The penalty which people receive when they sin is "death," spiritual death--separation of the soul from the source of spirit, the LORD God.
I know that the wages of sin is death.
Yes, spiritual death. And believers are justified in the eyes of God by the Lord Jesus' spritual death upon the Cross when He was separated from the Father:
"And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mt.27:46).
What is spiritual death if it is anything?
"Death" is in regard to a "separation." A physical death is a separation of the soul from the physical body. Spiritual death is the separation of the soul from the source of spiritual life, God.
That is the death which Paul referred to at Ephesians 2:1 and the following words of the Lord Jesus speak about how a person who is spiritually dead as a result of his sins is brought unto spiritual life:
"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (Jn.6:63).
If ceremonial laws or ordinances are what has been abolished (check this) then are there still penalties for breaking the law?