HOW MAN "DIED"

Genesis 2:17 God said to Adam, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
     Well, we all know that Adam did indeed disobey God and took that infamous bite of the forbidden fruit. But wait a minute! Adam and Eve were still alive and the Bible tells us that Adam lived for hundreds of more years (Genesis 5:5)! So, "on that day," how did Adam "die?"

Note: Even the early Christian Fathers recognized the "death' of Adam on the same day that he ate the forbidden fruit:
     "Thus, then, in the day that they did eat, in the same did they die, and became death's debtors, since it was one day of the creation." Irenaus Against Heresies, Book V, ch. 23, section 2}

     Life was never the same again for Adam after he sinned. But of all his troubles, the biggest and most important was his loss of communication and a personal relationship with the God he once enjoyed. THIS is the "death" that occurred on the day that Adam sinned. It was a SPIRITUAL death - and that also spread from generation to generation.
     Many years later, Adam physically died - another event that was not in God's original plan for man. So we can see that from that one fatal sin, man was doomed to "die" both spiritually and physically. Which aspect of these 2 kinds of death do you think is more important?

Genesis 5:5 says Adam lived to 930 years old, then he died physically. In the garden, Adam died spiritually. God removed His lifeline from Adam; there was no more relationship.

     Spiritual death is the most critical. Unless we can somehow regain a personal relationship with God, we have no hope for eternal life with Him.

     Here is a sampling of verses that show how a person, who is physically alive, can actually be spiritually dead:

Matthew 8:21,22 "let the dead bury the dead"
     Those who are physically dead cannot bury anyone. Jesus was implying that people around them were spiritually dead; even while walking around and doing things. There is a double existence for men who are dead spiritually and alive physically.

Luke 15:24 The prodigal son's father said: "For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found."
     The prodigal son was never physically dead but was spiritually dead ("lost").

Luke 19:10 "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
     "Lost" means they were spiritually dead. The Son of man, Jesus the Christ, came to seek and to save that which was lost.

Ephesians 2:1-5 "You were dead in your trespasses and sins."
     But even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)"
     In the state of unbelief we are spiritually dead in the eyes of God; our personal relationship with Him is severed. When we are converted and become believers, we are made alive spiritually.

I Timothy 5:6 "But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth."
     This shows that a person can be dead (separated from God-spiritual) while still conscious.

Psalm 51:5 "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in my sin my mother conceived me."
     All of us are born spiritually dead.      In the Society's publication, You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, p.63, the picture of the scale is wrong! One sin of Adam plunged the whole human race into sin and death. In spite of the zillions of sins committed by mankind since Adam, Christ's redemptive death can atone for every single one of them.

HOW TO BECOME SPIRITUALLY 'ALIVE'

1. What is the one thing that alienates us from God?
2. What is your understanding of sin?
3. Do you consider yourself a sinner?
4. What are the consequences of your sin?
5. How can those consequences be taken away?

Romans, chapter 3 deals with these questions and presents us with an answer to man's dilemma:

Romans 3:10-12 - "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."
     None of us stands righteous before God because SIN alienates us from Him.

Romans 3:19 - "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."
     We have no defense or excuses. Despite all of our so called "good deeds" become abolished under the crush of our inherent sinful nature. Anything that makes us less than perfect nullifies our right standing before God.
     People often ask, "What are the 10 commandments of God for?" This set of the Law of God was given to show us God's expectations and that we are NOT capable of successfully abiding by them. If we fail at even one - we have failed them all! And that's the point - you wouldn't know that you were a sinner unless you knew that you couldn't keep the standard. So the way to God is not by human effort.

Romans 3:20 - "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."
     No one is declared righteous before God through any sort of religious law-keeping, rules, rituals, etc.
     Salvation is not a matter of maintaining some religious law in the flesh, but righteousness is apart from the law. It is given to us as a free gift through grace in Jesus Christ. (v.24) Does that mean we don't pay attention to the Law? NO. Becoming a Christian by grace does not remove from us the obligation to obey God.

