Why Do Bad Things Happen? Pt. 3 (The Wages of Sin)

Sin and its consequences are often misunderstood, yet they create a profound spiritual framework for understanding why bad things happen in our world. Drawing on biblical foundations, this episode delves into the concept of "the wages of sin" – not as an arbitrary punishment, but as an earned payment within a spiritual contract.

The spiritual economy operates on principles as clear as our physical economy. Just as soldiers receive pay for service and farmers live off their harvest, sin generates its own form of payment. This system wasn't created for humanity but was established when Satan rebelled against God. What's remarkable is the contrast between sin's wages (something earned) and God's gift of salvation (freely given through grace).

We explore biblical examples from John the Baptist's teachings to Paul's letters, revealing how unpaid spiritual debts create an imbalance that demands rectification. From Cain and Abel to the global flood and Sodom's destruction, we see that God has consistently acted to contain overwhelming sin while providing escape routes for the righteous. These weren't arbitrary acts of divine wrath but necessary interventions to prevent evil from consuming everything.

Perhaps most comforting is the revelation that hell was never created for humans – it was designed specifically for Satan and fallen angels. Unlike them, we have access to redemption through Christ. When we witness calamities that seem to remove evil influences, we can trust they're protecting us from forces that would otherwise lead to greater suffering.

Ready to transform your understanding of suffering and divine justice? Listen now and discover why repentance, not questioning, is our most powerful response to the bad things happening around us. Next episode, we'll explore the silver lining amidst these challenges.

