SIN and DEATH

 

What is SIN?

  • According to the internet dictionary, sin (as a noun) is “an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law”.
  • According to Dictionary.com … sin is “transgression of divine law” or “any act regarded as such a transgression, especially a willful or deliberate violation of some religious or moral principle”.
  • Interestingly, OxfordDictionaries.com does not give a definition for sin.

What does the Bible say about Sin?

  • Most people tend to think of sin as the transgression of the law (God’s Law). The Bible, however, reveals sin as so much more.
  • We sin by commission – doing something that is known to be wrong (1 John 3:4).
  • We sin by omission – not doing what we know should be done (James 4:17).
  • We sin by thinking the wrong thing (Matthew 5:27-28 ).
  • We sin when we do something we are not sure is right (Romans 14:23).
  • In short, sin is anything that causes one to miss the mark and/or fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)
  • … and a person can sin in thought, word or deed.

What is the end result of sin?

  • According to the Bible, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
  • That means that death is what Man deserves, has earned, has worked for, because of his sins.
  • Given that sin is the transgression of God’s law, then we could say that sin is the penalty for sin.
  • PLEASE NOTE, however, that the “death” that is the payment for sin is NOT the first death — which it is appointed unto men to experience (Hebrews 9:27) — BUT the second death, which the judgement, mentioned in verse 27, can lead to.
  • Read on to find out more about the second death.

 

What is death? 

  • Death is the cessation of life.

Why is death possible?

  • Early in Genesis, we are told that God formed Man of the dust of the ground and breathed into him, causing him to become a living being.
  • Not long afterwards, however, it becomes clear that the life Adam had been given was only temporary.  Notice what God said in Genesis 2:16-17.
  • What the verse makes clear is that Man could die.  God had made Man so that he could stop living.
  • God had given him a life that was temporary.  Man was made subject to death. (Genesis 2:17; Genesis 5:5,8,11,14,17)

What does the Bible say about Death?

  • Death is natural. (Ecclesiastes 9:5)
  • Death is to be expected. (Hebrews 9:27)

What was the cause of death? 

  • Death was caused by sin. (Genesis 2:17; Ezekiel 18:4; James 1:15; Romans 5:12)
  • Death is the payment for sin. (Romans 6:23) … death is what we earned/deserve.

 

If the wages of sin is not the first death (death, as we know it), which death is?

  • The wages for sin is what is mentioned in the Bible as “the second death” (Revelation 2:11; 20:6,14; 21:7-8)

What is the difference between the first death and the second death? 

  • The first death is cessation of life that all people are “appointed” to experience (when they die) (Heb.9:27).
  • The second death is a second cessation of life that a person can experience, as a result of the “judgement” (mentioned in Hebrews 9:27).  That “judgement” is God’s judgement on sin … or, as Romans 6:23 puts it, the “wages” (payment earned or deserved) for sin.

What does the Bible tell us about the second death?

  • Not every person will experience the second death. (Revelation 2:11)
  • The second death will not affect those who come up in the first resurrection. (Revelation 20:6)
  • The Lake of Fire is the second death. (Revelation 20:14)
  • Consignment to the Lake of Fire is the second death. (Revelation 21:7-8)

How does death affect our relationship with God?

  • Death, as caused by sin, is the way that our sins and iniquities separated us from God. (Isaiah 59:1-2)

Is death final? 

  • NO … because there will be a resurrection (return to life) of all who die (John 5:28-29)
  • The Bible also speaks of a second death, which means that the initial (first) death would not have been final. (Hebrews 9:27)

Will there ever be an end to death? 

  • There is coming a time when death will be no more (1 Corinthians 15:26)

 

 

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