When a man acts according to the Law of God, he does that which promotes life; but when he breaks the Law of God, he does that which causes death. "The wages of sin is death." Sin pays a dreadful wage. Since "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," "it is appointed note men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Rom. 3:23; Heb. 9:27).

"Wages" are the reward for labor. It would be unjust for work to be done without pay, and all who are out to work as the soldiers of Sin will be paid by Sin. Sin is a faithful Captain, for there never was a sinner who worked for him, whose wages he withheld, or one to whom he paid an unjust wage.

In Proverbs chapter 8, God, the Author of wisdom is personified as Wisdom when He says, "All they that hate me love death" (8:36).

How many there are who "knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do them" (Rom. 1:32). How many there are whose bodies, on account of their sins, are already rotting above ground! They are "dead while (they) live" (I Tim. 5:6). The drunkard suffers with cirrhosis in his liver. The smoker agonizes with cancer in his lungs. The sodomite groans under the curse of AIDS.

How many there are whose children, and whose children’s, children suffer with blindness or with retardation on account of their sins! Sin brings death to the BODY, and also to the MIND. Sin kills LOVE, for parents who have not repented of the sins of their youth will make no real effort to keep their children and grandchildren from following in their waywardness. How many parents there are who actually train their children and grandchildren to follow their unholy ways, and to experience the SHAME, the GRIEF, and the SORROW they have suffered! Sin chills to death the heart of a sinner.

"The wages of sin is death" to CONSCIENCE, and to PURITY. When children, most people never thought they would do the things they have done as adults. They may have since laughed at virginity and chastity, but Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8); and, "without (holiness), no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14). "The wages of sin is death" to JOY, SELF-RESPECT, and to FAMILY.

Sin pays a terrible wage even to Christians who sin, for Sin causes SPIRITUAL PARALYSIS. For a time, Sin can drive a Christian from GOD’S WORD. Sin can silence PRAYING LIPS, for "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Ps. 66:18). But, Sin pays the sinner with the currency of a LOST ETERNITY.

Sin brings death to FREEDOM, sealing the sinner in perpetual bondage; for in choosing sin, the sinner continues to choose sin, until he receives every "cent" of his wages; and drops into an unchangeable eternity.

Sinners have seen other people suffer PAIN, and HEARTACHE. They have witnessed the DESTRUCTION of them who have smashed their souls on the rocks of Forever, yet, they continue in their sins! The wages Sin pays is GUILT, and SHAME which culminates first in PHYSICAL DEATH, and then in SPIRITUAL DEATH: still, they continue in their destructive ways, locked in their fearsome, enslaving Captain.

It is the very nature of sin to destroy. A man can more easily administer artificial respiration to himself than he can free himself from Sin, and his fatal wages. "As by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12). "The sting of death is sin" (I Cor. 15:56). Sin is the Father of Death; Sin is the sting of Death; and "The wages of sin is death."

Sin rewards his followers with sorrow, with guilt and shame, and then, Sin will give them ulcers; and then he will reward them with disease in their body and in their mind. Yet sin has no shortage of people who are determined to follow his deceitful, and killing ways.

"All have sinned"—Man is in such a state of rot that only God who made man can save him. "The gift of God is eternal life." The gift of the eternal God is eternal life.

The word "gift" used here is the same as the word "Grace," and can be read, "The grace of God is eternal life."

"...The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The gift of God is life eternal. It is not ended by temptation, nor is it affected when our body "lies a-moldering in the grave." Time has no affect upon it. The gift of the eternal God is eternal life.

"Eternal" life is eternal. Since it cannot be lost or ended, it is said to be "everlasting" (Jn. 3:16). To say we have everlasting life which does not last forever is an absurdity. Neither will God recall His gift to a believer, because the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom. 11:29).

The gift of God stands in sharp contrast to the nature of Adam that is only temporary. It is a gift given not to people who claim themselves to be Christians, but to them to whom God wills to give it (Jn. 17:22); and only then by His grace through Jesus Christ. Redemption in the form of eternal life --life that will never die-is in Jesus Christ, first, on account of Who He is --He is "our Lord;" and, second, on account of what He has done in purchasing our redemption.

It is the nature of a gift, that it is irrevocable. It is "eternal" because it is unchanging --a gift for all time, and eternity.

Luther wrote, "The Beloved Son who sits in the bosom of the Father, unto Whom alone He looks, without Whom He allows nothing, but whatever pleases the Father, it pleases Him with respect to His son: therefore, He that desires to go to the Father must cleave to His Beloved Son: nothing is of value or estimation with the Father, except His Beloved Son.

