It seems appropriate to glean all the evidence God has left for us in His Scriptures to begin to understand and marvel at the depth of His love and mercy actually demonstrated and recorded for the benefit of His elect (believers in all His Words). We, who trust Him and no other, stand in speechless awe of His patience and perseverance in Love!!!
God has demonstrated that He can and will freely forgive sin and the consequent death in the flesh; but, only through the cross of Jesus Christ.
God has also fully demonstrated, from the beginning of the world in the Garden of Eden, that He will remove our inherent sin as a barrier to a relationship with Him, cleanse our spirit and freely give eternal spiritual life, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, to those who were dead in spirit but believe His Words; and, who simply trust and rely on His Words. God has left us a message in His Scriptures of the accomplishment of His will through the cross of Jesus Christ.
But God has also fully demonstrated that there is no forgiveness, but wrath from Him, for unbelief and distrust of His Words revealed to any individual, if that unbelief persists until physical death. The simple reason is that God’s Infinite Words are TRUTH and are not subject to debate from the finite mind of man. To disregard infinite TRUTH is inherently to voluntarily choose untruth and all the consequences that automatically go with it! Further, for any to actually go further and dispute the calling and truths of the Holy Spirit about the cross of Jesus Christ is the same as to call the Holy Spirit a liar, as Satan called God a liar in the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve initially existed in the sole light of the Word of God and knew there was a God. Adam and Eve were not called on to “believe” in a non-present, invisible, far away “God.” They actually walked, talked and had an earthly sinless, innocent fellowship and actually communicated in innocent fellowship with God. Who knows how long? Their problem, though they were innocent and sinless initially, was they “simply” did not believe God’s Words (truth) delivered to them and designed as a guide to protect them. God created them innocent and without sin and called them and freely offered them eternal spiritual life in their flesh! The truth of His Words guided them but they rejected His Words and believed a lie. How many today “believe” in a “God” but not what the Scriptures record God said?
Instead, though sinless, Adam and Eve made a free choice and “freely” ignored God’s guiding Words of spiritual light in a clear issue of who to believe when they chose and relied on Satan’s words (lies) to their automatic destruction! The simple issue for them then and us now when we hear the Good News about the cross of Jesus Christ is “who do we now believe-God or Satan about the free gift of sin forgiveness and eternal spiritual life in resurrected sinless flesh”? God freely offered it to Adam and Eve when they were sinless and had no impediment but God now offers it freely to us who hear the Good News now; and, who are helpless slaves to the impediment with Him of sin.
Eve was “deceived” and suffered death in her flesh in her appointed time and a startling, automatic and immediate loss of a restful, innocent, spiritual, and “earthly fellowship with God”; and, she received the automatic impediment with God of now being spiritually, internally sold by her own disbelief into “slavery to sin.” She was now guided by her uninformed opinion of right and wrong and not solely by the fellowship, light and power of the Word of God. Her sin, after partaking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, became a permanent, spiritual impediment, unremovable by her, to a spiritual relationship with God. She, who use to daily fellowship with God, ran from Him and his and rendered herself a helpless slave to sin.
But Adam knowingly “transgressed” infinite truth directly revealed to him by God face to face personally; and, the immediate consequence for him and mankind was much greater! In his appointed time, Adam would also personally suffer flesh death and he also suffered with Eve, a startling, automatic and immediate loss of restful, innocent earthly fellowship with God and sole guidance by the Word of God, as he was no longer guided by the fellowship and Word of God. He, who used to daily fellowship with God, also ran from God and with Eve hid and covered his nakedness; and, now had, with Eve, a permanent personal, internal impediment, which he could not remove, with God of now being a helpless slave to sin in his heart. Over and above any issue of lack of faith, Adam also transgressed a truth only given directly to Him from God. The “key” to the fall of mankind is Adam and the “key” to salvation, redemptions, regeneration and resurrection in innocent flesh is the cross of Jesus Christ
Therefore, additionally through Adam, sin entered the world through the knowledge of good and evil; and, automatically began to enslave the spirits of the seed of Adam in him at creation (mankind). At each, individual accountability, as Adam, all would come to the enslaving knowledge of Good and Evil and become helpless, permanent slaves (without intervention) to internal spiritual sin. All, after accountability, have sinned and cannot stop until Jesus came.
