Romans 6:21
21 What [tis] [oun] fruit [karpos] had ye [echo] then [tote] in [epi] those things whereof [hos] ye are [epaischunomai] now [nun] ashamed [epaischunomai]? for [gar] the end [telos] of those things [ekeinos] is death [thanatos]. KJV-Interlinear
21 But what fruit were you
getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end
of those things is death. ESV
The out of fellowship, master, which we refer to as
the sin nature, is a tyrant master. When we become slaves to sin, we stop being
our own masters. We lose self-command, we lose self-willpower, we lose self-decision,
we lose character, we lose dignity, and all of the while, we are under the
false impression that we are free and independent and actually profiting from
this chosen pattern of life.
And then sooner or later we discover that sin is a
very poor paymaster, and anything that is gained, is temporary, and when we
finally come to the end of our life, we come face-to-face with the real and
final paycheck, which is death.
And death here, is the final end of that pattern of
life which was pursued because of its enticements and pleasures, which are
replaced with a sudden realization that the expected benefit, or pay, or
profit, never really existed at all.
In effect, the person pursuing life under the rule of
the sin nature, is doing nothing more than working for a cruel master, and
receiving no pay for his effort.
The Bible typically refers to the fruit of the sin
nature, as wood, hay, and stubble.
There are two forms of fruit that originate from the
sin nature. The first, is human good, which is basically all good that is
performed while out of fellowship or outside of the spiritual life, and the
second, is sin, which spans a wide spectrum from asceticism to lasciviousness,
and of course includes all criminal activity.
All of the sin nature production, comes with a
collective value of zero.
Therefore, living out of fellowship, provides no gain,
no reward, no profit, no pay, no benefit of any kind. The only result is that
of a wasted life.
The only true benefit or pay or reward or profit,
etc., results from a life that is lived, in fellowship. And that is a benefit
that is exclusive only to believers in Christ, because one has to be saved in
order to have a spiritual life in the first place, and one has to confess
regularly to God the Father, in order to be in fellowship, and therefore have a
functioning and productive spiritual life.
Gold, silver, and precious stones, are the descriptive
terms of the intrinsic value of spiritual life production. And just as gold and
diamonds are almost infinitely more valuable than straw, then so too, the
production of the spiritual life, is infinitely more valuable than the
production of the sin nature.
It is infinitely more advantageous to be a believer in
Christ, and live within the sphere of a productive spiritual life, than to
ignore Christ and live within the sphere of the sin nature.
These studies, are a part of the massive
daily study web site at DailyBibeStudy.Org, that is easily accessible, and are
written, so that you can come to Christ if you have not done so already, and
therefore not be lost forever.
And
if you have already believed in Christ, then these studies are written so you
can learn and understand and grow in your spiritual life, so that you can come
to the full knowledge of Christ, so that you can fulfill your meaning and
purpose in life as God intended for you, and so you can qualify for a
phenomenal eternal reward which you will have forever.
To
ignore this opportunity to pursue a daily study means you will be incomplete,
unfulfilled and you will lose out, big time.
The
Daily Bible Study is online, making it possible as never before in all of human
history, to advance in ones relationship with God, through Christ, and to
complete yourself beyond your imagination.
But
you have to decide to make that commitment.
No one else can study for you.
You have to do that yourself.
