A Matter of Life or Death

(Proverbs 10:16 KJV)  The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.

This verse seems to read the opposite of Romans 6:23:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Notice there is a different emphasis.  Proverbs talks about the person, Paul about the action.  It makes a difference because we can’t earn our salvation but we are expected to live as if we are saved.  How we live our lives makes a difference. 

Have you believed in Jesus Christ?  Has God extended His grace to you?  Then you are expected to live a righteous life.  Since it is expected, it is possible.  If it is not possible then all of this is a cruel joke and we are the punch line. 

The payment medium is different in the two verses.  The word Paul uses is a word for your paycheck.  It is a word out of a culture that was cash based.  Money was king.  The word that Solomon used is the word used for your actual work.  It is from a culture that knew cash but was more based on barter and feudal relationships. 

As it says, the labor of the righteous is life.  Our work is living.  How we live influences the kind of life we live and the lives of those around us.

So do you want to produce life?  Live righteously.  Walk as Jesus would have you walk.  Obey his commandments.  Jesus paid the price we could not pay, now He expects us to do our part.