To some it may seem strange that we would quote Scripture, and then say it is a myth. But some have already caught on.
This very well known Scripture is often misquoted and mistunderstood. The way this Scripture should read is, "The
wages of sin is death.
There is a GIGANTIC difference between what these two phrases communicate.
If we say, "the
penalty for sin is death", then we infer that God is paying out the penalty. When attached to the rest of the verse, "but the free gift of God is eternal life", it makes it seem like God is sitting on a cloud with entrance tickets to heaven in one hand and a shotgun in the other. It infers that He is watching our lives and deciding which fate we will each earn by our behavior!
But actually, "sin" is being personified here. Jesus is telling us that if we make Sin our master, we will slave for him all of our lives and the wage he will pay us at the end is death. In fact, we will have difficulty and darkness all through our lives if we choose to serve Sin.
Then there is a comparasin. Jesus is telling us that God is already holding out a free gift in His hand, one which we do not have to work for, eternal life. Sin pays a wage - God gives a gift.
There are two ways to serve Sin. The first is to be to be drowning in self destructive habits, drugs, uncontrolled sex, drinking, lying, stealing, etc.
The second and less obvious way to be trapped by Sin is to attempt to please God through good behavior. That will lead a person into false religion and an unwinnable 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 sees us as perfect.~
http://www.rockymountainministries....q-myth-11-qthe-penalty-for-sin-is-deathq.html
