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NASB | Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. |
Bible Question: I have been struggling with the understanding of why the payment for sin must be death (seperation of..) I understand that Eve chose to go against the commands of God and therefore she and her husband died like god had told them..."You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Gen 2:16 NIV I understand they were "seperated from" god aka: death. Then God took skins from an animal to cover their sin....the first known sacrafice. From that point on, man was required to sacrafice every time he sinned. This seems so violent (the old testament seems to portray God as being violent, jealous, and the opposite of what he is portrayed as being in the new testament...full of love and forgiveness.) I am confused and a new reader of the bible. I have read misc scriptures but have not read the entire bible. Im trying to understand the "why's" and I am just struggling with the way the old testament seems to contradict the new one. Please help me understand why God seems so violent and "mean" in the old testament, and requires man to kill innocent animals in order to be forgiven by him. Why did God sacrafice himself (jesus) when he is all knowing and could have changed things. For example, God hardened pharoe's heart when moses warned him to let his people go, why didnt he "soften" his heart instead? I just dont understand. Please help! Thank You, Tara Knezevich |
Bible Answer: Tara, I don't know that my comments will satify your desire for an understanding of the mystery of God's justice and mercy. I do not believe it is something we will ever fully understand this side of heaven. God is not violent and mean. Man is violent and mean, but in denial about that fact. God is Just, but He is also merciful. So merciful that eventually He came Himself in the form of a man to pay the just price of our sin Himself. Thereby satifying and demonstrating both His justice and His mercy. And keep in mind that 90 percent of the references to eternal hell and firey damnantion in the entire Bible come from the very mouth of good and gentle Jesus. The whole daily and constant sacrificial sytem of the Old Testament which was established after the Golden calf incident. Before that sacrifice was more sporadic and less codified. God was trying to teach the unfaithful Israelites something by requiring them to sacrifice daily, animals (cattle and sheep)that were worshiped as gods in Egypt. That is why Moses told Pharoah he had to got into the desert for three days to sacrifice, because it would be considered an abomination to the Egyptians (Ex 8:21) but Pharoah refused. Then even after God led the Israeltirtes to freedom through the miracle at the Red Sea, the Israelites still worshiped the Egyptian gods. One scripture scholar likened God's requirement of daily sacifice of the gods of Egypt to Him to a wife requiring her alcholic husband who says he will never drink (worship) alcohol again, to begin every day by pouring a fifth of whiskey down the kitchen sink as a sacifice showing his allegiance to her and his rejection of alcohol. Ultimately sacrifice is a harsh reminder that sin separates us from God. God is Life ( "I am the Wat, the Truth, the Life," and sin which separates us from Him leads to death. The good news is that Jesus overcame death. "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies will live!" John 11:26 Emmaus |