Salvation Series 2: Sin
By Lance Mosher
The best known verse in the Bible is probably John 3:16.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16.
That verse tells us of God’s love and how he sent His Son to die for us. The Bible calls that good news (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). The question is why is that good news? How does someone’s death represent eternal love? Why is His death good news? To better understand the good news, let’s first discuss the danger of the bad news.
The Bad News
As you might have imagined, the bad news has to do with sin. In our culture today, people don’t want to even mention sin, much less try to define it. However, God deals with sin quite openly, and we must do so as well, if we desire the salvation God offers us. Sin is defined plainly in the Bible as lawlessness (1 John 3:4). Above all human law, there is God’s law. When a person breaks that law, he or she is sinning.
It doesn’t take us long to consider the commandments of God and realise that we have all sinned at some point in our lives. Personally, I have broken several of God’s commandments. I have lied when He asked me not to (Ephesians 4:29). I have sought my own revenge (Romans 12:17-21). I have failed to do the right thing in many situations.
Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin. James 4:17.
Just like any good parent, our Heavenly Father gives instructions for us to follow. If He simply let us do what we wanted, allowing us to ignorantly face all dangers, He would not be the loving God the Bible describes (1 John 4:7-8). On the other hand, if He forced us to follow all of His desires, then we would be robotic, mindless beings, incapable of love. So, our loving Father gives us commandments and gives us freewill to obey or disobey. They proper response is to obey.
He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him. John 14:21.
When we choose to disobey God, we choose to separate ourselves from Him. God cannot tempt anyone to sin, much less be associated with sin Himself (James 1:13; Isaiah 59:1-2). The Bible makes it clear that there are only two paths.
Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 7:13-14.
He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. Matthew 12:30.
The beginning of Romans 6:23 states that “the wages of sin is death.” When we are sinful, we are choosing the death sentence, both physical and spiritual. Spiritual death is described as “the lake that burns with fire and brimstone” (Revelations 21:8). For those whose sins are imputed against them, they lack salvation and cannot spend eternity in heaven. The worst part about that is that we have all sinned (Romans 3:23). But there is good news in all of this.
The Good News
Before sin entered the world, God promised that there would be consequences if humans ever chose to sin. Since God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), God had to keep His promise of punishment. Since we have all sinned, we all deserve that punishment. However, God is also all-loving and “is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). I briefly reference the beginning of Romans 6:23 above. Notice the rest of it.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23.
God offers a free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, who came to this earth to show us how to perfectly love God. While on the earth, He was “tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). We deserve death as a punishment for our sin. Christ, having never known sin, never deserved death. Yet He was willing to take our punishment, the sinless for the sinners.
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8.
Conclusion
God, in His perfect love, has asked us to acknowledge His sovereignty. He never gave us a commandment that was not for our own good. Unfortunately, we all sin, from the wealthy to the poor, from the doctors to the uneducated. There are consequences to those sins. Sinful people cannot pay the penalty for sinful people. Instead, the sinless has to pay the price.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16.
Now, we might have a better appreciation of the best known verse in the Bible. Guilty in the courtroom we all sit. In comes the innocent to pay our debt. The eternal judge can now legally dismiss our case, so long as we’re willing to accept the gift. Will you accept such a beautiful gift?
Although we see that the Bible has laws we must obey, the Bible is not just a list of rules. It is an interactive story of man’s relationship with God. What is your part of that story? Stay tuned.
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