The Wages of Sin… in Context
Romans 6:23 begins, “the wages of sin is death…” and then counters it with, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.”
Often, I’ve heard that first part of the verse thrown at people as a threat; completely void of its context. And context is everything. And the context for this verse is incredibly liberating, empowering, and truly good news.
If you read Romans 5 and 6, fully, you’ll find there’s zero mention of humanity making some sort of choice or decision. Why? Because the context is the complete works of Christ.
“…the wages of sin is death, but God’s free gift is eternal life in Jesus…”
This scripture is often taught as though Paul was giving us a choice; as though we can invite Jesus into our hearts and make Him the Lord of our lives, or we can go to hell, where we will experience eternal conscious torment, and there will be torture, and there will be flames.
But that’s not what Paul wrote. There is no such context.
What if “the wages of sin is death” is announcing the inherent consequences of sinful actions and what they will produce in this life, as opposed to saying if we sin, we deserve torment?
Remember, it says “death;” not “everlasting life while being tortured in fire,” it says “death.”
I challenge you to read Romans 5 and 6. Read what Paul was actually writing. See how he contrasts universal humanity “in Adam” with universal humanity “in Christ” as a result of the complete work of Jesus on behalf of all of humanity
What if there isn’t a judicial system in family?
Let me ask that again.
What if…there isn’t a judicial system…in FAMILY?
What if His name really is Abba, and He is a Father and Physician? What if He is not a judge and we are not in some courtroom accused of crimes and misdemeanors? What if He is not a Master, and we are not His subjects and servants? What if we – humanity – are his children, sons and daughters of the living God; sons and daughters of heaven and eternity and glory?
What if the atonement – what happened at the cross – was totally void of violence from the Father altogether? What if it really was a victory over the Satan, sin and death, and an unveiling of His heart; as well as Him healing us of the delusions we’ve created and been deceived by… all of which, manifested death in our lives and in the earth.
What if Jesus came to reverse the trajectory in order to bring on earth as it is in heaven.
What if we’ve been looking at this completely through the wrong lens.
The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God (for all of humanity) is eternal life in Christ.
That is a conclusive statement.
It is finished… behold, I make all things new! (See John 19:30 and Rev 21:5)
He’s better than you’ve been taught.
Michael McElyea is a husband and a father; a guy who left evangelical church leadership to go on a journey with Jesus; just a man trying to follow Jesus. He lives in MD with his family.
For more on Micahel
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The Uprising
“The Wages of Sin…” in Context
Romans 6:23 begins, “the wages of sin is death…” and then counters it with “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.”
Often, I’ve heard that first part of the verse thrown at people as a threat; completely void of its context. And context is everything. And the context for this verse is incredibly liberating, empowering and truly good news.
If you read Romans 5 and 6, fully, you’ll find there’s zero mention of humanity making some sort of choice or decision. Why? Because the context is the complete works of Christ.
“…the wages of sin is death but God’s free gift is eternal life in Jesus…”
This scripture is often taught as though Paul was giving us a choice; as though we can invite Jesus into our hearts and make Him the Lord of our lives, or we can go to hell, where we will experience eternal conscious torment, and there will be torture and there will be flames.
But that’s not what Paul wrote. There is no such context.
What if “the wages of sin is death” is announcing the inherent consequences to sinful actions and what they will produce in this life, as opposed to saying if we sin we deserve torment?
Remember it says “death;” not “everlasting life while being tortured in fire,” it says “death.”
I challenge you to read Romans 5 and 6. Read what Paul was actually writing. See how he contrasts universal humanity “in Adam” with universal humanity “in Christ” as a result of the complete work of Jesus on behalf of all of humanity
What if there isn’t a judicial system in family?
Let me ask that again.
What if…there isn’t a judicial system…in FAMILY?
What if His name really is Abba and He is a Father and Physician? What if He is not a judge and we are not in some courtroom accused of crimes and misdemeanors. What if He is not a Master and we are we not His subjects and servants. What if we – humanity – are his children, sons and daughters of the living God; sons and daughters of heaven and eternity and glory?
What if the atonement – what happened at the cross – was totally void of violence from the Father altogether? What if it really was a victory over the Satan, sin and death, and an unveiling of His heart; as well as Him healing us of the delusions we’ve created and been deceived by… all of which, manifested death in our lives and in the earth.
What if Jesus came to reverse the trajectory in order to bring on earth as it is in heaven.
What if we’ve been looking at this completely through the wrong lens.
The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God (for all of humanity) is eternal life in Christ.
That is a conclusive statement.
It is finished… behold, I make all things new! (See John 19:30 and Rev 21:5)
He’s better than you’ve been taught.
Michael McElyea is a husband and a father; a guy who left evangelical church leadership to go on a journey with Jesus; just a man trying to follow Jesus. He lives in MD with his family.
For more on Micahel
Facebook
The Uprising
God is Good, Not Just Nice
Sometimes when I say that God is good, people hear “God is nice”.
Then depending on their grid, they often dismiss my thoughts as wrong, even heretical or they imagine the Father as a caricature sugar daddy.
But His goodness is bigger than being nice. Being nice requires someone to be nice to, but being good is, first of all, an internal quality. His goodness includes His holiness, His righteousness, His purity… In other words, His goodness is rooted in Himself not just in His behavior towards us. He acts in ways consistent to His own being, His own character.
Our Father is always unequivocally for us. He never created anyone to be less than a son or daughter. He is never, has never and will never, be against us – period. But being for us doesn’t always look the same and, more to the point, it doesn’t always look the way we want it to.
