Greg Rolfe

5 years ago · 1 min. reading time · ~10 ·

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The wages of sin is death, that's a little bit harsh isn't it?

The wages of sin is death, that's a little bit harsh isn't it?


The Bible is very clear that the consequence of sinning is death. And to be honest it appears to many that that is a bit over the top. I mean one sin and the result is my death? Wow! What happened to second chances?

The true problem is not that this punishment is out of line but that instead it is our lack of understanding of what sin is. Sin is a very short word with a very large meaning. The word sin is often explained as any action or thought that is contrary to the character of God. And while that explanation is basically accurate it fails to help people understand what sin is. Sin is actually death. God is by all accounts life, so any actions against life is by definition death. So the wages or result of sinning is death.

But what is the real problem? Honestly why all the big drama over death. All death means is separation from God. And for those who do not believe in God at all what loss do they have? So instead of defining death as separation from God it is more often defined as our souls separation from our bodies. It is at this point that philosophers and theologians start the debate over the destination of our souls. Wrong debate. The real question that should be addressed is why do we die?

Now if we believe the Bible the original intent of God was for man to never die. So where did death come from. As we said before sin. But science today says decay. But where did decay come from? Sin. What? Where did I pull that twaddle from? Sin or actions against life must result in death or current usage, decay.

Let me try again. Sin is also seen as actions and thoughts against relationships. Every time you break a relationship even a little you bring pain and a little death to that relationship. At which point you either repair the relationship or eventually it breaks up, dies. We all know of multiple divorces and broken relationships and we know that each one was the result of little and large actions against that relationship. Sin. The result of sinning was the death of the relationship.

The reality is that it is a very well established fact that the wages of sin is death. Just because we don't like it truly changes nothing. You will die because of sin. What you do about it is up to you. Romans 6:23.

Blessings

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Comments

Greg Rolfe

5 years ago#8

#10
Light is the result of sound? I thought sound was vibration, a lower form of energy. What is the name of your article?

Greg Rolfe

5 years ago#7

#7
Kevin, wow nicely stated! "Life has nothing to do with our emotional filtered perception of events." There is an entire post or even a paper buried in that one sentence.

Harvey Lloyd

5 years ago#6

#5
Yes that is what i meant. We seem to have many “Sin” Sheriffs in the faith these days. Again a great post concerning our views of Christianity and how we see words.

Greg Rolfe

5 years ago#5

#1
Hi Kevin, that would depend on your definition of life. You hold a very popular belief.

Greg Rolfe

5 years ago#4

Harvey Lloyd Hi Harvey, thank you for your your addition. As you know the original meaning of the word sin is missing the mark. And as you accurately mentioned that mark was the law. I am curious about your statement "weaponized in today's culture". Are you referring to using sin as a "brick" to hit someone over the head with? If so I fully agree. You accurately stated that the agenda of the statement was to warn people to head the law so as to live a prosperous life and avoid premature death. In addition from the Scriptural perspective it was to warn that to stray from the law was to indeed encourage God's disapproval and eventual execution. Thank you again for your thoughts!

Harvey Lloyd

5 years ago#3

Frederick Nietzsche captured the sin concept quite well in his story of God is dead and we killed him. He new instinctively without the natural law in place that death would be upon the culture. The wages of sin is an awesome discussion topic. To hear the many definitions of the term. Even to the point the thought becomes weaponized in today's culture.

Harvey Lloyd

5 years ago#2

If we could look at the word sin with that understanding then we can bring the word forward in application. If we sin against critical thinking that includes the two greatest commandments, the opportunity for success or death of the idea is high. If we don't practice win-win within our organization, another way of saying love your neighbor then the wages of sinning against this concept is death. My limited understanding of Thomas Aquinas is this was his doctrine. Reasonable people could critically think about something while at the same time retaining the will of God as mysterious and unknown. Being in God's image we can know that we have a natural human law upon each of us. This law can be discussed within the framework of the culture who the Bible was written. All of the new wave thinking of empathy, critical thinking, false arguments and active listening are all biblical in foundation. In loving God and our neighbor these are the functions we perform to understand "how" to do both. They do not replace God, they were created by God within the image He placed in us. When we do not heed the natural law and axioms, we sin, or the wages of opposite efforts will end in death of the goals sought. Egregious enough and yes it could be life ending. All things man are subject to the will of God. Regardless of our own plans.

Harvey Lloyd

5 years ago#1

This is a very interesting topic as we look at scripture from a secular or follower view. Clearly the secular view is quite diminishing in understanding the word and thought. IMHO when we look at scripture we must realize that it was written by and to a specific culture and group. Today we must look at the text as not being written "to" us but "for" us. This places emphasis on what the word "sin" meant to the culture receiving the words. Knowing their definition we can now appropriately translate the meaning forward. To add our own modern definition to the word is not appropriate and serves none but the person defining the thought. Sin in the era it was used meant upholding the law to the people who were bound by the mosaic law. More importantly the word identified what the inhibitors were within the community they lived. The primary use of the word was sinning against the laws handed down to Moses for God's people. We could almost look at the law as a constitution that bound the culture to a set of ideals to help them thrive under God's creation.

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