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FAQ # 30
QUESTION 30 : What
is the opposite of salvation and how does it hinder us, if it does?
S-I-N. Eternal death is the
opposite of salvation and it is characterized by sin, which hinders us
from God and hence, from real life.
“Can the Ethiopian change
his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good that are accustom
to do evil” (Jer 13:23).
In other words, we are bound
or trapped by the sinful nature of man and only a savior can set us free.
There is no escape from sin and its consequences; it prevents us from having true relationship with God and apparently
prevents us from functioning as we were created to function. On the flip
side, it also sends us to a Godless eternity.
It’s a struggle, it’s a fight
to escape the dominance of the flesh, it’s a fight to stop watching junk
on television, clubbing, having unwed sex, children disobedient to parents,
being lovers of pleasure more than God, lying, stealing, cheating and
all the captivity of the flesh.
In fact, by ourselves we can’t
escape it, it’s all around us; that’s the reason after the following quotation
from the apostle Paul, he confess that only those that are in Christ can
be clean before God regardless of pass sins and present failures (Rom
8:1). He confessed,
“For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do
I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not,
I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in
my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but
[how] to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would
I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that
I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another
law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me
into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man
that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom 7:15-24)
In this classic bible
passage, Paul fully outlines the struggle that goes on in our flesh. The
struggle to do good, yet we do evil. The struggle to be free from the
flesh’s nature and thus in the company of God. Yet this is impossible
because of the sin in us.
Sin makes us guilty, dirty and ugly before God
and being in his presence like this would consume us. Because of sin we
are alienated from the inheritance that we were created to attain; that
is, being the exact replica of God on earth. You wouldn’t begin to imagine
the power and dominance that was intended for us.
Sin first started with satan; this is written of one of them that fell
with him,
“Thou was perfect in thy ways
from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee”
(Eze 28:15).
So even devils were once good
(Jude 6). However, after satan was cast out of heaven, he and his friends
abode as outcasts. So it was inevitable that he would tempt the first
man Adam when he was created.
Why?
Adam had something that he
didn’t, an unbroken pure relationship with God; he was perfect. Adam was
also like God. Unfortunately, after satan successfully got Adam to sin
against God, like he did, he severed the entire humanity from their liberty
and inheritance in God. Paul confirms this by saying,
“By one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that
all have sinned” (Rom 5:12).
To the point that even an
innocent baby is born into sin (Ps 51:5) and is guilty of sin, accountable
after the age of accountability.
However, God had a plan and
anyone who accepts this plan will be saved. The apostle John affirms this,
“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” (John 3:16).
God, then, through Jesus Christ,
gives an open invitation to escape the consequences of sin, “whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev 22:17).
It simply starts with a belief.
One can’t change one’s spots and habits, the only thing one can and must
do is believe the gospel, which will cause you to obey Christ’s doctrine
and inherit eternal life. Turn to Jesus (repent) whole-heartedly and he’ll
help you. We need to stop trying to solve or justify our own sins; it
won’t help, neither will believing a lie. We can only repent – turn to
him.
On the other side of it, “except
ye repent ye shall all likewise perish.”
Why?
“The wages of sin is death”
(Rom 6:23).
God is a just God and justice
always demands satisfaction. Nothing can change the fact about sin; “when
sin it is finished, bringeth forth death” (Jas 1:15).
God is not pleased in this
nor does he desire it, but being just, it usually happens; that’s why
he made a way to escape it through Jesus Christ.
He himself said, “I have no
pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore
turn yourselves, and live ye” (Eze 18:32).
Answer Notes: 1. Sin is the agent that brings us to eternal death, salvation is the cure and gives us eternal life forever (Heb 10:14). So you can’t have the opposites together. But doesn’t a saved person sin at least one time after salvation, hence sin and salvation, opposites existing together? No! The actual opposite of salvation is eternal death, sin is what causes it. You can’t and don’t have eternal life and eternal death together. Therefore, sin, which had caused you to be alienated from God and made you a recipient of death, can no longer do that, even though you may slip once or twice. Sin no longer has an eternal effect or spiritual death. Hence the verse, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Cor 15:55). Because if we falter, “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). He already pardoned all our sins (Heb 10:17) and made us eternally holy (Heb 10:14). If you’re eternally alive, you can never be dead!
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