin, and beyond physical death stands the ultimate tragedy of separation from the God who is the source of life. The wages are many. The pay off is one: death.

But thank God Romans 6:23 doesn’t end there. “The wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There is another striking contrast. Paul moves from wages to a gift. Sin pays. God gives.

Sin gives us what our rebellion has earned. God offers us what we could never earn—life in Jesus Christ.

The wages — death. The gift — Eternal Life.

Your call! ©

–PGR