Question 17: Sin’s Consequences

READ: Romans 6:23

LISTEN: Romans 6

Question: What are the consequences of sin?

Answer: Sin leads to physical death, spiritual separation from God and eternal death if not redeemed.

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

In this sobering passage, Paul presents the stark contrast between sin’s outcome and God’s gift. The word “wages” is significant—it’s what sin pays out, what people earn through rebellion against God. Death is comprehensive in this verse—encompassing physical death, spiritual death and ultimately eternal death. When Adam and Eve rebelled, all three forms of death entered the human experience. Before their sin, they could have lived forever in perfect harmony with God. After their fall, death became the inevitable outcome of humanity’s broken relationship with the Creator (see Genesis 3).

The truth about sin’s consequences helps us understand reality and our desperate need for salvation. We live in a world where physical death is unavoidable, spiritual alienation from God is our natural state and eternal separation awaits those who remain in rebellion. Understanding sin’s wages helps us recognize why Jesus’s work was necessary. Only through his substitutionary death could the penalty be paid. Jesus’s death and resurrection also reveal the magnitude of God’s grace. While we earned death through sin, Jesus paid for our sins and offers us life. The contrast between what we deserve and what God provides reveals the astonishing nature of salvation and gives us reasons for gratitude and worship.

TODAY: Reflect on the consequences of sin and the magnitude of God’s gift of eternal life. Thank God that though you deserved death, he has offered life through Jesus. Consider how this understanding might change how you view temptation—seeing sin not as harmless pleasure but as rebellion that leads to death. Learn more about humanity and sin in our We Believe document HERE.