But, Eves’ lack of faith resulting in sin did not amount to transgression and did not automatically pass flesh death on to her seed within her at creation-Jesus Christ. While Jesus did not automatically inherit flesh death for sin from Adam as mankind does, yet he must not sin for his body to be a prefect innocent sacrifice for believers in order to obtain permanent eternal forgiveness of sin. Further, additionally, Jesus was a Jew and circumcised. Jesus was under an obligation, as was Adam, also obligated to fulfill all “requirements” of the Mosaic Law. He could, possibly, become a transgressor as Adam. Sin for the flesh (Eve’s error) for gentiles and the Mosaic law for the spirit (Adam’s transgression) for Jews and any under the Law. Jesus believed and obeyed all to perfection in faith, thought and deed. But Jesus additionally brought grace and love not law and wrath to believers in Him. Jesus, also for the elect (any who trust and rely solely on God’s Words), opened the way again through Him for persevering and now cleansed believers to partake of the Tree of Life once freely offered to Adam and Eve.
Satan intended the complete destruction of Adam and Eve and, all in Adam. After their acts they became slaves to sin and mankind through Adam. But nothing is too great an obstacle for our God to overcome! Satan, unrepentant, continued his heavenly rebellion on earth.
Adam and Eve, at creation, were innocent and without sin and had no self-imposed impediment to eternal spiritual life. They could have simply freely, eaten of the Tree of Life at any time before Satan appeared.
We, except Jesus, on the other hand who are decedents of Adam, are in a more precarious predicament and are helpless internal spiritual slaves to sin (our permanent impediment which blocks access to the Tree of Life) which arises after our “accountability” at an early age. But God, in love, has determined and cannot be deterred to forgive and cleanse those that trust His Words through the cross of Jesus Christ and to remove the impediment to the flesh and spirit, free us from sin slavery and freely, again, offer the Tree of Life through the cross of Jesus Christ. God, in justice, mercy and love, will free and renew those who trust His Words! In Jesus perfect justice and perfect love would be served.
Satan told Eve that God’s Words were a lie then; and, now Satan whispers in our hearts today when we hear the Good News about the cross of Jesus Christ, that God is a liar. It is now, as then, a simple and clear choice in who to believe. We now have the same choice because of Jesus that Adam and Eve had: with this main difference, if we freely reject the calling of the Holy Spirit till death concerning the Good News in the cross of Jesus Christ, our decision of who to believe is eternal and unalterable with hopeless damnation that AUTMATICALLY follows at physical death (and that God offers to spare us from); and, that damnation we actually bring on ourselves through personally rejecting the calling of the Holy Spirit in unbelief. If we in some manner of religious effort try to justify ourselves with God through the law, the Ten (10) Commandments, not only will we fail but actually raise God’s wrath.
God freely offers again eternal spiritual life in Jesus Christ but only through His cross and we must not freely reject that offer and pass sentence on ourselves to death (however defined) as Adam and Eve did. Our existence in true eternal spiritual lives with God depends entirely upon whether or not we trust God’s Words. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Hebrews 11, 6. Being sinless does not “automatically” equate to eternal spiritual life. It did not so equate for Adam and Eve. It prepares us to receive eternal spiritual life; but we can’t accomplish it on our own. FAITH here in God’s promise of free eternal spiritual life is ESSENTIAL! If sinlessness automatically equated to eternal spiritual life there was no need for the Tree of Life or Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Those trees were there to raise the issue of “who do you trust, God or Satan?”