"Let him flee to His Son, if he will, for by Him he finds access to the Father. Therefore, whosoever cleaves to Christ through faith abides in the favor of God. He shall be made beloved and acceptable as Christ is, and shall have fellowship with the Father and Son."

Bunyan wrote, "oh, this Lamb of God! He had a whole heaven Himself! Myriads of angels to do His pleasure! But, this could not satisfy Him: He must have sinners to share it with Him!"

Reader, if you have come to believe in Christ, and have received His gift of eternal life, then "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee" (Mk. 5:19).

OF ELECTION—"I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight" (Matt. 11:25,26).

Comment- "Isn’t this selective hiding and revealing of the Gospel evidence of God’s electing only some people to salvation? Doesn’t our Lord here declare himself thankful to the Father for this election? and doesn’t our Lord say this election seemed good in the Father’s sight? Reader, if the Father approves of election, and Jesus thanks the Father for it, why does it offend you?"

"...No man knoweth the Son, but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him" (Matt. 11:27) -Frank Hutto. (Editor’s Comment: "How dare anyone be offended by the doctrine of election!)

* The United Nations has banned Christian organizations from flying Bibles into the Sudan, according to Frontline Fellowship of So. Africa. A Sudanese pastor stated, "It’s not that the UN is against religion: they’re just against Christianity" (What In The World, Vol. 19, No. 3; Bob Jones University, Greenville, So. Carolina).

* Christian broadcasters in So. Africa will lose 25% of their air time which will be given to Hindus, Muslims, and to followers of African traditional religions. "No persons ...shall broadcast--anything that is of a nature derogatory or offensive to the community as a whole.

...Religious broadcasters should show sensitivity to the beliefs of others, neither attacking nor undermining any other religion" (What in The World).

(Editor’s comment: Only a lukewarm church can submit the Christian ministry to the approval of those who are anti-Christian. Yet, this is only the beginning. It will not be long before Christianity will be forced from the airwaves --even in America. Christians themselves will take part in persecuting their brethren. Already, some Christian networks are refusing to renew contracts with broadcasters who dare speak out against such things as ECT-Evangelicals and Catholics Together.)

Why do the governments of this world hate Christianity? What are they afraid of that they must persecute Christians? George Bancroft keenly observed that the establishment of FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE, CONSCIENCE which brings with it freedom of inquiry, freedom of speech, and the freedom of the press is not the product of philosophy, but of Christianity. Christianity is the only religion that poses a threat to would-be tyrants.

In order for a state to be free, the church must be free. Until the 18th century, European nations could not tolerate the doctrine of the Separation of Church and State. Roman Catholics and Protestants alike persecute Baptists who taught only believers have a right to be baptized, and to be received as church members. It was Baptists who taught freedom of conscience. For such offenses, Reformed (Calvinist) brethren drowned thousands of Baptists in the Netherlands. Baptists were constantly forced to move from nation to nation according to where better conditions prevailed at the time.

European nations gradually admitted religious toleration; but the toleration of religion is not freedom of religion. Under toleration, freedom is considered to be a privilege given by a government; and those who are tolerated are given the status of second-class citizens.

But, if a government tolerates liberties God has given to every man, such as by issuing a license for a church to operate, that government can revoke the license, or simply change the law, and thereby end religious toleration.

Freedom was unknown in history until the separation of church and state became a reality. It was not England, but America that led the world in establishing freedom in the earth. A free church is necessary for a free state, and while England achieved religious toleration, America established religious freedom.

Colonial America was not free. Colonists from the Old World brought with them their concept of Church and State. The Puritans were violently opposed to religious liberty, and the Reformers before them taught that liberty would result in anarchy.

In American colonial history, Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony in the dead of winter. Other Baptists were publicly whipped and jailed. But Williams and John Clarke founded Rhode Island with religious and political liberty.

During the mid-1700’s, the doctrine of Separation of Church and State was adopted by individual states.

Then, in 1787, America became a democratic republic founded upon a federal constitution. In 1791, the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, became law, and secured what was never experienced before in the history of the world. For the first time, men were declared to be Free --free to worship God according to their conscience. This was not a freedom to worship Satan, or Buddha, etc., but was a freedom to worship God according to the dictates of every man’s understanding.

England achieved toleration; America established liberty. This was the fruit of Roger Williams, John Clarke, John Leland, Isaac Backus, and many others. Religious freedom such as God gives was one of the contributions Baptists made to history. But, it was in the Bible all the while, for God said, "Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil." (Rom. 13:3)

The doctrine of FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE gave rise to the freedom of inquiry, the freedom of speech, and the freedom of the press. This is the result of Christianity, and these are the things tyrants cannot tolerate. This is the reason for the continual war against Christianity by governments.