Slideshow image
"And whosoever was not found in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:15 (KJV)

 

What is sin and what is the penalty for sin?  How did sin enter the world?  Is there any way of avoiding punishment for sin?  God Himself answers all these questions and many more in the page of the Holy Bible (see Affirmations 17).  We encourage everyone to search His Word, carefully seeking a full appreciation of sin and its terrible consequences.  We also offer these affirmations as a starting point for deeper study:

  1. In the beginning, God’s creation was absolutely perfect, free from all forms of corruption and death.
  2. The first humans God created were Adam and Eve.
  3. Adam represented mankind.
  4. God gave Adam and Eve a few simple rules to follow in the Garden of Eden.
  5. God placed Adam and Eve on probation in the Garden of Eden, promising them eternal life if they obeyed Him and promising them death if they disobeyed Him.
  6. The covenant (contract; agreement) between God and man (Adam and his descendants) in the Garden of Eden was the first of a number of such covenants.
  7. Adam and Eve broke God’s first covenant with man and failed their test in the Garden of Eden.
  8. Because Adam and Eve broke their covenant with God, death, along with evil and all manner of corruption entered the world.
  9. If Adam and Eve had not sinned (disobeyed God) they would have lived forever.
  10. If Adam and Eve had not sinned, death would not have entered the world.
  11. There are two kinds of death, the death of the body and the death of the soul.
  12. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, they did not immediately fall dead to the ground, but they did die in the sense that their souls were condemned to hell and their bodies began the long slide toward the grave.
  13. Death of the body, when it is from natural causes, is a gradual failure of the flesh that continues until the body perishes and returns as dust to the earth.
  14. Upon physical death, the body dies, but not the soul.
  15. Many non-Christians believe that death means complete annihilation.  They are tragically mistaken.
  16. Death of the soul does not mean annihilation.  Death of the soul means spending all eternity in hell (see Affirmations 3).
  17. Hell is a place of never-ending misery, torment and separation from God’s blessings.
  18. We do not have much detail about hell, but the Bible describes hell in the most terrifying terms.
  19. The penalty for sin is death, not merely for Adam and Eve, but for all men who sin, which is to say all men.
  20. God’s law and God’s justice demand payment of the penalty for sin (which is death) by or on behalf of all men.
  21. The death penalty for sin is in no way unfair or unjust because all men are sinners.
  22. God has graciously provided a way for men to escape the penalty for sin.
  23. Men may escape the penalty for sin by coming to genuine faith in Jesus Christ.
  24. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, as recorded in Scripture.
  25. Christ paid the penalty for sin on behalf of all those who believe and truly place their faith in Him.
  26. Christ paid the penalty for sin by assuming the sins of genuine believers and suffering the equivalent of an eternity in hell on the cross on their behalf.
  27. Genuine faith in Christ, by itself, guarantees salvation from hell.
  28. Genuine faith in Christ is a gift of God, received at his discretion through His mercy and grace.