Adam and Eve were created sinless and could have partaken of the Tree of Life at any time but did not have faith in God’s Words and then their error in partaking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which automatically rendered them slaves to sin and blocked them from the Tree of Life. God, in mercy, closed the way to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. But God opened it later in the cross of Jesus Christ. God had closed the way to spare them and us.
There is NOTHING mankind can do in religion, philosophy, attempts at our unaided human ability to obey the Ten Commandments, good morals, giving, human love, sacrifices for others, rituals, self-denials for God, offerings, or otherwise being sinless that can require God to give us His Spirit in eternal spiritual life-but He will freely (freely) give eternal spiritual life to those that believe Him in the cross of Jesus Christ. God will give us what we can’t earn! After faith is fully established, then all the good things of God, otherwise unobtainable by us, flow as a river from His Spirit as a guide and pure life-giving source. Perseverance of faith in blessed obedience to the Spirit and Word follows. In God’s time table regeneration (free unifying gift of His Spirit) follows the establishment in us of true faith of His Words.
After being freely created in innocence and freely given rule over all the material earth by God Adam, through his transgression, disbelieved the revealed truth of God’s Word and rejected a face-to-face revelation of truth from God, and automatically brought death to himself; and, he automatically bequeathed death in the flesh to all his seed already within him-all mankind. But God, in mercy, withheld permanent judgment on the spirit and transferred the penalty of sin to the flesh. Jesus Christ paid that penalty on the flesh for mankind so that all flesh will resurrect-but some to eternal spiritual life and some to eternal spiritual death.
We, mostly, have never heard of Adam but Adam, nonetheless and alone, bequeathed flesh death to us whose eternal spirits are in and are bonded to this breathing flesh. Even innocent babies die in the flesh because of Adam’s transgression. We don’t want to hear this but it is true. Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. (John 8, 32). We must hear truth in order to amend!!! Otherwise, we would never come to grips with the issue of faith! Satan, through Adam. was able to temporarily enslave mankind to sin after accountability. But Satin in now fully and completely destroyed in coercive power over mankind in sin slavery by Jesus Christ. Any who now hear the Good News of God in Jesus Christ and nonetheless decide to freely serve Satin in sin are now “voluntary” slaves, as opposed to involuntary slaves, to their master and will spend eternity with him after their resurrection.
God at great cost, humbled Himself in a manner truly enigmatic to us, and corrected Adam’s self-imposed sentence of death on himself and his seed and opened the way again to The Tree of Life by transferring the penalty for sin to the flesh and not permanently imposing it on our eternal (but lifeless) spirit. Jesus Christ corrected two issues. Flesh resurrection for all mankind by completely paying, for all mankind, the penalty for sins at the cross; and, true eternal spiritual life for persevering believer’s only, resulting in the gift of the presence of the Holy Spirit and eternal spiritual life for believers with God. If any have not the spirit of God, though he be resurrected, he is none of His. (Romans 8, 9-11) Presence of God’s Spirit is the seal of true faith and His approval!
Note carefully the perimeters of that “death” in Adam and the causes of that death. There were two separations (deaths) and two consequences. There was (a) a consequence for the human spirit and (b) the consequences to human flesh.
Adam’s unbelief of God’s Word as opposed to Satan’s Word, which Adam believed and acted on, was his downfall. Once Adam partook of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil two things occurred. (a) He was “immediately” separated from the pure guidance of the Word of God alone (immediate loss of innocent fellowship) and plummeted into spiritual blindness. Adam now knew only as a guide the knowledge of good and evil and not the sole guide of the pure Word of God alone. Now Adam, nor Eve, could truly define good or evil; and, if he could he could he not perfectly practice good and perfectly reject evil as God can. Instead of walking and talking with God Adam and Eve hid!
