Condemnation is the language that sin speaks. Surely the wages of sin are death, but prior to death when the reaper whispers into our itching ears to warn, or even mock the ones he comes for…he whispers condemnation.

He has told me more than once that I am a lost cause, recalling for me the sins of my past or even worse the sins I am still bound to. Lucifer, that mighty angelic creature says to me in the midst of my sorrow…”you will never be enough.” He implores me to work harder for the gain I seek and the glory I long to know. It is a compelling argument for the simple fact I need no reminding of who I am, if anyone should know, it is I. I know my failures and I am deeply acquainted with my sin.

I am foolish then to have listened to the promises of God. To have taken heed of the fact that scripture declares “His grace is sufficient.” That if I were only to confess my sins to God “He is faithful and just to remove that sin as far as the east is from the west.” To have believed that a turning away from sin were sufficient or even possible is foolish talk says the one who cloaks himself with light.

Solutions to life problems are rarely as easy as scripture has laid them out. If life has taught me anything it has taught me that work returns its great reward…and so I work. Work is a good thing and we are commanded to do it, in fact we are told we will work by sweat of our brow. Work…hard work is as valued in our culture as our freedom. One could say that it was due to our work that we have known our freedoms. Satan then uses this to his advantage, advancing the same promise whispered into our ears…work…work…work for your freedom and freedom you shall know.

The master of all deception, Satan’s greatest skill is to take what on the surface is good, what is noble, what is righteous and use it to advance his own cause, creating hostility between the savior and the saint. To whisper into the ears of Gods greatest men the lies he has fathered. If one is to defeat an army of superior strength, one must first weaken that army before engaging it on the field of battle. Now the tactics he employs are coming clear. The work that God has called us to is altogether a different work than that which Satan has bound us to. Satan is calling us to work for peace and freedom from sin in the same way that a man might work for his wages. Hence the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life.

We weary ourselves with work, we tire quickly and quickly we come to the conclusion that the whole thing is a wash. The effort is too great, I will never secure my bounty. We are in a weakened state now and Satan readies his forces for the final attack. It’s here that the secret is exposed that in our weakness we find our strength. We have finally given up the work, willing to sacrifice the wage we hoped to earn. It is here, in our surrender that we can now receive the gift, the gift that reveals the lie. What is done in the dark will be made known in the light and God, the father by whom all good things come down is the father of light revealing to us our peace.  Peace that we shall only know through a full surrender.

God whispers too, and the whispers of God are beckoning men to come, kneel before the cross of Christ and surrender your rights and freedom…it will indeed be the most liberating thing you have ever done.