March 14, 2023

… through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. Romans 5:12

We are under a death sentence because of sin. The Bible defines sin as lawlessness (1 John 3:4). But God has not abandoned us to our own devices. No indeed! He implemented the divine rescue mission—to impart to us the life of His Son—which was agreed upon within the Trinity before the foundation of the world.

We are taught early in God’s word that disobedience leads to death (Genesis 2:17). So, if disobedience brings death, then obedience brings life, right? Well, the Bible is clear that we are not saved by obedience to a set of rules. That is “putting the cart before the horse” and it would be “salvation by works.”

Harmonious obedience to God’s eternal, unchanging law is the result—or fruit—of being saved. The purpose for which Christ came into the world: to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15) is His initiative, illustrated in the opening clause of God’s divine constitution, the Ten Commandments:

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Exodus 20:2

That is saving grace! While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Paul drew the attention of the Corinthians to the vital necessity of Christian discipline, from which we get the word “disciple.” After the Israelites were saved out of Egypt, they were well provided for both physically and spiritually: all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:3-4). The Promised Land, symbolic of heaven, was only a few days’ travel by foot. But, after being saved, most of them were reluctant to change their pagan ways. Therefore they did not enter the Land of Promise, though God was patient with them for forty years! They stubbornly squandered the precious salvation that had been given to them, and they died in a spiritually lost condition in the wilderness. For any saved person who refuses to be taught of God, “once saved, always saved” does not apply. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end (Hebrews 3:14).

Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 1 Corinthians 10:11