The Wages of Sin

My first thought as I sat down to write this article was begin by wishing everyone a Happy New Year.  However, God, in His sovereignty brought an event into my life that caused me to change directions.

“The wages of sin is death”  (Romans 6:23a).  The truth of that statement by Paul was brought home all to clearly for me this past week.  Our pet rabbit, Mocha, died.  She was an elderly rabbit, eight and one half years old.  Most rabbits don’t live much past 4-5 years.  God brought Mocha into our lives just before our lives were about to get rather chaotic.  During that time, especially, she brought smiles to our faces and, like most pets, helped us to take a break from what was happening all around us.

So how is it that Mocha’s death drove home the point of sin causing death and grief?  If it weren’t for Adam and Eve’s sin of disobeying God, death would never have entered our world.  The day that they sinned, to all of Adam’s progeny was added a sin-nature.  No human being has escaped it except for Jesus.   And it is to Him we look for a pardon from the wages of our sin.

As I spent the hours after Mocha’s death grieving, crying and even weeping, the heinous nature of sin became much more clear.  The consequences of sin are never, ever confined to the individual committing the sin.  For example, when someone has an affair and commits the sin of adultery, the consequences of that sin are catastrophic.  More often than not, a marriage dies; trust is obliterated; and grief is overwhelming.  If there are young children, they are caught in the middle and don’t understand why their parents are no longer living in the same house or why mommy and daddy are no longer married.  The consequences of this particular sin will affect the children, literally, for the rest of their lives.  If you doubt it, just ask someone whose parents divorced when they were young.

How many friendships have been destroyed because of sin?  How many friends have lost their close relationship because of sin?  How many families have been torn apart because of sin?  How many churches have split because of sin?  How many neighborhoods are destroyed because of sin?  How many countries are left impoverished because of sin?  How many people are dying as a direct result of sin?  Those are tough questions to think about and, most of the time, we don’t want to discuss it because we would have to be willing to admit that there is a God who sets the standard of righteousness; we would have to acknowledge that sin is real and the consequences are real and far reaching.

“… but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 6:23b). The last part of the verse brings us the reason for rejoicing.  This same Jesus, who is the sinless, spotless Lamb of God, the Savior of the world, who would take away the SIN OF THE WORLD, He is still actively interceding on behalf of all believers.  He is still talked about and shared with a world that is in desperate need of the Savior.   

As we begin a new year, it is my prayer that all believers will rejoice in their deliverance from the penalty of their sin:  death.  Secondly, that we will be ever cognizant of the fact that sin can, and does, have far reaching consequences.  All of us still struggle with our sin nature but if we will live our lives yielded to the power and guidance of God’s Word and His Holy Spirit, we can avoid a lot of the grief, sorrow and pain that is caused by our sin.  Thirdly, there are people, real people, who need to know about Jesus and His amazing sacrifice on their behalf.  Tell them about Him; ask the Father to draw them to Himself that they, too, would know the love, forgiveness, mercy and grace that is found only in Jesus’ death and resurrection.

May the Lord bless you and keep you as you seek to serve Him all the more in 2016.

By His Grace,

Gary T. Dromi, Ph.D.

Thoughts On Bravery and Courage

In western culture, words have been being redefined for the last few decades.  For example:  In the 1960's “bad” meant good rather than something to be avoided.  The word; “gay” has been redefined to mean homosexual rather than happy or joyful.  The word “sick” means outstanding or amazing rather than an illness or a perversion.

There are, obviously, many other examples.

Two words that are now being redefined are:  “brave” and “courageous.”  Criminal behavior such as looting or stealing from shop owners during recent riots are now being redefined as “brave” or “courageous” rather than as vandalism and stealing. 

Criticizing and personally attacking someone (verbally and physically) because they hold to traditional, biblical values is now considered “brave” or “courageous” by so-called "progressive" individuals. 

The postmodern mindset of our culture, with its relativistic mantra, has only made this redefining of words that much simpler because for the postmodern mind, there are no absolute truths.  Each person is encouraged to define truth in whatever way it suits him or her best.  The deviations, magnetic or otherwise, of one’s moral compass are largely ignored because, for the relativist, there is no “true north” from which a proper calibration of right and wrong can be achieved.

It’s been said that if a lie is told often enough, and left unchallenged, it will soon become the new truth.  History has proven this to be true all too often.

Food for Thought:

Bravery is being the second person to be asked “Are you a Christian?” after having just watched the first Christian being shot in the head and responding, “Yes, I am.”

A brave man dies only once; but a coward dies a thousand times.

It is neither brave nor courageous to snipe from a place of anonymity. 

It is neither brave nor courageous to be an arrogant know-it-all when, in fact, this type of person is nothing more than a manipulative, self-centered person who preys upon emotionally weak individuals to shore up their own emotional insecurities.

It is neither brave nor courageous to use sarcasm as a form of humor, as sarcasm shrouds a deep-seated anger, immaturity, insecurity and unforgiveness that the person has not the courage to face.

It is neither brave nor courageous to be critical of the job that someone else is doing if: 

(1) You don’t have the education, experience or skills to do the job yourself; (2) You have never done the job with any degree of success; (3) You are not willing to step up and take on the responsibilities of the job and do it yourself.

