It might seem strange that I would quote Scripture and put the words “myth buster” in front of it. But some of you have realized there is something wrong with the above quote... it isn’t from scripture at all.
One of the most often misunderstood (and also misquoted) passages of Scripture is Romans 6:23. What it actually reads is “...the wages of sin is death...”
There is a huge difference in what those two phrases communicate. If we say the ‘penalty for sin is death’ it would seem to suggest God is paying out the penalty for sin. But when we attach this text (or partial text actually) to the rest of the verse and to the verses surrounding it we begin to understand what it is really saying. The rest of Romans 6:23 reads “...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
Some understand this to mean that God is paying out death for sin with one hand and life in Jesus Christ with the other. Because death comes as the result of sin we conclude that what God pays out to us depends on our performance. This also is a misunderstanding of this text.
Attached to the verses surrounding it we see that Paul is personifying “sin”. Paul is talking about serving two masters and Sin is personified as a cruel slave master. A few verses earlier Paul writes:
“Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” – Romans 6:16
Here we clearly see that sin and obedience to God are setup as two different masters. We can offer ourselves to either one or the other (but not to both).
Paul is telling us that if we make sin our master and offer ourselves to serve him we will end up slaving for him. We can slave for sin our entire life and in the end the wage that he will payout is death. We will carry around a heavy load of sin and suffer the consequences of sin our entire life and in the end sin will payout with death. We will have difficulty and darkness all through our lives if we choose to serve the slave master Sin.
Then there is a comparison...
God is giving a gift! The free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ! The difference is clear. Sin pays a wage, a cruel wage. But God gives a gift, a glorious gift! A wage, by definition, is something you must work for. But on the other hand a gift is something you get for free - out of the goodwill of the one giving it. You don’t deserve it and you can’t work for it. All you can do is accept it.
There are two ways we can make sin our master. The first is to be drowning in self-destructive habits, drugs, sexual immorality, drinking, lying, stealing, etc... the list can go on. The second way is less obvious and often appears to be very religious and pious. That second way is to attempt to please God through good behavior. That will lead us into false religion and an un-winnable battle with sin which can only end one of two ways - in false pride and denial, or failure and sorrow.
Jesus has freed us from sin. In Jesus our sins have been defeated, paid for, and removed from us. Although we still struggle in our bodies, God loves us and already sees us as perfect. And since we are permanently forgiven, God's Spirit can dwell in us permanently without jumping out and back in every time we make a mistake and then confess it. The Cross was powerful, and Jesus never leaves us. The Bible says the cross of Jesus Christ was powerful enough to cover the sins of the whole planet.
The true Gospel brings a flood of peace, acceptance, healing, and joy into our lives. It is restful and invigorating. "Peace on earth, good will towards men!" This was the song of the angels when Jesus was born. We can rest in His gift, and enjoy the friendship with God which was purchased for us. It's a gift. If we allow sin to be our master and to control our lives, Satan will hurt, break down, and finally kill us. But God has a free gift, one which you don't have to work for - eternal, abundant, overflowing life.