A nice person might buy an alcoholic a beer. A good person will try to help them become healthier.
We were made to experience His pleasure and His love, not cheap substitutes for them. So, while He wants us to experience pleasure, He will allow certain pleasures to take a back seat to character. His goodness is making us like Himself.
In His goodness, He gets us ready. In His goodness, He addresses our pain. In His goodness, He shapes our character. In His goodness, He makes us whole. In His goodness, He renews our thinking. In His goodness, He restores His own image in us.
He can be nice, but He is better than that. He is good!
Pete Scheller is the pastor of Destiny Christian Fellowship in Madison WI. He and his wife, Alison, lead conferences focused on the heart of the Father, the Mind of the Son, and the Power of the Spirit.
www.heartmindspirit.us
Schellerpete@gmail.com
A Walk with Nova
This afternoon I went for a stroll with my granddaughter, Nova.
As we were walking, I was thinking about the predictable pattern of our relationship. Every time I see her, even while she is living in my house – and I may see her more than once a day – I do more or less the same things, in the same order.
When I first see her, I smile. Then, I move towards her in love. Next, I demonstrate my affection for her with a hug or a kiss or most likely a lot of both of them as I sit her in my lap! I see myself as squeezing as much love into her little body as she can contain.
After that we talk, she babbles something I don’t understand and I speak to her identity, “Hello beautiful! How are you today?” “Hi princess! I love you.” If she’s with me for a little while, we play games or read books, and I try to teach her a few new words and speak blessings over her.
Why am I telling you all this? Because, I’d like to suggest that this is actually the same way our Father relates to us, whenever we draw near to Him.
The first thing He does is smile. Then, He moves towards us in love. Next, He demonstrates His affection for us with a gentle hand on the head or an arm around our shoulders, or even picking us up and sitting us in His lap.
However He shows it, He is squeezing as much love into us as we can handle. After that, we say a few things which are largely incoherent nonsense and then He speaks to our identity as His son or daughter. And, if we stick around for a little while, we might read together with Him and He gently teaches us a few things and He always blesses us.
There is no striving in this place, not for Nova with me, not for us with our Father.
Pete Scheller is the pastor of Destiny Christian Fellowship in Madison WI. He and his wife, Alison, lead conferences focused on the heart of the Father, the Mind of the Son, and the Power of the Spirit.
www.heartmindspirit.us
Schellerpete@gmail.com
Escape from the Doldrums
Earlier today I looked up at the clock to see what time it was.
Usually, when we check the time it’s because we don’t want to be late for an appointment or because we are assessing how our time management is going for the day. If we’re being honest, we’re often trying to gauge how productive we are (as in, “am I feeling good about myself that I’m getting enough done by this marker in the day?”).
My next flow of thought went to a very old (originally 1960’s) Dr. Pepper advertising slogan, “Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2 and 4.” I know, this slogan is pretty weird, but true. It obviously came out long before we knew the toxic nature of consuming so much sugar.
Since the numbers have to do with the time of day, many Dr. Pepper clocks were made to highlight those three hours.
Upon doing a little research, I found out that doctors back in the day had discovered a natural drop in energy at 10:30 am, 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm. So I guess the logic was that if a person drains a bottle of carbonated sugar water 30 minutes beforehand, it would somehow offset the condition. Hmm…
This God-thought popped into my head. Because we have a Heavenly Father who adores His children, what if each time we looked at the clock, our first thought went something like this: It’s 10 am. I’m loved at 10 am! It’s 2 pm, I’m loved at 2 pm! It’s 4 pm, I’m loved at 4 pm!
Clearly, God’s love is the supernatural pick-me-up that we were born for and the only one that can offset any emotional or spiritual doldrums we might encounter along the way.
The best news is that His love and affection isn’t just for 10, 2 and 4, but for 5 am, Noon, 8 pm, Midnight…you get the picture. God never turns His love off!
What would happen if every single time we looked at the clock, it became a reminder of Papa’s affection for us at that precise moment? It would not only change your outlook at the moment, but it would change your day, your week, your month and your life!
I’m going to get really practical here. Most of you will read this article and think What a great idea! and then promptly forget about it. So how about this: Put a little sticky note on at least one of your clocks that you view regularly—the one in your bedroom that you look at before you go to sleep and when you wake up. The one in the kitchen that you glance at several times during the rushing moments to get out the door. The one in the dashboard of your car that you glance at frequently to see if you will be on time to your destination. Or better yet, put a sticky note on each of them that says…“I Love You!”
Then when you check the time and see the note, you can remind yourself, “I’m tired this morning, but I’m loved!” “I’m a few minutes late getting my kids to school, but I’m loved!” “I have an appointment in 10 minutes and I’m loved!” “I have to get that report done in the next hour and I’m loved!” “I have some time to sit and be quiet with you Lord–You say I’m loved!” “I didn’t get all my to-do’s checked off today, but I sure am loved!”
Often, during the busyness of a day, I will intentionally look for Suzanne, my wife, and affectionately embrace her saying, “If we are too busy for this, we are too busy.”
Your heavenly Daddy says the same to you. Take the time to be loved. It’s what you were born for!
Brent Lokker was born and raised in California and has been a pastor in the San Francisco Bay Area for over two decades. Brent’s greatest joy is being a loved and treasured son of His heavenly Daddy. The other extreme joys in his life are being a husband for more than 25 years to his beautiful and amazing wife, Suzanne, and a father to his two awesome sons, Derek and Aaron.
Brent is the author of Always Loved. He and his wife Suzanne are the founding and senior pastors of Blazing Fire Church, a church on fire with the passionate gaze of Jesus!