The Gospel's Answer To The "Result" Of Sin - Part One

The Gospel Of Christ And The Problem Of Sin
The Gospel's Answer To The "Result" Of Sin - Part One
(The Gift Of Eternal Life)

The purpose in this series of lessons has been to help us understand and appreciate how the
gospel of Christ is indeed God's power to save us - Ro 1:16-17 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith." (ASV) We have examined various aspects of the problem of sin, and then how the gospel of Christ with its commands and promises effectively addresses the problem of sin. To summarize thus far...
When the command to believe is obeyed, the love of sin is addressed. When the command to repent is obeyed, the practice of sin is dealt with. When the command to be baptized is submitted to, the state of sin is changed. When we have obeyed these commands, we receive wonderful promises...
Remission of sins , which removes the guilt of sin. The gift of the Holy Spirit, which enables us to deal with the power of sin. In this final lesson, we shall examine another promise which deals with the result of sin: the promise of eternal life - Ro 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (ASV)

In the first lesson, we touched briefly on the result of sin; we shall now examine it more carefully by looking at the "result" of sin. One result of sin is "spiritual death". The death referred to by God when He warned Adam & Eve - Gen 2:15-17 "The LORD God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it. But the LORD told him, "You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die before the day is over!"’ Note: "...for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (KJV) They did not die "physically" in the day they ate of the forbidden fruit, but they did die "spiritually" in that day. "Spiritual" death is "separation from God". Death of any sort involves the idea of "separation". Just as physical death is the separation of body and spirit - Ja 2:26 "For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead." (ASV) "Spiritual" death is what occurs when all sin - Ro 5:12 "Adam sinned, and that sin brought death into the world. Now everyone has sinned, and so everyone must die." It occurs when we reach that "age of accountability" where we know the difference between right and wrong, and then violate God's law - Ro 7:9 "Before I knew about the Law, I was alive. But as soon as I heard that command, sin came to life," This is the "death" referred to in Ep 2:1-3 "In the past you were dead because you sinned and fought against God. You followed the ways of this world and obeyed the devil. He rules the world, and his spirit has power over everyone who doesn't obey God. Once we were also ruled by the selfish desires of our bodies and minds. We had made God angry, and we were going to be punished like everyone else." All who are outside of Christ are "dead in sin" Those who are "dead in sin" are separated from God and all the blessings that would otherwise come from a union with Him - Isa 59:1-2 "The LORD hasn't lost his powerful strength; he can still hear and answer prayers. Your sins are the roadblock between you and your God. That's why he doesn't answer your prayers or let you see his face."

Another result of sin is "physical death." Because of their sin, Adam and Even lost access to the "tree of life" - Gen 3:22-24 "The LORD said, "These people now know the difference between right and wrong, just as we do. But they must not be allowed to eat fruit from the tree that lets them live forever." So the LORD God sent them out of the Garden of Eden, where they would have to work the ground from which the man had been made. Then God put winged creatures at the entrance to the garden and a flaming, flashing sword to guard the way to the life-giving tree." Because access to the "tree of life" was lost, all mankind is subject to "physical" death
- "in Adam all die" (1 Co 15:22a)

The final result of sin is the "second death". This death is referred to in Re 21:8 "But I will tell you what will happen to cowards and to everyone who is unfaithful or dirty-minded or who murders or is sexually immoral or uses witchcraft or worships idols or tells lies. They will be thrown into that lake of fire and burning sulfur. This is the second death." This "death" involves eternal separation from God! This "death" Jesus often spoke of and warned about - Mt 10:28 "Don't be afraid of people. They can kill you, but they cannot harm your soul. Instead, you should fear God who can destroy both your body and your soul in hell."; 25:41-46 "Then the king will say to those on his left, "Get away from me! You are under God's curse. Go into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels! I was hungry, but you did not give me anything to eat, and I was thirsty, but you did not give me anything to drink. I was a stranger, but you did not welcome me, and I was naked, but you did not give me any clothes to wear. I was sick and in jail, but you did not take care of me." Then the people will ask, "Lord, when did we fail to help you when you were hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in jail?" The king will say to them, "Whenever you failed to help any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you failed to do it for me." Then Jesus said, "Those people will be punished forever. But the ones who pleased God will have eternal life."’ Truly, in more than one sense, "the wages of sin is death" (Ro 6:23); but the same can be said about "the gift of eternal life"!