Adam then became a slave to “sin” as the concept of good and evil then guided his life and not the sole light of the pure Word of God. With the knowledge of good and evil all Adam could do was sin. In time the Ten Commandments came and the harder man tried to perfectly obey and do good under the Ten Commandments the more he sins in revealed active transgressions. Before the Commandments came man sinned against God but did not know that God hated sin and must punish sin. God overlooked their sin for final judgment until Jesus Christ came. After the Commandments men knew they sinned against God but cannot quit sinning. In fact, men then become transgressors of God’s will. We need help!!!
God, in mercy, chose not to place the permanent penalty for “sin” and “unbelief” on the human spirit and flesh but placed the permanent penalty for “sin” on the flesh. Until the time of reformation in Jesus Christ men would continue in unbelief and slavery to sin. Sin forgiveness in Jesus, in and of itself makes us innocent in God’s sight through the blood of Jesus but there remains believing all the Word of God revealed to us as it relates to eternal spiritual life. There is another, much worse automatic consequence than flesh death for unbelief of God’s revealed Word for the human spirit.
Mankind are all slaves to sin “from accountability” but mankind can still “believe” the Word of God delivered to us until the day of reformation. Old Testament believers proved this. We are even more blessed today than those great and blessed stalwarts of faith. Since Jesus had not yet died on the cross for sins before their deaths, they could not receive the “indwelling Spirit of God”-earthly regeneration in their lifetime-but we can!!!!
Repeating, when Adam, willfully, voluntarily and without compulsion but in a state of innocence, partook of the Tree of Death there were two (2) types of possible “deaths.” They were flesh death and “possible” eternal spiritual death, which is lack of union with Gods Spirit. God, in unsearchable mercy, in the Garden of Eden imposed the lesser consequence for “sin” on the flesh and not the eternal human spirit as the human spirit at birth has no eternal spiritual life to begin with to lose, just eternal spiritual existence with a possibility of eternal spiritual life determined by who do you trust.
Great is the mystery of iniquity and the mystery of spiritual accountability over and above death in the flesh for sin. But God in Christ begins His revelations. Satan, the deceiver, opens the door through Adam to iniquity, sin, transgression and unbelief. All mankind, after accountability, begins in the knowledge of good and evil and death. The cross of Jesus Christ, alone, is the ultimate solution.
INDIVIDUAL SPITITUAL ACCOUNTABILIY is the next issue after flesh accountability. God transferred what was then permanent flesh death to the flesh without our individual input. Accountability applies to the state of our spirit not our flesh. We are born into this world in innocent flesh and innocent spirit, but without permanent eternal spiritual life in the spirit or permanent eternal existence in the flesh. Had Adam freely partaken of the Tree of Life first we would have inherited eternal spiritual life from him along with eternal innocent flesh existence. But Adam transgressed God’s truth in rebellion. Mankind inherited what Adam ended up with.
But God in mercy placed the penalty of sin on the flesh and not the spirit. All are susceptible to flesh death, even innocent babies but they die in the flesh because of Adam with an innocent human spirit. But at “accountability” we lose our innocence in the spirit and our original peaceful fellowship with God on this earth as did Adam and Eve, as we had, before accountability, no spiritual comprehension of evil; or, even of God but the peaceful relationship existed because of God, not us, as we were innocent and not “accountable.”
At a time in our youth, around age 12 (that is the age Jesus was tested in the Temple), we recognize there is good and evil in the world. Jesus chose to be guided by the Truth of God.
We know it is “good” not to steal from others but, knowing that, many do it anyway to gratify some selfish desire. If we do not actually steal then we covet what belongs to others internally for gratification. We know we do not want others to steal from us so we know, instinctively, we should not steal from them.
As we grow, we know that it is “good” not to murder as we do not want others to murder us. But some do it anyway to gratify something in themselves. Others hide their murderous nature with hate. Jesus said, that before God, internal hate in the spirit is the same as outward murder.
