The Bible is very plain in telling us the penalty of sin. Ezekiel, for example, tells us, “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.” (Ezek 18:20 ) Again, Paul confirms this by saying, “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom 6:23 )

The penalty of sin is death, both physical and spiritual. And ultimately, sin, if not repented of and washed away by the sacrifice of Christ, will place us in an existence of being eternally separated from God, the Father of all good blessings. With this warning, we should make every possible effort not to make a practice of sinning. But, what, exactly, is sin?”

We can think of many certain acts and discern them as sinful. But, why are they sinful? John tells us why. He says, “Whoever commits sin also does lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4 ) This is simple enough. Sin occurs when we violate a law. More specifically, sin occurs when violate God's law. With this information, then, we realize that we must make every effort not to violate God's law.

There at least four ways or avenues in which we can set aside God's law and sin. Setting aside God's law can be either deliberate, by neglect, by substitution, or because of being deceived. Let us look briefly at these four avenues and then look at our lives so that we can learn to not violate God's law.

A good example of a deliberate sin is found in the Garden of Eden. Genesis chapter 3 tells us this story of self-willed rebellion to God's law. Here, God commanded Adam to not eat of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and when the serpent came and tempted Eve, a case could be made that she was in fact deceived, but Adam's sin was purely deliberate and rebellious. Paul, when speaking about the leadership of the church and the role of women, says, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.” (1 Tim 2:14 ) Nevertheless, both, Adam and Eve, did wrong and they died spiritually that day because of it.

We too can find ourselves following Adam by being rebellious to God's law. Anytime we allow our will to come between us and God, we find ourselves on the wrong side of God. Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matt 7:21 )

If we fail to follow God's will and stubbornly obey our own will, we will begin building our spiritual house on a foundation that will not stand. Jesus continues, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matt 7:24-27 )

The foundation that will stand when this world, or more personally your life, ends is the foundation of the word of God. Listen to His word. Hear them, and do them. Do not deliberately and rebelliously disregard His commands. By doing so, you can have assurance that you will overcome and be crowned with that crown of righteousness. (2 Tim 4:8 ) If, however, you decide that your way is more suitable for you, God will allow you to go your own way. But, you will also be left without a foundation to stand on, when your name is called. The choice is yours.