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

I finally got around to asking myself why the word wages is used in comparison to sin and gift for life through Christ. My study of the historical implications was very interesting.

In our modern army we receive subsistence pay which is a pay to live on that we can spend any way we chose. This was in addition to room and board. I lived in barracks and ate free from the mess hall.

Back at the time of this writing soldiers were given provisions, sustenance, i.e. food, as a substitute for pay. They could do nothing with it but eat. Since they received no real coin of the realm to spend, they had no freedom to choose for themselves anything that might give them joy.

There was no indebtedness in this pay, it was pure survival, do the duty or die of starvation. Those wages were tied directly to starvation and death.

The gift from God is life and freedom, there was no demand for obedience to stay alive. You have the right to choose not to serve and the threat of death is not held over your head. This freedom of life was meant to promote gratitude, thankfulness, and a love response to the One that cared more about your life than anything you might do in service.

We do not serve Christ because of the threat of death, we serve because He gave us a life we love. It is always more pleasing to serve out of love than fear.

Understanding this context finally made sense to me why Paul would use the word wages in this verse. It made perfect sense to the people of those times but lost some of its historical implications over time.

What is GEPC? It is how I remember the order of the epistles that occur after Romans and the Corinthians. God’s Electric Power Company is what it stands for and the order is Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. It is a reminder not only of the order but that we are workers in God’s Company. As such we should be mindful of the Company Manual and policies and procedures.

The owner and founder is God. It is His Company and we are but workers in that company. The power is His and not ours. Tapping into the power for personal use is theft and punishable under company policies and procedures. We as workers are not the transmission lines of that power. Workers are cautioned not to grab transmission lines. Training and equipment will be provided for working around the power lines.

The reason I am talking this way is because I have witnessed abuses within the company. There are those who do believe they possess the power and that the power answers to their will.

Matthew 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The only safeguard against this mistake is to respect the power, honor the source of the power and to adhere to company policies and procedures. Proclaiming the name of Jesus when God’s will is not in effect is identity theft. This too is against company policy.

Deuteronomy 18:21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?

Good question!