The Wages of Sin

I receive a few emails from organizations that "follow" Christian events ... One recently posted an article about a Tweet sent by a pastor of a large church in the Pacific Northwest on Inauguration Day.

I won't quote the Tweet and I won't name the pastor here; those are not relevant to my thoughts. However, as I read the article and then began to peruse the 732 comments (as of the writing of this post), I couldn't help but open a new tab in my Internet browser to jot down some of my own thoughts about the very few (10 or less) comments I'd read before needing to "vent."

In a world where EVERYTHING is available to EVERYONE almost INSTANTANEOUSLY (and once posted, nearly IMPOSSIBLE to remove ALL traces), I find it amazing how many people simply DON'T CARE what they publish in public forums!

So, what set me off? Nearly immediately, people began to "compare" sins. Abortion was brought up. Homosexuality was brought up. Hitler was brought up. Being a liar was brought up.

And quickly, someone had the audacity to say "I agree sin is sin but hitlers sin will exact a greater penalty than a liar." (lower case not mine)

This statement shows just how much people don't understand God, or His word, the Bible. Through the words of Paul, God made it clear in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus or Lord."

People, we try to rationalize that Hitler was very bad, so his punishment by God will be very bad. We try to set ourselves apart from others by saying, "but I'm not as bad as (fill in the blank)."

Yet God makes it very clear. If you do not accept the free gift offered through Jesus Christ's sacrifice, your payment for sin (any sin) is death.

While our minds strive to create a sin hierarchy, in God's economy, sin = death. Any sin.

We need to keep that in mind when we are talking about sin. Without Jesus, there is no forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7). That should be our message to a dying, hurting, lost world.