Musick-al note # 73
God sent his son into the world that he might redeem man. To that end Jesus gave his life-blood for all 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.” Did Jesus death on the Cross erase sin from the world? Are all men saved because Christ died on the Cross? If so, why then did Jesus speak of some being cast away into eternal punishment? (Matthew 25:46). Why then did he and the writers of the New Testament warn about false teachers and their false doctrines that lead to eternal destruction and urge obedience to the Gospel? Obviously, we are missing something that will harmonize these two ideas.
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. For our salvation, `God accepted the death of Jesus (who had no sin) in lieu of the sin-debt of every man (Isaiah 53:11). The reality remains that we still have our sins until we meet God’s conditions for forgiveness to get 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), we must be baptized to get into Him (Galatians 3:26-27). Please note: even Paul was required to do this (Acts 22:16). Everyone who believes, confesses Christ as Lord, repents of all sin and is baptized into Christ will receive the free gift of God which is eternal life (Hebrews 5:9). Everyone would like to have this gift, but not all are willing to meet God’s condition for pardon which is called ‘obeying the gospel’. God promises to save all who will come to Him through His Son (John 14:6, Hebrews 5:9). Everyone who fails to obey the Gospel is warned that they will die in their sin and suffer eternal punishment (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10). We must preach the Gospel continually so everyone will have the opportunity to be blessed in Christ Jesus. Gordon Musick
Musick-al Notes 