The Bible's Bad News
Romans 6:23 - The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Good and bad news...
- Three contrasts
- The first is obvious: Paul sets "death" in opposition to "eternal life"
- Paul also contrasts "wages" with a "free gift"
- The third contrast is more subtle: We tend to think the opposite of "sin" is "forgiveness"
- Death - capital "D"
- Genesis 2:15-17:
Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” (2:15-17)
- Genesis 2:15-17:
- Why does this matter?
- It helps make sense of Genesis
- It helps us to understand the penalty for sin
- It should give us compassion for others
- It helps us to see what Jesus has borne on our behalf