True bravery and courage is never self-proclaimed. 

History has taught us over and over again that freedom is not free.  It must be fought for, protected and preserved with vigilance, determination and self-sacrifice.  When push comes to shove, the ultimate protectors of freedom and liberty are the brave men and women in our armed forces.  Throughout the history of the United States, they have answered the call with bravery, courage and sacrifice.  Were it not for their bravery, the pseudo-intelligencia would not be able to criticize -- with immunity -- without ever having lifted a finger (or shed one drop of their own blood) to defend the very freedom that they exercise in such an arrogant and condescending manner.

 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends,” (John 15:13).

The Pope vs. the Scriptures

This is an article in a series of articles written for the Scofield Prophecy Studies website (www.scopro.org) under the main heading:  What In the World Is Going On?

The battle between Roman Catholic theology and its traditions vs. Biblical truth (given to us by the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit through the prophets and apostles) has been raging since before the time of the Reformation.  This article is in no way attempting to resolve that dispute.

This article is being presented in order to look at what Scripture says with regard to forgiveness of any and all sin, with only one exception – blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (a subject for another article).

Having been raised as a Roman Catholic for the first 19 years of my life and having attended Roman Catholic schools for 12 years, the issue of forgiveness being granted by a mere man wearing a black, white or red robe was one of many issues that caused me to, literally, walk out of St. Patrick’s Church 40 years ago.  By God’s gracious calling, He led me to the truth of His Word, for which I am eternally grateful.

Pope Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church around the world, is once again in the news.  According to the Wall Street Journal (Sept.1, 2015):

• “Pope Francis will make it easier for the [Roman] Catholic Church to forgive women for having had abortions, one of several outreaches planned during a “year of mercy” starting in December . . . . .”  
• “Under church law, anyone who willingly participates in an abortion—including the pregnant woman, the abortion provider and any assistants—incurs automatic excommunication, which normally can be lifted only by the local bishop.” 
• “But in a letter, the pope said he would grant all Catholic priests authority to ‘absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it.’” 
• “The power to lift the excommunications would extend during the year of mercy, which starts Dec. 8 and ends Nov. 20, 2016. The church observes so-called jubilee years for pardons and the remission of sins every 25 years and on other occasions designated by the pope . . . .”

The question becomes, is the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church the arbiter/dispenser of forgiveness?  Or is real forgiveness made available, solely, through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary?


The Truth from Jesus and the Apostles
The Scripture passages below speak Truth with regard to sin and its complete forgiveness for the true believer in Jesus as their Savior:

• “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.  And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come” (Matt. 12:31-32).  
• “Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin — because they were saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit’” (Mark 3:28-30).  
• “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith” (Romans 3:21-25a).  
• “In Him [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us” (Eph. 1:7-8a).  
• “For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).  
• “. . . but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).  
• “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.  For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.  And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:8-14).

As is clear from these few passages, the true believer in Jesus Christ, the person who is, by faith alone, trusting in Jesus’ death and resurrection as the means to obtain forgiveness for sin, all of their sin has been forgiven and, by God’s grace, they have been given the free gift of eternal life (Eph. 2:8-9).

This gracious forgiving work of God cannot be performed by or carried out by any man or woman as a representative of any denomination.  To make that claim is to call God a liar.  No human being has the “authority to absolve” people of their sin.  To make that claim is to elevate an individual to a position of equality with God.  No wonder the Reformers were so polemic in their writings and discussions with the Church of Rome.

If you are a true believer, struggling because you participated in some way in taking the life of an innocent unborn child, know that there is forgiveness and freedom from guilt and shame. That freedom and forgiveness can only be found in coming before God with a humble and contrite heart in honest confession of sin.

Reconciliation has already been accomplished for the believer (Romans 8:1).  Grab a hold of the truths of God’s Word and know that you are forgiven.  The Father completely accepted the sacrifice of His Son on behalf of all those who will believe and receive Christ as their Savior.

If you are not a believer in Jesus as your personal Savior, your struggle with guilt and shame will go on until you recognize that you are sinner in need of forgiveness for all your sins.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).  He is the one who suffered, died and rose from the dead on your behalf.  He is the one who took your sin upon Himself so that you could be forgiven and restored to a right relationship with God and receive the free gift of eternal life.

“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart” (Hebrews 3:15).


By His Grace,
Gary T. Dromi, Ph.D.

Biblical Qualifications for Leadership Matter ~ They Are Not Optional, Negotiable or Cultural

“The church is ever in peril—and never more so than now—of the disaster which must follow when she allows men of distinction in the sphere of human attainments, who are unregenerate or unspiritual, to dictate as to what her beliefs shall be.”
—Lewis Sperry Chafer

A Finished Work and A Free Gift

“True salvation is wholly a work of God.  It is said to be both a finished work and a gift, and, therefore, it lays no obligation upon the saved one to complete it himself, or to make after payments of service for it.”
—Lewis Sperry Chafer

God Alone Is Sufficient

“In the present age, man proves his separation from his Creator by his spirit of self-sufficiency and positive rejection of God.  The present issue between God and man is one of whether man will accept God’s estimate of him, abandon his hopeless self-struggle, and cast himself only on God who alone is sufficient to accomplish his needed transformation.”
—Lewis Sperry Chafer