I met a young man this past week, who was struggling with several issues. As we were visiting, I allowed him to just share his heart. He felt like he knew God, but when he messed up, that God would pull away from him. The reason why he wasn’t doing better in his mind, was that he wasn’t living up to his end of the bargain with God. He was missing the mark.
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It reminded me of a time in my life, where being a Christian, meant adhering to a set of rules. Don’t drink alcohol, don’t use bad words, don’t have sex before marriage, don’t watch pornography, don’t do this, don’t do that. I had an endless list of “don’t’s” that determined whether God was pleased with me. Most day’s my level of personal shame was measured against this never-ending list of rules.
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For me being a Christian was more about religion, than an actual relationship. Most days, I was filled with shame, because I missed the mark. The word SIN is an old archery term meaning to miss the mark.
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It was a measurement of how far you missed the bullseye. We all miss the mark daily. In the book of Romans, Paul writes “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Wages is a term, that most of us understand in the world. When we have a job, we perform a task, and what we earn is our wage. Something that we earn. Just like in the world, in spiritual terms, we earn things as well. We are all sinners. When we sin, we are earning a wage, something that we are owed. The Wage (what we have earned) of SIN is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We are entering into the holiday season, where lots of gifts will be given out. Now if I give my son a pair of shoes as a gift for Christmas, and then come back to him the next day and take them away, is it still a gift? NO!
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We have been given the GIFT of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. It’s not something that God is sitting there waiting to step in and take back what he has given us. We are all Sinners, saved by Grace through Faith! (Ephesians 2:8-9). Not saved by church attendance, not saved by tithes and offerings, not saved by good works, saved by Grace through Faith.
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Satan tries to come in and he brings the counterfeit to conviction, he brings shame. That is exactly what this young man was dealing with, he wasn’t feeling convicted, he was feeling shame. Was the young man a sinner? Yes. We all are. Was the Lord reactively pulling away the Free Gift of Eternal Life away from him based on how well he succeeded in living his life that day? Absolutely not. The young man’s sin did earn a wage, and there was a price to pay for it. However, that happened on the Cross, when Christ died for our sins.
I just want to encourage you today, walk in the forgiveness of your sins. When the enemy tries to come in and tell you that you are worthless, remind you of your past sins and failures, know that that was already paid. You are a child of God, his blood on the cross, was for you. You have received the gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus.