Sinful Arrangements | Romans 6:21

But what fruit were you getting from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

There is an inextricable link between a person’s character and the fruit they produce. As Jesus said, “So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit” (Matt. 7:17-18). When we were slaves of sin, our hearts were “desperately sick” (Jer. 17:9) and could only produce bad fruit.

Edible Arrangements is a business that specializes in crafting fresh fruit bouquets for any occasion. The item most frequently ordered is chocolate-dipped strawberries. I’ve had the pleasure of trying them and I have to say that, if you haven’t, you are missing out. The strawberries are ripe, sweet, and juicy. And the chocolate melts in your mouth.

Sin, however, is a master at creating inedible arrangements. It picks fruit from an unhealthy and diseased tree, dips it in chocolate to conceal the contamination, and places it into a cute little package that’s designed especially for you. Because we were deceived by appearances, we ate the fruit without thinking about its condition or the eternal consequences of our actions. At the time, we were shameless. We did whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, with whoever we wanted. No one was going to get in our way, not even God himself.

The darkness of sin prohibited us from seeing the filth within because “…the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). But now that God has enlightened the eyes of our hearts, we look back on our former days with shame and regret. Shame is a painful emotion that has a positive and negative side. I’ll start with the negative. If we misunderstand the purpose of shame, we could become spiritually immobile: “What’s the point of trying to do good if I’m going to fail anyway?” Paul answers our question with a question: “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Rom. 6:16). Let me rephrase it by saying that the choice we make dictates the outcome. And what is the outcome of sin? Death.

It is important to note that death begins before the physical event occurs: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…” (Eph. 2:1-2). We had an appearance of life but were dead inside. In effect, we were spiritual zombies. In vain did we search for things to make us feel alive. That’s why we went from one relationship to the next, from one job to the next, from one city to the next. We sought love and never found it. We sought joy and never found it. We sought peace and never found it. In short, sin left us empty-handed. The void remained. And it felt like a slow, painful death.

The purpose of shame is to move us towards humility. It reminds us that we are, in fact, unworthy before God. We are unworthy of His love, we are unworthy of His grace, and we are unworthy of His mercy: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:4-5). God wasn’t merciful towards us because we deserved it. No, He spared our lives because He does not wish “…that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).

Humility is contained within the idea of repentance, which literally means “a change of mind.” The word conveys more than changing our mind about which shirt to wear or what to have for dinner. True repentance is a change of attitude towards sin. This is less about performance (“God, please forgive me) and more about the condition of our hearts: “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Ps. 51:17). Do we grieve over sin or delight in it?