Tag Archives: wages of sin is death

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Free Gift

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“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

One night I was speaking to several hundred men gathered in a skid row mission for an evangelistic meeting. I had been invited to bring the address and as always my heart was deeply stirred when I realized that these men needed the Lord so very much. In the spiritual sense, though, their lot was no worse than the leaders of the city, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is death whether one is rich or poor, old or young, sick or well. It makes no difference. The wages of sin is death.

In an effort to communicate to these men the love of God and His free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord, I pulled a ten-dollar bill from my pocket and said, “The first person who comes to take this from my hand, can have it as a free gift.” This was my way of illustrating God’s gift of grace. Out of the hundreds of people seated before me, not a single person moved as I extended the bill, repeating several times, “The first one who will come and take this bill from my hand can have it.”

Finally, a middle-aged man, shabbily dressed like the rest, stood timidly to his feet and with an inquiring expression said, “Do you really mean it?” I said, “Sure, come and get it; it is yours.” He almost ran to grasp it and he thanked me. The rest of the crowd began mumbling, as if to say, “Why didn’t I have the faith to go and accept the gift?”

This gave me a marvelous opportunity to emphasize that we do not earn God’s love. He loves us unconditionally – not because of who we are, but because of who He is. God proved His love for us in that while we were all wretched sinners, He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for us and give to all men who will receive Him the gift of eternal life. Oh, what an attractive gift. Who could refuse to accept such a wonderful gift?

Bible Reading: Romans 6:17-22

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will trust the Lord to help me make His offer of this marvelous free gift, the gift of His only begotten Son who is eternal life, so attractive that no one can refuse to accept it.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Free Gift

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dr_bright

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

One night I was speaking to several hundred men gathered in a skid row mission for an evangelistic meeting. I had been invited to bring the address and as always my heart was deeply stirred when I realized that these men needed the Lord so very much. In the spiritual sense, though, their lot was no worse than the leaders of the city, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is death whether one is rich or poor, old or young, sick or well. It makes no difference. The wages of sin is death.

In an effort to communicate to these men the love of God and His free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord, I pulled a ten-dollar bill from my pocket and said, “The first person who comes to take this from my hand, can have it as a free gift.” This was my way of illustrating God’s gift of grace. Out of the hundreds of people seated before me, not a single person moved as I extended the bill, repeating several times, “The first one who will come and take this bill from my hand can have it.”

Finally, a middle-aged man, shabbily dressed like the rest, stood timidly to his feet and with an inquiring expression said, “Do you really mean it?” I said, “Sure, come and get it; it is yours.” He almost ran to grasp it and he thanked me. The rest of the crowd began mumbling, as if to say, “Why didn’t I have the faith to go and accept the gift?”

This gave me a marvelous opportunity to emphasize that we do not earn God’s love. He loves us unconditionally – not because of who we are, but because of who He is. God proved His love for us in that while we were all wretched sinners, He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for us and give to all men who will receive Him the gift of eternal life. Oh, what an attractive gift. Who could refuse to accept such a wonderful gift?

Bible Reading: Romans 6:17-22

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will trust the Lord to help me make His offer of this marvelous free gift, the gift of His only begotten Son who is eternal life, so attractive that no one can refuse to accept it.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Free Gift

Leave a comment

dr_bright

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

One night I was speaking to several hundred men gathered in a skid row mission for an evangelistic meeting. I had been invited to bring the address and as always my heart was deeply stirred when I realized that these men needed the Lord so very much. In the spiritual sense, though, their lot was no worse than the leaders of the city, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is death whether one is rich or poor, old or young, sick or well. It makes no difference. The wages of sin is death.

In an effort to communicate to these men the love of God and His free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord, I pulled a ten-dollar bill from my pocket and said, “The first person who comes to take this from my hand, can have it as a free gift.” This was my way of illustrating God’s gift of grace. Out of the hundreds of people seated before me, not a single person moved as I extended the bill, repeating several times, “The first one who will come and take this bill from my hand can have it.”

Finally, a middle-aged man, shabbily dressed like the rest, stood timidly to his feet and with an inquiring expression said, “Do you really mean it?” I said, “Sure, come and get it; it is yours.” He almost ran to grasp it and he thanked me. The rest of the crowd began mumbling, as if to say, “Why didn’t I have the faith to go and accept the gift?”

This gave me a marvelous opportunity to emphasize that we do not earn God’s love. He loves us unconditionally – not because of who we are, but because of who He is. God proved His love for us in that while we were all wretched sinners, He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for us and give to all men who will receive Him the gift of eternal life. Oh, what an attractive gift. Who could refuse to accept such a wonderful gift?

Bible Reading: Romans 6:17-22

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will trust the Lord to help me make His offer of this marvelous free gift, the gift of His only begotten Son who is eternal life, so attractive that no one can refuse to accept it.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Jesus’ Sacrifice: Payment in Full

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Charles Stanley

Psalm 51

A church deacon once confessed a horrible sin in a social media site. After giving a description of what he’d done, the man commented, “I know there’s a price to pay for this sin now. And that price is death.”

Not only was his heart broken over what he had done; he also knew that the effect on his friends and family would be devastating. And yet, overshadowing his remorse was fear. He had become afraid of God, believing that the sovereign Lord of the universe was now “out to get him.”

What would you say to this believer? Does his statement reflect an appropriate view of God’s response to sin?

