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Salvation: Exactly What is Salvation?
In The
Beginning: God
When we read the
account of creation in Genesis 1, we see something interesting. Genesis 1:1 states:
"In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
We read a little further in Genesis and find:
"And Abraham
planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD,
the everlasting God." (Gen. 21:33)
These both confirm and affirm
the FACT that God has always existed. He did not exist because of man, and
in fact, man has nothing to do with God’s existence. Erase man from the
picture and what is left? GOD. He STILL exists without us.
Genesis
1:27:
"So God
created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and
female created he them."
Genesis
5:1-2 states:
"This is the
book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the
likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed
them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created."
There should be no doubt in
anyone’s mind that God created man and that our beginnings were
FROM God. Now examine that principle. Do you realize that
man was NOT created sinful from the beginning? Man was created
PURE in the likeness and image of God. Man, in fact lived in holiness,
purity and harmony with God for a while (although we don't know how long)
in the Garden of Eden.
The problem, however, was not
man himself, but it was in man’s disobedience to God. God had given them
(Adam and Eve) everything with the exception of just ONE THING: They could
not partake of "the tree of the knowledge good and evil."
"And the LORD
God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest
freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die."
(Gen. 2:16,17)
Look what happens just a short time later:
"Now the
serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had
made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of
every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat
of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree
which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of
it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the
woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing
good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and
that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one
wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her
husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened,
and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together,
and made themselves aprons." (Gen. 3:1-7)
Sin entered in and judgment
followed.
"And they
heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the
day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD
God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam,
and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the
garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he
said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree,
whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said,
The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I
did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast
done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the
LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art
cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy
belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And
I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the
woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in
sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy
husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou
hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of
which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the
ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy
life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou
shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken:
for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Gen. 3:8-19)
Sin:
Let’s touch on that subject for a bit to determine what it is. The bible is very clear that from
Adam until now, sin passed upon every man and man became sinful in the
eyes of God.
"If thou
doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well,
sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire,
and thou shalt rule over him."
(Gen. 4:7)
"And the LORD
said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their
sin is very grievous." (Gen. 18:20)
"And Moses
said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his
fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not."
(Ex. 20:20)
"And he said,
If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee,
go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and
our sin, and take us for thine inheritance." (Ex. 34:9)
"Speak unto
the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin
that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be
guilty."
(Num. 5:6)
"But if ye
will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD:
and be sure your sin will find you out."
(Num. 32:23)
"The fathers
shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be
put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own
sin." (Deut. 24:16)
"But he slew
not their children, but did as it is written in the law in the book of
Moses, where the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for the
children, neither shall the children die for the fathers, but every man
shall die for his own sin."
(2 Chron. 25:4)
"That thou
enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?" (Job
10:6)
"His bones
are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down
with him in the dust." (Job 20:11)
"There is no
soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in
my bones because of my sin." (Ps. 38:3)
"For I will
declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin." (Ps.
38:18)
"Behold, I
was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive
me." (Ps.
51:5)
"Who can say,
I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?"
(Prov. 20:9)
"The next day
John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world."
(John 1:29)
"So when they
continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is
without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at
her."
(John 8:7)
"Jesus
answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth
sin is the servant of sin."
(John 8:34)
"Jesus said
unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but
now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth." (John 9:41)
"What then?
are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both
Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin. As it is
written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that
understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." (Rom. 3:9-11)
"For all have
sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:22)
"Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Rom.
5:12)
"For the
wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 6:23)
"The sting of
death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." (1 Corin. 15:56)
"But the
scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise
by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe."
(Gal. 3:22)
"Then when
lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and
sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
(James 1:15)
"If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth
is not in us." (1 John 1:8)
"All
unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin
not unto death."
(1 John 5:17)
We can see from the scriptures alone that man is lost and depraved and in need of
salvation. The Bible is very clear that man is in need of someone or
something for salvation to “reconcile” us back to God. A breach was
committed by Adam and subsequently, the breach needed to be repaired.
Every man
needs this reconciliation!
"Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Rom. 5:12)
I’ve mentioned ‘sin’ but I believe there are very few people today who
really understand what sin is. Yes, we know it is “unrighteousness”, we
know it is “doing wrong in the eyes of God”, we know it is violating God’s
holiness, etc. We know all
the catch phrases, don’t we? Why then, don't we turn to the Word of
God to see what God says about it? We need to determine exactly what
sin is!
W hat
about sin? What is it? Can I sin without knowing it?
The
Apostle James defines sin as:
"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is
sin." (James 4:17)
Doesn’t this say that to sin,
you must first KNOW that you are ‘not doing good’? Sure it does. THAT is
what makes sin … well, SIN. Is temptation sin? Believe it or not, there
are MANY denominations that teach that TEMPTATION is SIN. Examine the
following scripture:
"Seeing
then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an
high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:14-15)
Did Jesus sin?
The Answer is a Resounding: NO! Jesus DID NOT
SIN!
"For
even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving
us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither
was guile found in his mouth:..." (1 Peter
2:21-22)
Jesus DID NOT SIN! Yet he was
tempted IN ALL POINTS like as we are. So, I ask you again, is TEMPTATION
SIN? To believe that temptation is sin (or to believe that when you are
tempted, you’ve committed a sin) is to make the scriptures a lie and is to
commit blasphemy in that you are calling Jesus a SINNER. Our Lord and
Savior was NOT a sinner!
When does temptation become
sin? For a brief answer, we again turn to the Apostle James:
"But
every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is
finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren." (James 1:14-16)
Temptation is NOT SIN.
Temptation can NEVER BE SIN. It is the GIVING IN to temptation, the
acting upon
your temptation that BECOMES SIN!
When one sins, it is not a
“devil made me do it” issue. The devil didn’t force you to do anything
(unless you’re possessed). YOU made the willful choice to sin and the
responsibility is solely YOURS. Any attempt to explain what sin is other
than the willful conscious choice to ‘give in’ to temptation is a
misunderstanding of God’s Word and is a blatant attempt to subvert the Word
of God by placing blame on someone else. God requires personal
accountability!
Sin separates
us from God!
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