If we marry, we know we do not want others to commit adultery with our spouse so we know instinctively, it is “good” that we should not commit adultery with their spouse. Yet many do it anyway for gratification and if we do not commit the physical act we lust after others in our heart. Jesus said such internal spiritual lust is outward accountability for adultery. These illustrations demonstrate that sin is bedrock deep in our spirit (the evil tree in us can only produce evil) and we cannot dislodge it. Outward adultery is just the fruit of a rotten spirit! We can’t stop it by willpower any more than apple trees can stop being apple trees and quit producing apples! We are hopeless slaves to sin! We DESPARATELY need God’s help through the free gift of the cross of Jesus Christ!
There are others but these are illustrative. We think if we don’t actually, actively do some things there is a difference but Jesus says that “thinking” equates to “doing” before God. If the fruit is evil the spirit is evil! Our internal spirit is now corrupted and it produces corrupt outward acts. We early feel guilt and alienation and a vague fear of judgment. We do not understand why we think and do what is basically evil and the answer is we are internal sinners living under the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and “spiritually separated from God in sin” and without hope of correcting our thoughts or actions.
Then, for some, comes the Ten Commandments. Now we know that not only is adultery, murder, stealing, etc. is evil but God actually forbids it, thought and deed, and when we do it, we transgress His law (if we place ourselves under it) and that raises further wrath. This was a real issue for the Jews and for the Apostle Paul as he explained in Romans. So, we try to quit but can’t. The more we try not to lust the more we lust. The more we try not to think of adultery the more we think of it. Now there is real horror. Knowing the difference between good and evil but doing it anyway is sin-all do it and are separated from God; but, to actually physically think and perform sin when God forbids it in thought and deed is crushing disaster!
Transgressing the law raises the issue of certain death and God’s wrath and that is fearful because the perfect law applies to the thoughts and the deeds as to the issue of our justification with God. The law is excellent to protect others from our actions (but not to justify us before God) but it can only condemn us in our relationship with God.
So, what does the PERFECT law do in justification? It teaches us we are lost in sin, thought and deed, cannot correct the issue and eternally damned unless we turn to Jesus Christ who will save us and justify us as the law cannot. The law is a perfect spiritual mirror, an enlightening gift from God, on our inner spirit to reflect what we really are-spiritually evil! On earth a physical mirror simply shows a physically ugly person they are ugly. The mirror does not make them ugly! We must see ourselves for what we are! Those who rely on perfectly obeying the law can do nothing but raise the wrath of God against them. They in essence insult God and Christ by believing they can be as perfect as Jesus. Best to admit our helplessness in sin and seek Jesus quickly. Thank God that in Jesus Christ we are under God’s grace and not the absolute strict obedience to the Law for justification with God. Jesus is our justification.
But, in Jesus, we can actually obey the law-not in the letter but in the spirit-love. Because of love, from the Spirit of God, we don’t have a desire to hate, fornicate, adulterate, murder, etc. and we don’t have a desire to live in stealing and lying, etc. Individual temptations will come to the flesh but need not be a controlling desire in slavery as before.
But to live daily “voluntarily” serving Satan and sin, after hearing the Good News, is to raise the wrath of God. It demonstrates who we REALLY, secretly, want to serve. In Egypt the first born were saved from death by the blood of the innocent lamb alone. Believing Christians are saved from the wrath of God by the innocent blood of Jesus alone. The blood of Jesus cleanses heartbroken sinners. Jesus’ blood is not a sop to those that willfully sin but just don’t want the consequences. True Christians hate the deed itself and desire to turn away to love, not just be sheltered from the consequences. Jesus’ blood is too precious for that attitude! To willfully sin is to treat His suffering and sacrifice with selfish ingratitude.
But there were those who saw the first born of Israel in Egypt spared from the death angel, saw all the miracles and crossed the Red Sea but faltered in faith as to the Promised Land and voluntarily wanted to go back to Egypt. They perished in the Wilderness.
