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Sin: Consequences and Prevention

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus our Lord." - Romans 6:23

Many Christians, and anyone else who's studied the Bible, will rather quickly agree that sin brings about spiritual death.  But we sometimes neglect the idea that sin can bring about death in other days that we don't even realize.  Sin can lead to the death of a dream, of a relationship, or even the death of your afternoon plans.

So how do we prevent these deaths in our life?  James 4:7 reads, "Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."  In this context, submit literally meant to "line up under" as soldiers would line up under a military commander in preparation for battle.  This type of submission requires a conscious and intentional effort on the part of the one following God.  It requires us to give Him our allegiance, to obey His commands, and then to follow His leadership.

The notion of submissiveness is nothing new to biblical studies as it present throughout the Bible:
- Jesus was submissive to his parents (Luke 2:51)
- We are commanded to be submissive to government (Romans 13:1)
- The Church is to submit to Christ (Ephesians 5:24)

The verse goes on to tell us to resist, or "take your stand against" the devil.  Sometimes we may feel that just because we didn't speak up when we should have, or allowed an action to continue that should have been stopped, that we haven't done anything wrong.  But if we aren't standing up for God, and his purposes, we are giving the devil free reign.  Everyone is either under the lordship of Christ or Satan, there is no middle ground.  When it comes time to pick sides, you can't give God 75% of your support while allowing yourself to live 25% of the time by worldly thoughts thereby supporting Satan.  It's similar to casting a vote in a ballot box, you only get to pick one.

I don't believe that we will truly understand the significance and impact of our sin this side of heaven.  But I do know that that only way to conquer the most significant death sin causes, spiritual, is to place your faith in Jesus Christ.

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