From the pen of LEROY SEDGWICK....
On Dealing With Sin
"For the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23a).
It has now been more than 50 years since the statement was made, but it is still relevant; and I guess it always will be. Franklin D. Roosevelt served as president during the trying times of depression and war. In April of 1945, while still at war, he wrote an address to be delivered at the Jefferson Day dinner broadcast on the 13th. He never delivered that address. He died on the 12th. However, among the things he had planned to say were these words:
"More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginning of all wars."
We know that wars have not ceased, and probably never will as long as the world stands. (cf. Matthew 24:6.) However, the theory is good -- get to the root of these things that cause war. It is more important all the time, what with the destructiveness of modern weapons of war.
What about sin? Will it ever cease? Not as long as man is so willing to listen to and follow the dictates of Satan. "We all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Because the "wages of sin is death" we are all therefore deserving of death. But there is an answer. It is the "free gift of God." (See Romans 6:23.) It is not a superficial healing; but an answer that gets to the very root of sin, and destroys it. The answer is Christ!
"God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). There was nothing that man could do of himself to overcome sin. However, in Christ there is provision for his escape. (cf. I Corinthians 10:13.) That is because Christ went to the very source of sin (Satan) and defeated him on his own grounds.
No, sin has not come to an end. It is still around. But, in Christ there is a way for us to avoid receiving the wages of that sin. Christ paid the price for us when He went to the cross, giving Himself a ransom for all mankind. "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (I John 2:2).
No, we have not in the past 52 years been able to "end the beginning of all wars," but nearly 2000 years ago Christ became man's answer to sin, effective today as then.
--Leroy Sedgwick