Salvation: What is the Penalty of Sin Christ freed us from?

We looked at the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Jesus had power to lay His life down as our substitute on the cross, dying a death that belongs to each sinner. He also had power to take up His life again at His resurrection (John 10:15-18). Death has no power over the sinless Son of God.

We noted that the word "salvation" takes place in the past, present and future tenses. Jesus' redeeming work on the cross is the past tense. He took our place on the cross, died so that we do not have to die  and shed His innocent blood to pay for all humanities sins. 

What is the penalty for sin? Death!

Genesis 2:15-17  And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17  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. 

God created a beautiful environment for Adam and Eve. They were given free access to all the trees in the garden of Eden except one tree, the tree of life. God told them both that if they ate fruit from that tree they would die. 

Death must be understood as consisting of two parts. There will be physical death and there is spiritual death. Adam lived a long time but he did physically die when he was 930 years old. The very moment that Adam and Eve sinned their souls became spiritually dead and their formerly close relationship with God was broken. 

Genesis 5 contains the first genealogy beginning with Adam and we read of each generation the sober phrase "and he died" eight times! Adam made a choice that affected all of humanity in that we are all descended from Adam. Death is passed on to every person that is born because of Adam and Eve's sin. 

I think it is important to realize that there are two aspects of sin. We have what many call the "Adamic nature" meaning that we are born sinners, spiritually dead and separated from God because we inherit Adam's sin nature. 

Adam's sin is called original sin because he was the first human to sin. The first impact of sin is original sin nature that all people are born with. The second aspect of sin are the individual sins that we commit when we fall short of God's law which is the divine standard of holiness and righteousness. We may lie, think bad thoughts about someone, steal, curse using God's name and so on. 

All people are sinners by birth & by choice.

Romans 3:9-10  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; 10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 

Romans 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 

This is why Jesus Christ was born. None of us have any way to get rid of the sin nature we inherited from Adam. None of us have any means to make things right between ourselves and the Holy God we offended. This is why God became a man. As a man He could suffer for us and die in our place on the cross. He could take the wages of our sins upon Himself. As God, He is holy, innocent and righteous and death could not hold Him in the grave. 

The wages of sin is death!

Romans 6:21-23  What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. 22  But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Paul spoke much about salvation and he often put the consequences of sin into contrast with what Jesus Christ did for us at Calvary. Paul reminded the church at Rome before they were born again they were sinners. The final end of sinning is death, physical and spiritual.  Paul rejoiced in the impact of the new birth upon their lives (and ours, too). He ends this section by stating what we all know to be true. 

The wages of sin is death. No one can escape the penalty of death apart from salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. Receiving wages for sin is the idea that we will get what we deserve because of our sin. Physical death and eternal separation from God. 

Romans 5:12  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: 

Paul summed up the dire plight of all mankind. Adam made a choice for all of us when he chose to disobey God. Because of that we are all born spiritually dead and will die physically. No one escapes the penalty of death apart from being born again and in Christ!

Creation is also decaying!

Genesis 3:17  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; 

Not only did death become part of the human experience due to Adam's sin, the creation was also impacted. God put a curse upon the earth such that thorns, thistles, weeds will grow and hinder the soils productivity. Much hard work will be needed to gain a crop. 

Psalm 102:25-27  Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. 26  They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: 27  But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. 

All creation is in a state of decay. The Psalmist says that heaven and earth are going to perish and we saw that in our End Times study. Creation is "waxing old." There are some scientific terms that describe what is happening. 

The first law of thermodynamics states that total amount of energy does not change. Energy can change form but that there is no additional new energy and thus no new matter being created in the universe. 

The second law of thermodynamics states that energy will become less available over time. This is known as entropy. For example, you buy a new battery for your car. That battery degrades each day until years later you must buy another one. The second law also states that any system left to itself will tend toward randomness and disorder as the universe eventually runs out of energy. 

We know these things to be true. Nothing in the world gets newer. It all becomes older and decays. Each plant sprouts, grows, matures and eventually dies. Each building, bridge, highway, railroad is constructed and then begins decaying. They all require ongoing maintenance. The same is true for homes, farms, planes, vehicles space craft, etc. 

Christ died to bring life to all who believe.

Romans 5:6  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Jesus Christ died for ungodly sinners like you and me. We were without strength which means we are condemned before God by His holy law because we are sinners by nature and by our choices. Yet, Jesus Christ died for us. 

Romans 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

God turned His love upon us even when we were vile sinners to send His Son, Jesus Christ to the cross to die in our place and to pay for our sins. 

Romans 14:9  For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

This is why Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead. He is Lord of the dead and the living, all who believe and trust in God from all times and generations. 

Galatians 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

Here is each believer's standing before God. We are dead with Christ. That is, the death sentence that should be carried out upon us because we are sinners was taken by Christ. Thus, we are dead with Christ. The Father put Jesus to death instead of us. Because Christ rose from the dead and lives, we live. It is our faith in the Son of God because He loved us enough to die for us, that we live! This is true for all born again believers. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 

We know the love of God. His plan to save us from our sins was put into place before the world was created (Ephesians 1:4; 1:12-13; 2:10; 2 Timothy 1:9;  1 Peter 1:19-20; Revelation 13:8).

Christ came to save the world not to condemn it. Those who hear the gospel and respond with repentance and believe on Jesus Christ are no longer condemned. Those who refuse to repent and believe on Jesus Christ are already condemned to hell.

Salvation is when you and I are delivered from the penalty of sin (death, eternal condemnation in hell) through exercising repentant faith in Jesus Christ. As an individual you must chose to respond to the truth of God that you hear and read. God has provided salvation to all people but He will not force you to be born again. You must choose to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and live or reject the gospel and die in your sins.

I pray that you choose life!

Bob