Man has
a sin problem. Our sins separate us from God. Isaiah
59:2, "But
your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden
His face from you, so that he will not hear". It is our sins that have caused
the separation. In Romans 3:23, we are told, "For
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". There is not an accountable
person living or who has ever lived (except our Lord), who can say that he
has never sinned. We are all in need of salvation. I
John 1:8
says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us". The easiest person to deceive
is ourselves. When we rationalize away what God says, this is what we are
doing. God says that man has a sin problem, but man says that he does not.
Who is right and what are we doing to God when we say that we have no sin?
Continuing our reading in I John 1:10, "If
we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in
us."
God is always right when he tells us that we have all sinned.
In Romans 6:23 we read, "For the wages of sin
is death; but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord". Death is a separation. When we
die physically, our body is placed into the grave, but our spirit is separated
from our dead body and goes back to God, who gave it. We are told in Ecclesiastes
12:7, "Then
the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to
God who gave it". In physical death, there is a separation between our body and our
soul.
In Romans
6:23, we saw
that, "For the wages of sin is death". This is a spiritual death,
which is a separation from God in eternity for those who are lost. Since God
is in heaven, and those who experience this spiritual death are separated
from God, they cannot go to heaven. This leaves only one place for them to
go, hell. We see hell spoken of as the second death in Revelation
21:8, "the
lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death".
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Questions Lesson 4 Our Sin Problem
1)
(Isaiah 59:2) What separates us from God?
A
great space.
Our
goodness.
Our
sins and iniquities.
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2) If sin separates us from God, he will still hear us.
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3) (1 John 1:8) If we say we have no sin
We
are deceiving ourselves.
We
are correct.
We
don't really know for sure.
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4) If we say we have never sinned we are telling the truth.
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5) (Romans 3:23) How many accountable people have sinned?
Few.
Many.
All.
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6) God knows when we sin.
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7) (Ecclesiastes 12:7) In physical death
Our
soul is separated from the body.
Both
our soul and body go into the grave.
Both
our soul and body cease to exist.
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8) In death our soul ceases to exist.
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9) (Romans 6:23) If we die with our sins
We
will have a second chance in purgatory.
We
will be eternally separated from God (spiritual death).
We
will cease to exist.
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10) If we are separated from God, we are lost.
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11) (Revelation 21:8) The second death
Is
when we die physically.
Will
never happen.
Is
Hell which is the lake of fire and brimstone.
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12) If we do not go to Heaven we will go to Hell.