Matters of Faith: The Choice is Yours

By Reverend J. Loren Russell

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

Death is the inevitable fate of everyone and everything that lives. Even the giant Redwood trees of California which have lived from 1,200 to 2,200 years, will eventually die. In the Bible, the oldest a man ever lived was named Methuselah. He lived 782 years before he died. Death is the common denominator to life.

Someone once quipped that the leading cause of death is…, life. All anyone or anything has to do to die, is live. Physically speaking, everything and everyone has an ‘expiration’ date. The food we buy is stamped with a date of expiration. Medications we take have a recommendation that tells us to use it by a particular date in order to get the maximum results. All life must come to an end.

But have you ever given thought to, or even considered that death is a choice? Humanity is the only creation that has the ability to choose life over death. The Bible contends that it was the original sin (Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit) that introduced death. Prior to that fateful day, nothing died, physically or spiritually. Paul picks up the analogy and writes that sin, when employed, produces death as its wage. What Paul is referring to is not physical death, which has been shown to be the natural end of life. He is talking about spiritual death when your soul is eternally separated from the love of God.

You must start your reading from the beginning of the chapter to understand how Paul says we were held in bondage by sin, then freed by a choice to be baptized into fellowship with Jesus Christ. Paul says, “If we shared in Jesus’ death by being baptized, we will be raised to life by the glory of God the Father” (v. 3 CEV).

No one can choose to physically live forever. But we can choose to have eternal life by following the sage advice given by the Apostle Paul, which echo’s John’s Gospel (3:16), “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (NKJV). The choice is yours.

Be Blessed!

Rev. J. Loren Russell is President/CEO of The JLR Company for Church Financial Strategy & Consulting; an associate minister at both Goodwill and The Greater Universal Baptist Churches in the Bronx; creator & host of “Matters of Faith – The Radio Show” Mondays 8:00 – 10:00 PM on Facebook LIVE and author of Matters of Faith: The Book (eBook available at Smashwords).

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