Transcript

Introduction to the Four Walls

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Good morning and welcome back to the Four Walls Podcast where we discuss what I believe to be the four foundational areas, aka the four walls in our lives that allow us to honor God and to live successful and fulfilling lives. And these areas are our spiritual foundation, our physical health and well-being, our finances, and our relationships. And so we are continuing in our series entitled, Why Do Bad Things Happen? On the last episode, we discussed the origin of evil, that the same spirit of the enemy that rebelled against God in heaven is exerting his influence today, causing people to display the same evil character in the earth. And so today, in this episode, we'll take it a step further and take a look at how this idea of punishment for sin began, where it comes from, and what it looks like, and what it means for us today. So let's get started. Let's begin our discussion with this idea of the wages of sin. If we look in Romans 6.23, this scripture tells us, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Looking at Strong's definition of wages, we see that it defines wages as a soldier's pay or allowance, compensation for his work. And so it really addresses it as, you know, and the idea of a soldier in that time, you know, men were men would go out to war and they would need to be paid for their service. Um, it's something that is earned for the services that you provide. If we look at Webster's dictionary, Webster's defines a wage as a payment, usually of money for labor or services, usually according to a contract, on an hourly, daily, or piecework basis. And so by piece work they mean, you know, as an intermittent or ad hoc basis. And so when we look at these definitions of what a wage is, it's something that is deserved or something that is earned in recompense for something that is done. Some work that is done, it's something that is given as a result of something that is done. And uh I love how Webster's brings in this idea of a contract. So usually there is some agreement that is established. If you have a wage, then you have an agreement. There is something that was established prior to this work being done or should have been established, um, where there would be an agreed-upon compensation. And so that's where we get this word wage from. And so, where else in the Bible do we see them talking about this idea of wages? If we look in Luke chapter 3, we see John the Baptist is operating in his ministry, preaching repentance, and he gives the people instruction regarding how they should live in response to his teachings. Luke 3 and 9 tells us, and now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. And so John is telling the people that repent, or this is what is going to happen if you're not producing good fruit, then the tree's going to be hewn down and cast into the fire. And the people respond by asking him, Well, what must we do to not be hewn down and cast into the fire? And so John addresses each group separately. And so in verse 11, he addresses the general public. When they ask him, What must we do to not be hewn into the fire? And he responds to them saying, If you have two coats, give one to someone who has no coat, and to him that has meat, give unto him that does not have any. And so then in verse 12, he addresses those who were the tax collectors or what they call the publicans back in that day. And this is how he responds, because they're saying, What should we do? Not to be hewn down and cast into the fire. And so John the Baptist responds by saying, Do not receive more than is appointed to you from the people. And so he tells the general population, okay, if you have more, then share with someone else who doesn't have any. Okay? Share your meat. If you have an extra coat, share that with someone who has no coat. Uh, you know, see after your brothers and sisters, your neighbors, um, do well unto other people. He tells the tax collectors, don't oppress people, don't take advantage of people. It was known that the tax collectors, whatever they gained over the person's tax bill, they kept for themselves. And so it was to their advantage to overcharge people because they got to keep the wealth for themselves. And so John is telling them charge the people what they owe and don't take advantage of them, and don't receive more than is appointed for you from the people. And so that's his instruction to the tax collectors. And then in chapter, I'm sorry, in verse 14, he addresses the soldiers. For the soldiers also ask, what must we do to not be hewn down and cast into the fire? And his response in verse 14, he says, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages. So here he brings this idea of wages, and he brings in the idea of being content. And the interesting thing about how he addresses the soldiers is he says, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely. John makes a point of addressing every group of people that comes to him in their capacity to do good, that which is in their realm or their ability to do good. When talking to the tax collectors, he says, Okay, you have the capacity to exert taxes upon people that is not owed them. That is within your capacity to do. And he's saying, Don't do that. When you think of a soldier, he speaks of violence because this is what they're trained to do. They're trained, you know, to participate in acts of war. And so it would be easy for a soldier to be violent to another person because that's what they're trained to do. But he's saying, don't do that thing that you have the capacity to do. Um, just because you have access to it, don't exert that on people that it's not meant for. And to be content, he continues to add this notion of being content with your wages. So why is he saying be content with your wages? As we looked at earlier, I believe it was Webster's. Webster's definition tells us that the wages are part of an agreement, a contract, you know, something that's established in advance. And so when he says be content, he refers to this idea that either you are aware of or should be aware of what you are owed based on this contract that you have established. And so you should not be surprised or upset because you're receiving what you're due, because you've agreed to this. You know, when you enlisted in the service, you agreed that this was going to be your wage as a soldier. And so you should be content with what you're receiving. Now, this puts the responsibility on us as wage earners to know what is due to us for the work that we do. As someone who is performing duties, it is your responsibility to know what your wage is. If we