It’s true that Romans 6:23 clearly teaches that “the wages of sin is death”; however, this sorrowful young man had overlooked the all-important second half of the verse: “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If our Father gives us a gift, we can trust that He will never take it away; it becomes ours to keep—that’s what a gift is. We did nothing to deserve it, so we can do nothing to lose it. It all rests on God’s initiative.

Moreover, a greater theological principle is at work here. If the believer’s sin after salvation could require death—or any form of punishment—then Jesus’ sacrifice was insufficient. However, the Bible tells us that Jesus’ death was wholly sufficient and a once-for-all payment of mankind’s sin debt (Heb. 10:10).

Either Jesus’ blood does cover our sins, or it doesn’t. There’s no middle ground. The Holy Spirit, Christ’s words, and biblical testimony clearly assert that it does.

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Max Lucado – What’s Done is Done

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What do you do with your failures? Could you do it all over again, you’d do it differently. You’d be more patient. You’d control your tongue. You’d finish what you started. You’d get married first. But as many times as you tell yourself, “What’s done is done,” what you did can’t be undone.

That’s part of what the apostle Paul meant when he said, “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23). He didn’t say, “The wages of sin is a bad mood.”  Or “The wages of sin is a hard day.” Read it again.  “The wages of sin is death.”  Sin is fatal.

What do you do?  Don’t we all long for a father who will love us?  A father who cares for us in spite of our failures? We have that kind of a father.  A father whose grace is strongest when our devotion is weakest.  Your failures are not fatal, my friend!

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Our Daily Bread — A Good Man

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Romans 3:10-18

By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. —Ephesians 2:8

“Jerry was a good man,” the pastor said at Jerald Stevens’ memorial service. “He loved his family. He was faithful to his wife. He served his country in the armed services. He was an excellent dad and grandfather. He was a great friend.”

But then the pastor went on to tell the friends and family gathered that Jerry’s good life and good deeds were not enough to assure him a place in heaven. And that Jerry himself would have been the first to tell them that!

Jerry believed these words from the Bible: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) and “the wages of sin is death” (6:23). Jerry’s final and eternal destination in life’s journey was not determined by whether he lived a really good life but entirely by Jesus dying in his place to pay sin’s penalty. He believed that each of us must personally accept the free gift of God, which is “eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:23).

Jerry was a good man, but he could never be “good enough.” And neither can we. It is only by grace that we can be saved through faith. And that has absolutely nothing to do with our human efforts. “It is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8).

“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15). —Cindy Hess Kasper

Christ’s work for my salvation is complete!

No work of mine can add to what He’s done;

I bow to worship at the Master’s feet,

And honor God the Father’s only Son. —Hess

 

We are not saved by good works, but by God’s work.

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God’s Loving Desire – Charles Stanley

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1 Timothy 2:1-6

Throughout the New Testament, we see God’s universal call to salvation repeated a number of times (John 1:12; 3:16; 6:40; 2 Peter 3:9). But each of us must make a personal decision about answering Him.

God wants mankind saved for several reasons. First, He loves us (Eph. 2:4). Divine love isn’t based on any worthiness in us; rather, care for His creation is part of God’s nature. Second, the Lord’s grace is made evident through His followers (v. 7). Believers were once rebellious beings, whom God transformed into obedient servants—that’s a change He wants to celebrate for eternity. What’s more, our good works glorify the Lord (Matt. 5:16). Everything we do in His name increases other people’s awareness of Him.

Salvation is possible only through Christ, who reconciles sinful people to holy God. Isaiah 53:6 teaches that every one of us is a sinner, and Romans 6:23 adds, “The wages of sin is death.” Without a divine solution, we’d be indebted and hopeless. But the Savior’s death on the cross paid the penalty for all humanity so anyone who wants a relationship with the Father can have one. Believing Jesus died for our sins and submitting to the Lord’s will are all that’s necessary for us to enter into eternal fellowship with Him.

Our heavenly father loves us and wants to be with us forever. The only thing that can separate us from Him is a decision to reject His invitation. Once we receive His Son as Savior, we are God’s, and no human action or character flaw can sever our eternal relationship with Him.

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The Sacrifice and Exaltation of Christ – John MacArthur

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“When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3).

The Bible makes it perfectly clear that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Jesus Christ went to the cross, died the death we deserved, and consequently freed us from the penalty of sin by our faith in Him.

The writer of Hebrews goes on to say that Christ “does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself” (Heb. 7:27). In the Old Testament, the priests had to make continual sacrifices, but Jesus made only one. And not only was He the priest, but also the sacrifice! He made a tremendously potent sacrifice, for He forever purged our sins–something the Old Testament sacrifices could never do.

When His sacrifice was complete, “He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3, emphasis added). That is significant because the Old Testament priests never sat down–there were no seats in the sanctuary because they offered sacrifices day in and day out. But Jesus offered one sacrifice, finished it, and then went to the Father and sat down. What the Old Testament sacrifices couldn’t accomplish Christ’s did for all time.

As a result, God exalted Him to His right hand, the seat of honor and rule and rest. But perhaps most important, it is the place where Christ intercedes to the Father on our behalf (Rom 8:34).

Don’t ever forget what Jesus accomplished for us–and what He still does for us: “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

Suggestions for Prayer:  Thank Jesus for His sacrifice on your behalf. Also thank Him for the salvation He has given you and the access you now have to God.

For Further Study:  Read Hebrews 9:1–10:18 to gain a deeper understanding of Christ’s ultimate fulfillment of the Old Testament priestly system. In what specific ways did He fulfill it?