Sin Still Kills

Temple Baptist Church - 3-18-2018

Romans 6:23

Introduction:

A.  Romans 6:23 is one of the most quoted verses dealing with the penalty of sin.  It is directly tied to the First Mention of sin’s disobedience to God’s command and its ultimate penalty.

Genesis 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.  (This verse is plain and simple.  Adam sinned, and Adam died.  A friend of mine preached a two-point sermon about Achan: Achan sinned and God killed Achan!!)

B.  It can also be coupled with Satan’s first lie concerning sin’s disobedience and penalty.

Genesis 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:  (Satan, through the serpent, lied to Eve.  He only added “not” to God’s command to negate it.)

C.  Satan continues to this day telling the same lie. 

1.  People who live in gross sinfulness hasten their death despite the warning labels that the government applies to the product.  Sodomy and aids, alcohol and cirrhosis of the liver, drugs and death, tobacco and cancer, etc. are all well known penalties to mankind and, yet, these sins continue to be practiced. 

2.  Why?  Because sin’s penalty is always something that happens to others.  Satan continue to lie to mankind and mankind continues to ignore the evidence placed before them.

D.  In its context, this verse is speaking to the children of God.  Sin has its penalty.  Sin still kills!  The wage of sin was shown at Calvary when Jesus Christ, our Propitiation, became obedient unto death.  Death of the sinner was God’s righteous demand and was fulfilled in Christ.

1.  Many of God’s people have shortened their lives through willful disobedience to God’s Word.  Each of us live a sinful body that we battle every day.  The world entices us all through lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.

2.  Paul spoke of this battle with the flesh in Romans, chapter 7, which we will deal with later.

Romans 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

3.  What deceives the believer is that sin never looks so sinful in its beginning.  The end is never in sight and sin has definite pleasure.

Hebrews 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

4.  Sin will always destroy.  Sin will always leave a path of destruction in its wake.  God made it that way.  We sow to the flesh, we reap corruption.  Plain and simple!

a.  There are Physiological Consequences of Sin.  The loss of the peace of God.

Isaiah 48:22  There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

b.  There are Legal Consequences of Sin.   The Penalty of Law.

Romans 13:4  For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

c.  There are Social Consequences of Sin.  Breaks the fellowship of the saints.

1 John 1:6-7  If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:  (7)  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

d.  There are Physical Consequences of Sin.  Sickness and Death. 

Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalms 55:22-23  Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.  (23)  But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.

James 1:14-16  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.  (15)  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.  (16)  Do not err, my beloved brethren.

1 Corinthians 11:30  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

e.  There are Disciplinary Consequences of Sin.  Church Discipline.

1 Corinthians 5:1-5  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.  (2)  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.  (3)  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,  (4)  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,  (5)  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

2 Thessalonians 3:6  Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.