go further and we look at 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 7, we'll take this issue of wages a little bit further, where Paul gives us some revelation and he talks about um how the Corinthians were handling um wages where he was concerned. And he says in verse 7, who goeth a warfare anytime at his own charges? Who planted a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof? And who feedeth the flock and eateth not the milk of the flock? So, what's he saying in in practical terms? He's saying, Who goes to war and pays for the war? If you're a soldier in the army, then you get compensated for going to war and you don't pay for the war that you participate in. And if you're a farmer that you're working the field, do you not eat the fruit of the field that the field produces? As a farmer, you live off of the fruit that your field produces. If you're a shepherd, are you not fed and supported, you know, by the milk of the sheep, of the milk of your flock, that you are paid by the work of your hands. And it's also almost like confirmation of the concept of seed time and harvest time that the things that you plant are the things that you reap. You know, if you're a farmer, you're going to reap of the fruit of what you plant. If you're a shepherd, you're going to reap of the flock that you support and that you take care of. And so it's it's it's a confirmation of this concept of seed time and harvest time. Now, when this process is disrupted, this idea of robbery comes into play, which Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 8, where he notes, I robbed other churches, taking wages of them to do service for you. Now, strong's definition of rob speaks to that of a soldier's stripping away or taking away from they use it in the context of someone who would who would strip the belongings and the possession or the armor or the belongings of a dead soldier as they're in the field, that you would rob the dead soldier of his things, you know, thinking he no longer needs it, so you take it for yourself. And that's the idea of robbing that he brings into play when he says, I robbed other churches, taking wages of them to do your service. Now, what is he talking about? He's telling us here that, you know, he has such a heart for the church at Corinth, um, which he has ministered to, but he's disappointed with them, you know, in this in this current area that they are being tempted by gospel of false teachers, and that um this church wasn't supporting him financially, but he was being supported by other churches that he was um ministering to, but he had to leave them and come back and spend time supporting the church of Corinth because they were at risk for being deceived by false doctrine. And and he called this robbery, they weren't supporting him, but they needed his service, and he calls it robbery that he was robbing the churches who were supporting, who were who were supporting the ministry and paying for the needs of the ministry, and he was giving service to this church. Robbery. This is how he addresses this. So, this idea of wages or things being earned or the um the appropriate compensation for something if it's not done in the manner that it should be done, is considered robbery. Like you're stealing armor off of a dead soldier, you're you're stealing the belongings off a dead soldier when the wages that are earned do not go where they're supposed to go. So when we go back to the foundational scripture, which we started this podcast in Romans 6.23, we can see it in a little different light now. Um again, Romans 6.23 says, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. When you work for sin or you do the work of sin, you engage in sin, you promote sin, you facilitate sin, you endorse sin, you encourage sin, you enable sin. Your wages are death. Notice that when we serve God, we don't get a wage for that, meaning nothing is owed unto you. Nothing is owed, meaning you're obligated for doing this. That way we can't wave our finger at God and require Him to pay us for what we are owed. But the reward for serving God is a gift. Romans 6.23 says, the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus. It is a gift, it is given graciously and freely out of the love of the Father, and he gives us the best benefit package that we could ever find and imaginable. That's what we get as a gift, but the wages, the wages is what's earned by the work that we do. Um, if we refer back to those previous scriptures, you know, those who were employed as soldiers receive the soldiers' wages. You know, as John the Baptist instructed them, be content with your wages. Those who were employed as farmers, they live off the fruit of the field that is owed them. Those who were shepherds, they drink the milk of the goats and the sheep, um, and that is owed them. And so if you are employed as a sinner, you do the work of sin in your everyday life, then you are entitled to the wages from the work that you have done. These wages are rightfully yours. You have earned them. These wages work the same as if you were a soldier or a farmer or a shepherd. Unfortunately, the wages that you earn from the job as a sinner is death. And to continue following this example that Paul gives us in 2 Corinthians, the balance in heaven is disrupted when you are not paid what you are due. So, what does this mean? What does this look like in real life? There is someone who seeks to balance the scale when there are unpaid wages for sin that are committed. The enemy, Satan, solicits heaven to bring legal case against you to steal, kill, and destroy when there are unpaid sin wages where you are concerned. And even the cry of the innocent goes before God when wages of sin go unpaid. If we go back to Genesis chapter 4, verse 8 through 12, we see that this is the case between Cain and Abel. Um, verse 8 says, Genesis chapter 4, verse 8, says, Now Cain said to his brother Abel, let's go out to the field. While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? I don't know, he replied. Am I my brother's keeper? The Lord said, What have you done? Listen, your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth. We see here that the that the blood of Abel was crying out unto God to be paid. The wage, the wage needed to be paid. The curse, also known as the wage, for the sin of Cain's action was upon him because the innocent blood of his brother was taken as his hand at his hands, and he was crying out, was crying out to God. And so these things have to be balanced. There's a balance when the wages are not paid. There was an imbalance in heaven that it must be equalized, it must be normalized. And so, what does that have to do with bad things