Wages and Gifts

First Year, First Term, First Lesson…

When I first started out as a high school teacher, the very first lesson with any new class coming in from primary school involved the kids writing out the rules for these lessons. They included things like not talking out of turn, respecting other pupils’ viewpoints, and remembering homework.

But the rules alone would have had no effect without punishments and rewards. If you forget your homework, this is the punishment, etc. If you show respect and complete work to the best of your ability, these are the rewards.

As time went on, the language began to change. Instead of “rules” we had “expectations” – pupils are expected to behave in a certain way. Instead of “punishments” we had “consequences”.

However you put it, there were good and bad actions, and those actions always had some kind of knock-on effect.

Further down the years and into my teaching career, new pupils were themselves allowed to contribute to the expectations. Some teachers obviously didn’t like this. They didn’t want their pupils deciding what the rules of the classroom should be! The truth is, when you have a brand new class of nervous pupils, generally speaking, they want to learn, they don’t want people talking out of turn, interrupting them, and they all have a sense of justice, especially when someone other than they are the ones not meeting expectations.

This classroom setting can be representative of the whole of life.

There are good and bad actions, and often we see the consequences straight away, although not always. And most people want to see justice done, especially when they are the offended party.

In last week’s post we saw that the bible teaches that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

So now we have to ask, what’s God going to do about it? How does God view this situation? If we have all sinned, that means we’re all guilty! So what are the consequences? If it’s anything like the classroom, perhaps we feel like that child who’s hoping teacher didn’t notice, or that we can come up with a good excuse, or sob story to explain our misdemeanour.

But, unfortunately for us, God sees everything and will have the last word.

The bible says:

The wages of sin is death… (Romans 6:23)

Well that’s pretty clear cut.

Death is what we deserve. When we die we have no place in heaven.

The ‘wages’ – what we deserve for what we have done – is that we are dead to God, eternally separated from his eternal life. Fortunately, this wonderful verse does not end here. Read on…

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

The gift of God is eternal life. So although sin earns us death, God, in his love, gives a gift.

This is important. It’s a gift. We did not earn it. We don’t deserve it. It is a gift. And a gift must be received.

Will you receive God’s gift of eternal life today?

You don’t have to wait – you are ready now! In your own words and in the quietness of your own heart, ask Jesus to forgive your sins and get in touch with us to let us know. We can then help you on your journey of faith as you start this new life in Jesus.

God Bless,

Jon Petts.