WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
Introduction
Jesus said in the Great Commission, “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Have you ever wondered why one needs to be saved? What does one need to be saved from? What are the consequences, results, of not being saved? In this article, we will explore these essential questions.
The Holy Bible, God’s Word.
We need to be saved because of sin. What is sin? The Apostle John writes in 1 John 3:4, “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.” That is the New American Standard Updated Version. The King James Version reads, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” In other words, sin is breaking the law of God. The Greek (the original language of the New Testament) word for sin is hamartia {ham-ar-tee’-ah}. This word comes from another Greek word, ἁμαρτάνω hamartano {ham-ar-tan’-o}. According to Thayer, this word means, “properly to miss the mark (and so not share in the prize), that is, (figuratively) to err, especially (morally) to sin.. To sin is to err, to miss the mark. It is to fail to obey the law of God. Paul writes in Romans 3:23, “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”
The Seriousness of Sin
Sin is a grave matter. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death…” Death, here, refers to spiritual death. Paul writes in Romans 8:6-8:
For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
One who does not yield himself to the law of God is dead. One who sins is dead (Rom. 6:23). Spiritual death is a separation from God. The Prophet Isaiah wrote in Isa. 59:1-2:
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short
That it cannot save;
Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
Isaiah defines spiritual death! Notice, that Isaiah points out that God cannot save and cannot hear those separated from Him by iniquity and sin. (On the Hebrew word translate, iniquity, Vine writes, “The word signifies an offense, intentional or not, against God’s law”).
The Good News
There is good news. In the same verse in which Paul writes, “The wages of sin is death, he continues, “…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). That free gift of which Paul writes, (Rom. 3:23-25):
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.
Sin causes spiritual death. But, God’s Son, Christ Jesus, died in our place so that we can avoid eternal spiritual death. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:16-17:
Jesus Died so we can be saved.
A Sacrifice Made for Sin
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. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Conclusion
Jesus said that God sent His only Begotten Son (Himself) that “whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Eternal life comes to those who believe in Jesus. But, what does it mean to believe? Is it simply a mental assent that Jesus existed/exists, or is it more than that? Is there more that one must do to have eternal life? What does the Bible say? We will answer these vital questions next time. See you then!
L. John Bost
Who are we? What to Expect When You Visit a Church of Christ.