Romans 3:21 - "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;"
     The Bible clearly demonstrates that a man can be right with God, but not on the basis of anything that he himself does. If man is to be right with God, then it has to happen from God's end of things. This fact alone sets Christianity apart from every other religion in the world. In one form or another, every religion but one teaches that man can control his eternal destiny and that destiny depends upon his learning and applying correct principles. This is diametrically opposed to genuine, Biblical, historical Christianity which teaches that the destiny which we all deserve and to which all are naturally headed is frighteningly unpleasant. And the only thing that can rescue any man from that fate is the sovereign intervention of God. God offers man the alternative of eternal life with Himself, which must be received through faith as a completely free gift. Any reliance by man upon learning and applying correct principles in order to qualify for eternal life, or somehow participates in providing it for himself, automatically disqualifies him.
     After Paul tells us what we really are, a light begins to break through in this verse. The word "but" means there is a change - the word "now" brings us into the present tense. In this verse there IS a kind of righteousness. But notice it is not the righteousness of man - it is the righteousness of God! This is what man needs. He can't generate it on his own. The righteousness of man can't make man right with God. Isaiah said, "All our righteousness are as filthy rags." (64:6) And that is the best man can do! But God comes to the rescue and delivers man from his impossible situation. The righteousness of God is different from any other kind of righteousness. It is PERFECT in all ways! Since all men are evil, God can take any man and make him right with Himself.

Romans 3:22 - "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:"
     The righteousness of God comes by faith. It is not by the righteousness of man that comes through works. There is only one kind of righteousness that God will accept - His own!

Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
     It is hard for many people to understand that their "goodness" is just not good enough. We are ALL infinitely far from God's demand for absolute perfection.

Romans 3:24 - "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:"
     This verse tells how everyone can be saved because we are all the same. All who believe are made right with God freely by His grace.
     Being justified means to "make" you righteous. It is a righteousness that has to be imputed into us. "Impute" means to transmit from an outside source. It's a transformation.
     This righteousness didn't cost us anything because we are told that it is a gift. (Eph. 2:8,9) But it cost God a great deal - somebody had to pay the price for that gift. The best way to illustrate this is like buying a slave out of a slave market in order to set him free. Jesus paid this price. Man is a slave to sin; he cannot be righteous on his own. But God provides righteousness by faith in what Jesus did on our behalf. Man is a prisoner sentenced to die. (Romans 6:23) Somebody had to pay his penalty. If Christ didn't die for your personal sins, then YOU have to pay your own penalty! Christ paid the price to set us free.
     If we are to be Christians, it isn't simply that Jesus died instead of us - it's by faith we died with Him! God isn't interested in "cleaning up" our old sinful nature - His solution is to KILL it! He wants to completely transform us. This is a work that God does; not us.

Romans 3:25 - "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;"
     "Propitiation" means "a covering over of our sins." The penalty had to be paid and Jesus became the sacrifice and the satisfaction of God's justice. The exchange of our unrighteousness for His righteousness is wonderfully summed up in II Corinth. 5:21:
     "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

     So that's the plan. Salvation is not what we have done for ourselves - it is what God has done for us!
     The act of Jesus so fully accomplished peace with God that from now on we are considered holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in His sight. This is because every sin we should have been punished for was borne on the cross by Jesus.

BECOMING "BORN AGAIN"

     As we saw in the last verse of the previous section -      "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (II Corinthians 5:21)
     This means that the only way we can be righteous before God is if we have the perfect righteousness of Christ put into us. When we recognize our sinful position before God and acknowledge that only He can save us through what Christ has done for us, God sends the Spirit of Christ to permanently dwell in us. So now when God looks at us, He looks past our own sinfulness and instead sees the righteousness of Christ abiding in us.
     This fact alone separates true Christianity from all other religions who deny the spiritual indwelling of Christ. In fact, the Bible has a built-in test to see if one is in the "true faith."
II Corinthians 13:5 says: "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is IN you - unless indeed you fail the test?"

     The Witnesses' Bible, the New World Translation, (NWT) added the words "in union with" to this verse. It is NOT in the original Greek text.

     Other Scriptures confirm the necessity of the spiritual indwelling of Christ within the believer:

John 15:4,5 Jesus said: "Abide IN Me, and I IN you...he who abides IN Me and I IN him, he bears much fruit..."
[NWT added "in union with"]

Romans 8:9,10 "But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. And if Christ is IN you...though the body is dead...yet the spirit is alive."
[NWT added "in union with"]

Galatians 1:16 The apostle Paul said: "To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen;..."
[NWT added "in connection with"]

Galatians 2:20 Paul said: "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives IN me..."
[NWT adds "in union with"]

Ephesians 3:17 "...so that Christ may dwell IN your hearts through faith."
[NWT reversed words: "dwell through your faith in your hearts"]

Colossians 1:27 "...this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ IN you, the hope of glory."
[NWT added "in union with"]

Revelation 3:20 "Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come IN to him..."
[NWT added the words "his house"

HOW THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES BECOME "JUSTIFIED"