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damnation.... 2. Preservation from
destruction, fai1u re, or other evil."
Now we need to leam the Bible
definition of sin, and to see what the
Bible reveals the spiritual con–
sequences to be. Whatever the con–
sequences, Webster says salvation is
to save you from them-and in this
the Bible confirms the dictionary
definition. Also sa1vation means
preservation- and in this also, we
shall see the Bible affirrns the defini–
tion.
But why would you
need
to be
saved from the spiritual con–
sequences of sin? And why, if you
are an immortal soul, do you need
preservation from destruction?
What has this to do with you?
Suppose you say, "Look, 1 don't
go to church. 1 don't pretend to be
religious. Why should
1
be con–
cerned with all these religious words
like 'sin' and 'salvation' and 'spiri–
tual consequences'?"
Does this concern only religious
people?
Why
You Are Concerned
God Almighty, who designed, cre–
ated, and sustains human life- in–
cluding yours-says this: "All have
sinned, and come short of the glory
ofGod" (Rom. 3:23).
That involves you!
Right now you probably have no
conception of what is meant by "the
glory of God" you have come short
of. You'll really open your eyes in
astonishment when that is made
plain to you.
But, whatever sin is, you have
sinned. All humans have! Christ
only is excepted. You are involved.
And since salvation is saving man
from the consequences of sin (and
the Bible affirms this, as we shall
see), Jet God's Word tell you what
the consequences are.
It
is plain and simple. Here it is:
"The wages of sin is death ; but the
gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23).
But why have you heard- and
possibly believed- just the opposite?
Look at that- read it in your own
Bible! Notice! The wages you a re
going to be paid for having sinned–
the consequence of sin-is death!
Then why do so many religious
The
PLAIN TRUTH April 1978
people teach exactly the opposite of
the Bible: Why do they teach that
the wages of sin is eternal life in
hell?
Look at that again, in your Bible!
On the one hand, the penalty is
death. On the other hand, the gift is
eternal life. The two are contrasted;
it is one or the other- death, or eter–
nallife.
Right here Jet me make very plain
one thing the Bible teaches. A few
persecutors have accused us of
teaching "a salvation by works"–
that is, that our "works" earn salva–
tion. Let it be made clear and plain
right here that your "works"- your
evil works- do earn something, but
it is not salvation. What they earn–
the wages they earn- is death, and
not salvation!
Further, let's get this point
straight and plain right here: Eter–
nal life is not something you can
earn; it is God's
gift
through Christ!
But do you know that many ac–
tually deny that eternal life comes
only as God's gift by grace and
through Christ? They say you al–
ready have eternal life. They say
you are an "immortal soul"!
This is important! This is the crux
of the whole question- of Ji fe, of the
reason for existence! l f you have an
immortal soul- if you a lready have
eterna! life-then the Bible is not
true when it says plainly eternal life
is a gift from God. According to the
Bible, what the "saved" receive as
God's gift through Jesus Christ is
eternal life. Salvation then actually
is the receiving of something you
don't now have: eternallife.
Yet a very popular teaching de–
ceives people into believing they do
not need to be saved from death by
Christ's free grace- by His shed
blood. They say you do not need
saving from death at a ll . They say,
as Satan dece ived mother Eve, that
you will not surely die, that you
are- or have- an immortal soul!
Why
You Are Helpless
Why is it that religious people speak
continuaUy about "your immortal
soul," about "going to heaven,"
about dead loved ones being now
"with the Lord" and many other
such things supposed to be the basic
beliefs of Christianity, and yet never
once show you any such teaching in
the Bible? They talk of these teach–
ings as if they were true. They lead
you to take these teachings for
granted- to suppose they carne from
the Bible.
What does the Bible teach about
the soul? Will you read it in your
own Bible? Don't take my word for
it. Don't believe me- believe God!
Read it in Ezekiel 18:4: "The soul
that sinneth , it shall die." Ves.
again, the wages of sin is death–
that soul that sins shall die!
That truth about the soul is so
important God caused it to be writ–
ten twice. Turn now to Ezekiel
18:20: "The soul that sinneth, it
shall die." Souls are not immortal.
Your Bible says they can die!
But one who is deceived may say:
"That doesn't count because it's in
the Old Testament." But read in the
New Testament that all Scripture–
all that Timothy had known from
youth, which was the Old Testa–
ment- ís given by inspiration of
God (11 Tim. 3: 15-16).
Again, in thc New Testament,
Je sus Christ Himself said you
should "fear him which is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell
[gehenna)"- a fire that will burn
them up, cause them to die, destroy
what is burned! Oh, yes, the Bible
does teach that kind of hellfire- but
not the kind where one burns for–
ever and yet never burns up (Matt.
10:28). Let's believe Jesus Christ
when He says souls can be de–
stroyed! They are not immortal!
What is a soul? Notice Genesis
2:7: "The Eternal God formed man
of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life; and man became a living
soul." Man
is
a soul. What was
made of the dust of the ground be–
carne a sou l. The soul was formed
out of matter. The soul is not spirit.
lt
is material, and can die.
This may come as a surprise: not
only is it true that there is no such
expression anywhere in the Bible as
"immortal soul," but the word "im–
mortal" occurs only once in all the
Bible- in 1 Timothy 1:17, where it
refers to God. Further, the word
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