God’s actions were pure, unmerited MERCY and LOVE, not WRATH in temporarily placing the penalty for sin on the flesh. The main point is God reserved final permanent judgement on the flesh and final permanent judgment on the spirit until a time in the future, when all will be given the opportunity as Adam had to believe God or believe Satan. That time is revealed in Jesus Christ to believe or not believe God. If ALL are condemned in Adam ALL can be saved by faith in the cross of Jesus Christ. Each in their appointed time.
After accountability we have all sinned and are condemned to sin but we can still freely believe God or not, even as sinners, in what He says. Old Testament saints did. Think of Abraham and all those faithful people in Chapter 11, of Hebrews. They had to wait for Christ, but for believers today Christ has already come in the first advent and will return in the flesh in the future. We became slaves to sin in the same sense that the Israelites became slaves to Pharoah in Egypt. They became slaves because one man, Jacob, led them into Egypt. God had told Isaac, Jacob’s father, not to go into Egypt but stay in the land of Canaan. That truth to Isaac bound all in him-Jacob too. Adam led us into sin.
Israel, the nation, ignorantly became slaves in the flesh because of Jacob. But mankind’s descent into sin for the spirit was also ignorantly, not willfully, nor knowingly as was Adam’s choice. We did not err as Adam erred!!!! God told Adam not to eat of the tree. God did not tell us not to eat of the tree. But God, in the future, would give us a choice of whom to believe about eternal spiritual life even when we were sinners. Adam was innocent but we are slaves to sin with a barrier of sin between us and God. God put up with sinners until the time of reformation and cleansing in Jesus Christ.
At our human birth in the flesh, our spirit is “innocent” but bound to the flesh as a habitat until our earthly spiritual “accountability”. Babies that physically die before “accountability” have an innocent spirit that is no longer bound to the condemned flesh. God will deal with their spirit as His pure love requires. God has demonstrated His love for innocent children, before their accountability, in both the Old and New Testaments.
At accountability, like Adam, all innocent humans partake of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and begin to think we are wise in that knowledge, not knowing that the fruit of that knowledge only culminates in death; and, are separated from God in spiritual sin and those sins are also demonstrated in our outward acts of sin. God cannot fellowship with sin, even ignorant sinners. God told Adam not to do it but He did not tell us not to at our accountability. We did not have the choice of “who to believe” then. We gentiles became sinners ignorantly. But after jesus we have a choice of who to believe.
God spared the human spirit permanent eternal judgement in the Garden of Eden until the “seed of the woman” should come. When we fell into sin (which God would later correct), we did not have the advantage Adam had and that is that God directly advised Adam directly not to eat. God has provided a means to eternally correct that problem in the Good News of the cross of Jesus Christ-Jesus-the seed of the woman.
When we hear the Good News about Jesus and are called by the Holy Spirit about the cross of Jesus Christ, we have a free choice now to believe God as Adam should have or refuse to believe God as Adam did and we should not repeat Adam’s error, as our decision now becomes permanent. Sin’s permanent consequence (unless remitted by God) was placed on the flesh not the Spirit. If we reject Jesus Christ now, the spirit and flesh pays another type of penalty. That penalty would be resurrected flesh bound to sin and our spirit that cannot die; and, suffer eternally separated from God without hope of relief!
Sin, temporarily, forms a barrier to an eternal SPIRITUAL relationship with God. Sin, after accountability, forms an impenetrable barrier to man’s FELLOWSHIP with God and an impenetrable barrier to Eternal Spiritual Life with God (unless God unilaterally provides a way and removes the barrier). After accountability, mankind is then hopeless. Nothing mankind can do will correct sin in us. But God, unilaterally, provided a solution. It is the seed of the woman-Jesus Christ.