happening? So Satan was the original sinner, he was judged immediately, along with a third of the angels in heaven that were under an agreement with him. Um and the first part of his sentence was enacted immediately. He has three more phases to endure, but the first one was enacted immediately. Now the precedent was set that God will not tolerate sin and that there is a recompense for sin, and the price or the wages of sin must be paid. But this was created for Satan and for the fallen angels and not for humanity. God's plan for us did not include punishment, for there was no sin in us. Now, if you look at heaven, there is no sin in heaven, and in the garden, there was no sin in the garden, and therefore there was no need for punishment. In fact, Adam and Eve didn't even know what sin was because they could not conceive it until their rebellion and disobedience that was introduced by Satan through the serpent. So God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The spiritual principles that he put in place are established and are enforceable. He will never contradict his word. He does not want to subject us to the wages of sin. This is why he sent us a savior, a ransom to rescue us from the repercussions of our sin in Jesus Christ. But repentance and salvation is required to be vindicated from the wages of our sin. The problem comes when we are not willing or aware that we need to repent, for without repentance, the wages must be paid. We look at 2 Peter in chapter 2, verse 4 through 6, and again, this is King James Version. Um, the word tells us for if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment, and spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensemble or a sample unto those that after should live ungodly. What he's saying is these bad things happen because of sin. And if God didn't spare the angels in heaven that were before him because of sin, and if he didn't spare the whole world, the whole globe when the flood came, except the people who were on the ark, and he destroyed the whole city of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their ungodliness. And there were only a few righteous people found whom he delivered. He's saying this thing is established. That's what he's telling you. He's like, if you if you don't understand, let me let me explain it to you. This thing is established, and so sin will be taken care of. It must be taken care of. And that is what these scriptures remind us. And so these bad things happen as a result of the influence of the enemy in the world and the lack of repentance of those who have committed sinful acts. For the Bible tells us, and this is really all of us, all of us are in this idea of sinful acts, for we were born into sin because we were born into a world that was given over to sin. And so therefore all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory. And that's in the word as well. And lastly, the spiritual principle of the wages of sin that is always in place. These things dictate that sin must be accounted for. It must be dealt with. And the punishment, the wages, the wages that are earned because of sin must be paid. If God does not punish the sins of mankind, then how can he hold Satan and the fallen angels accountable for their sin? That would not be the action of a righteous God. That would be showing partiality. And the word tells us that God is no respecter of persons. And so he will never contradict his word. And that which goes forth from him, it shall be established. And so he has established the precedent that sin must be accounted for. So let me reiterate here that in God's grace, he did not create hell for human and does not desire that we accompany Satan there. That was a place created specifically and solely for Satan and the fallen angels. It was never for us. And he has given us a way to escape through Jesus Christ. This escape is not available to Satan, but it is definitely available to us. And so the sinful things that occur are subject to the same judgment that is upon Satan. So the judgment is established. The punishment and the wages for sin is established. And so whether it's Satan that committed it or whether it's humanity that commits me, that commits it, the judgment is in place. And so the sinful things that occur are subject to the same judgment that is upon Satan, unless we use our access to redemption. So as long as sin is in place, then the wages must be paid. And just as the world became so overwhelmed with sin that God had to step in and do a global work to remove it, like in the days of Noah or in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, so it will be in our present day. When the degree of sin threatens to overcome the innocent and the righteous, we need to remember that when these things happen in our world in the present day, that those who are righteous were not in jeopardy, that God delivered them out of the calamity, and he will do that in our case as well. Noah was delivered when the flood came, and Noah was preaching to people to repent and to turn. Just as he delivered Lot and his family from Sodom and Gomorrah, God will provide a way. Because God has his eye on us. So if we see global events in the coming days and weeks and months that serve to remove evil from the midst, then we can know that God is protecting us from those influences. Even when we don't understand it, or even when we don't agree with it, it is his grace covering us from things we don't understand, things we're working to consume us with evil. That the evil that has been happening doesn't spread and the situation becomes worse. Even when we don't understand it or agree with it, we can know that his grace is covering us from things that we don't understand. And when we see them, this is not the time to question the goodness of God or to shake our finger at God with judgment and ask him why do bad things happen. But this is the time for us to repent and be thankful that he is still covering us and giving us access to redemption and grace. That we still have time, that we still have time to make sure that our relationship is right with him. And this is the grace that God has given us through Jesus Christ. Amen and amen. So that is all for this episode. This was weighty, I know, but necessary for us to be able to look at what's happening in our world from a different perspective. And on our next episode, we'll wrap up this series with a conversation about the silver lining that exists among all of these bad things that we see happening and that we've been discussing. As always, I've enjoyed exploring this topic with you and what the Bible has to say about it. And I look forward to hearing your feedback until the next time.