Musick-al note # 9
God sent his son into the world that He might redeem man. To that end Jesus gave his life’s blood for all of mankind. In Hebrews 2:9, the writer states that “He, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man.” In Ephesians 1:7 Paul said “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Does this mean that all men are saved just because Christ died on the Cross? If they are, why then did Jesus speak of some people being cast away into eternal punishment? (Matthew 25:46). Why did He and the writers of the New Testament warn about false teachers and their false doctrines that lead to eternal destruction (Luke 14:22, Galatians 2:4)? Paul said that even Christians will be lost if they follow false teachers (Galatians 1:6-9). Obviously we need to study more carefully to understand what is taught so that we harmonize the teaching of the Scripture about the death of Christ. Two verses concerning sin come to mind. The first is Ezekiel 18:4 “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine; the soul that sins shall die”. The next is Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Both of these verses say that ‘if you sin you must pay the penalty of death’! Sin holds the debt until it is paid. That payment is spiritual death – separation from God. Thank God that He accepted the death of Jesus (who had no sin) for the sin-debt of all men (Isaiah 53:11). We must accept the fact that we still have our sins until we meet God’s conditions for forgiveness by getting into Christ. Those conditions are: we must believe (John 8:24), we must repent (Acts 17:30), we must confess him (Matthew 10:32-33) and we must be baptized into Him (Galatians 3:26-27). Please note: Paul was required to do this (Acts 22:16). Everyone who is baptized into Christ will receive the free gift of God which is eternal life. Everyone wants this gift, but not all are willing to meet God’s condition for pardon which is called ‘obeying the gospel’. God saves all who will come to Him by His Son (John 14:6, Hebrews 5:9). Those who fail to obey Jesus’ Gospel will die in their sin to suffer eternal punishment (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10). We must be faithful in life and preach the Gospel continually so everyone will have the opportunity to be blessed in Christ Jesus
Gordon Musick
Musick-al Notes 