When Jesus died on the cross the first blessing and free gift to mankind is that all flesh will rise since Jesus paid the penalty for our sin that was placed on the flesh. All flesh will rise even if they never heard of Jesus or want to rise. Adam bequeathed to all mankind death in the flesh, even those who never heard of him and Jesus gives all life in the flesh even if they never heard of Him, either. It is a free gift to mankind as all will be resurrected solely because of what Jesus did at the cross. But, ultimately, every (all mankind) knee will bend (you can only do that in flesh) and every mouth will confess (you can only do that in the flesh) that Jesus is King. (Philippians 2, 10-11). Some will be blessed in their confession to life, some will acknowledge His rightful Lordship but be eternally condemned.
After Jesus’ death and resurrection, it makes no difference when any human lived in times past, each will be resurrected in the flesh. To demonstrate that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice for the flesh, solely made by Jesus, Jesus arose from the dead. No one has ever just returned to their body and just got up and walked out of the grave under their own power but Jesus.
God demonstrated His satisfaction in the loving sacrifice and perfect life of Jesus by allowing Him to return from the grave in the flesh forever. Jesus arose, and He was the first with human flesh to arise, in an innocent and glorified flesh body, and is now exalted as His flesh and His Spirit are now FULLY UNITED and indivisible and He will never die again in the flesh. In addition, Jesus has been given all power on earth and in Heaven. (Matthew 28, 18.)
ALL mankind will one day arise from the dead solely because of Jesus. Their sins (paid for as to the flesh) will not require their flesh to be forever corrupt and they will exist in the flesh again forever-never to die in the flesh again. But the issue then turns to the permanent eternal state of the human spirit. The state of the spirit totally depends on whether or not you believe in the good news of the cross of Jesus Christ and not your good deeds for justification with God.
For those who are “called” and “respond” in positive true faith God chooses, to gives His Spirit as a companion and comforter to guide those called until we become established in the faith and then, at regeneration, (chosen) binds with our Spirit (not our flesh as the flesh then could not die if bound to life) to eternal spiritual life. If we have God’s Spirit at death, that Spirit will resurrect our flesh. Remember what God said was the reason to shut up the Tree of Life in the beginning in the Garden. Jesus says He will not leave or forsake us after He comes. He cannot lie! God does not leave us here as “spiritual” orphans but comes to us as a father for power. We desperately need the gift of the Spirit and are helpless to lead the Christian life without it. In fact, if we do not have the presence of the Holy Spirit, we do not have God or eternal spiritual life.
IN THEIR TIME SOME WILL BE RESURRECTED TO ULTIMATELY END IN ETERNAL DAMNATION IN THE FLESH AND SPIRIT; OR, ETERNAL SPIRITUAL LIFE WITH GOD IN THE FLESH AND SPIRIT THROUGH JESUS ALONE.
SHIFTING emphasis from the flesh consequences for sin to the eternal spirit consequences for unbelief, remember at creation man received an eternal spirit but that spirit existence is attached to breathing flesh in a “breathing” life body. But that body will exist somewhere forever. Adam and Eve could have freely had eternal spiritual life when they were innocent as that life was in the Tree of Life which they rejected for the Tree of death; and, the power of sin in that tree is knowing the difference between good and evil (we have a concept of good and evil which is based on our understanding-not Gods). We do not know true good or true evil and if we did, we could not do the one and refuse the other as God can and Jesus demonstrated. That knowledge, in the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, is sin, death and fear of God for mankind
Now at our accountability we all partake of the tree of death. It produces NOTHING acceptable to God. Nothing we try to do to gain access to God will be accepted. We are now cursed to flesh death and corruption (unless corrected by God alone) and an eternal spiritual barrier to God (unless God corrects it) by the act of a single man-our fall was in ADAM. But All will be corrected in one man-Jesus Christ and we will inherit from Jesus all that is His as we did from Adam. But we must have FAITH in Him from beginning to end. If we are truly regenerated we will. But we must examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. How do we know which tree controls our life. We have a guide.
