9/9/2024 Word Count – 555 Reading Time – 2.5 minutes

 I was reading a commentary on Romans 5:2 in which Paul says, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.”  

The commentary went on to say, “Here we see that physical death is a punishment for sin.” Maybe it is the result of my being introduced to these concepts as a young boy in Catholic school, but I think I prefer the idea that death is a consequence of sin.

To me, the concept of punishment is a very personal matter. We are punished for willful disobedience. This is not to say that we all don’t sin, and all are not deserving of punishment. But death is the consequence of sin being the default of human nature, not a punishment for specific sins that we personally, have willfully perpetrated.  Dead is equally dead for the faithful and the faithless. It is what happens to the soul and spirit after death that is determined by a person’s individual acts of goodness and evil as well as the freewill choices we made. Death is a mechanism that separates the flesh from the soul and spirit in order for the next step in our refinement to take place. That next step, our assignment to heaven or hell.

When God created humans He made within our nature the ability to choose our actions rather than be programmed to respond favorably. This God given ability to choose, this freewill, is a power that sets us apart from all other living beings. The fact that Adam chose poorly was indicative of more work being needed on the species to perfect the choice making mechanisms. If Adam had chosen to resist the temptation it would have been an indication that his choice making mechanisms were functioning properly and no further adjustment was needed.

If you are curious about why we need to make good choices during our life I will be exploring that in an upcoming post on developing good character.