“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:23
According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of wage is “a payment usually of money for labor or services usually according to contract and on an hourly, daily, or piecework basis —often used in plural.” The word wage used in this scripture is the Greek word, “opsōnion,” which is a military term used to speak on payment that a soldier would receive for his services, which typically wasn’t much with some occurrences of the word simply meaning an allowance, stipend, and even a ration of food. So, what exactly does Romans 6:23 mean? That sin gives you a paycheck of death. Well, this teaches us that not only does sin compensates us terribly, but that compensation is ultimately death. A practical way that helped me to understand this scripture is an analogy to credit card debt. Sinning is like maxing out a credit card while having no realistic way of paying off that debt while constantly still bearing the shame of having that debt looming over your head.
However, just as the last part of Romans 6:23 says, “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Jesus offers us a way out. Just as the word wages is a blatant financial term used when discussing money or finances, so is the word forgiveness. In Greek, the word forgiveness is, “aphiēmi” which means to literally clear out, send away, no longer keep, and neglect. The example I used earlier about sin being compared to maxing out a credit card with no realistic way to pay it off is the default spiritual condition all of humanity is faced with. However, turning our lives to and FULLY submitting to Christ as our Lord means he can come in and not only wipe that debt clean, we also can inherit his riches and treasures. Which we learn in Romans 6:23 is eternal life. Still, also Ephesians 1:11-23 expands even more upon this idea of what we inherit.
So, we learned that sinning puts us in a situation where its payment is unsubstantial and leads to death. But a life surrendered to Christ not only frees you from the debt and the wages of sin, but it also gives you the gift of partaking in eternal life and being able to claim the inheritance God has stored up for his true and faithful servants. I am not an accountant, a banker, or a professional investor, but I can confidently say I know what option I choose. I hope you do as well!
Dear Lord, our savior, our redeemer, our forgiver. The one who wipes all our debt and our shame away. The one who allows us to share in his inheritance and his riches. Thank You for freeing me of sin and helping me want to live a life that moves closer and closer towards you. I pray for those who are lost and trapped in a lifestyle that shows the wages of sin that lead to death and that they too are made aware of the best debt forgiveness program that gives them spiritual freedom and that they also take part in the inheritance you have for them. I pray this in your name, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Many Nations 