The fruits of the Spirit (not all inclusive) are: Galatians 5, 22-25, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
What is the fruit of the flesh? Galatians 5, 18-21: “But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envying’s, murders, drunkenness, raveling’s, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
These instructions by the Apostle Paul are not to instill abject fear of God so as to make us run from God but instead for us to run to Him for help and to have us examine ourselves and not be misled by false teachers of laxness. We need truth! God loves and would have none to be destroyed but it is our choice. Which tree seems to control your life? We can put our old manner of life (the old man we use to be) to death and take on a new manner of life (the new man in Jesus Christ).
God’s love will conform us to the image and likeness of Jesus Christ not the image and likeness of Satan. Exercise the power given to believers by God to reject the flesh (we still live in this body like a decaying corpse of sin) and choose the Spirit.
We were once ABSOLUTE slaves to sin and had no free choice of whom to serve but now, since the sacrifice of Jeus we are seen as innocent, shielded by His blood and have a free choice to believe Jesus and obey Jesus in the future; or, believe and serve Satin to eternal damnation. The blood of Jesus removes the barrier of sin and justifies us before God. We are seen as righteous because of Jesus. We are treated as sons and daughters of God because of Jesus. Permanent separation from God in the spirit but life in the flesh, without corruption, in eternal damnation is not now the penalty for “sin” but the penalty for not believing God in Jesus as to the cross and His doctrine (truth).
We in times past served Satan and sin as slaves with no hope of relief. But Jesus has now destroyed Satan and his sin power over us, at the cross, but some will freely, as freed men and women, will choose to serve Satan anyway. The Old Testament example is that some freed from Pharoah and Egypt preferred to go back into Egypt and Pharoah. If we now choose, as freed men and women, to freely to serve Satin in sin there is no hope for us.
Our new Master-Jesus, also freely chosen by many leads to union with God and permanent, true eternal spiritual life with God in sinless resurrected flesh and all heavenly blessings. In the future. Jesus not only raises all flesh but for believers and believers alone He opens the Garden of Eden that all true believers can partake of the Tree of Life.
Believers, because of faith and faith alone, receive the Spirit from God. It is God who works in believers both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (Philippians 2, 13) The enslaving power of Satan (as Pharoah was for Israel) is destroyed forever in Jesus Christ. Jesus takes our sin and gives us His righteousness as a GIFT in faith.
Our only hope for the future is to believe and rely on ANYTHING God says in the Old Testament or the New Testament or in the future. Faith is the only means to please God as our flesh which we are presently connected to (we will escape it at physical death) loves to sin and we can’t stop unless we, through the power of the Spirit, suppress it. Believers will be free of this flesh that burdens us at physical death but after death be joined to a body of flesh free from sin to live with God forever.
Galatians 3:22 King James Version (KJV) “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”
1 Cor. 15, 49: “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”
Romans 11:33-36 King James Version (KJV) “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?”
Should we err in our daily life, and we sadly will despite our best efforts, we need not be forlorn nor cast down, because we have an advocate for us who died for us, in the very presence of God-Jesus Christ. 1st John 1:8-2;2.
THE SCRIPTURES REVEAL WHAT GOD HAS DONE IN LOVE AND IS DOING FOR BELIEVERS IN THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST. WHO CAN PREVAIL AGAINST TRUE BELIEVERS? WHAT POWER CAN FORCE TRUE BELIEVERS OUT OF GOD’S HANDS? BUT, WE THROUGH THE CROSS OF JESUS, ARE NO LONGER SLAVES TO SIN. WE NOW HAVE, AS ADAM AND EVE INITIALLY DID, A FREE CHOICE OF MASTERS TO BELIEVE AND TRUST, JESUS TO LIFE OR SATAN TO DEATH!
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Jim S. Brooks, retired, inactive attorney, SC Bar 911, 225 Heather Drive, Spartanburg, S.C., 29301
