Ten out of ten people die. That’s the oldest statistic in the world and it is inescapable. Why do people die? The Biblical answer to that question is “sin”. The Bible tells us that we are all born in Adam and that we are all born in sin. Our sins are committed against a righteous and holy God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and all that is within them. The consequence for our sin is death, both physically and spiritually:
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: … Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Romans 5:12, 18
The Bible conducts an autopsy upon natural man. Man’s desires are not in line with God’s desires. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God[1]. The problem of sin needs forgiveness since sin leads to death:
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:22
Adam sinned, by one man sin entered the world, and with it, death by sin. The problem of death needs a solution and that solution is eternal life. God is offering things that man wants – grace, riches, hope, and eternal life. Grace preached to the world first assumes that the world does not have it and is lost in sin. If those in the world are being preached a message of grace, that is an indicator that they are lost in sin.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:3-4
If God’s will is that all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth, we have to assume, as ambassadors of God’s grace, that they first are not saved and that they do not know truth. If one’s sins are against a righteous God[2], they are personal and individual[3]. Sin is an individual problem. Salvation therefore, would need to be personal and individual as well. God’s judgment is also personal and individual:
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
Romans 2:16
One offense is all it takes to be guilty before a righteous judge. There is a day coming when all will be resurrected and all will stand before God in judgment. Right Division of the Bible[4] shines a very clear light upon the knowledge of sin. Those who rightly divide the Bible use the Law lawfully in order to show a person man’s exceeding sinfulness.
Man is corruptible. Man has a dark heart[5]. Man is a sinner and has a blind and carnal mind. Man has a dead spirit in trespasses and sins. Death is inherited by Adam’s sin and we see the proof of sin all around us. Man has no strength to save himself. All will die as a result of sin. The question that must be asked is, “will they die in their sins or will they be saved from the wrath that is assured to come?[6]” In order to be saved from the wrath to come, one must be reconciled to God and be in a right standing with God. Man has a need for salvation, but man must recognize that he is a sinner and that he is in need of forgiveness. Man recognizes that he is a sinner when a light is shined upon his sinfulness. That light comes by way of the Law:
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.
Romans 3:20
The Law is a schoolmaster, teaching us and showing us our sinfulness:
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Galatians 3:24
One need only look at the Ten Commandments[7] to recognize that each and every one of us is a liar, a thief, an adulterer at heart, and that we have not put God first in all things. The function of the Law is to condemn carnal man. The apostle Paul calls the Law “the ministration of death” within his second epistle to the church at Corinth[8].
Each of us has broken God’s Law[9] and stands guilty in front of a perfect, just, and holy God. Being exposed to our sinfulness and our wrong standing with God, we must identify how we can be put in a right standing with God. That “right standing” is what the Bible calls righteousness and it is something that man cannot obtain on his own. Man needs God’s righteousness and he must correctly identify how he can obtain that righteousness if he is to be awarded eternal life.
Salvation is communicated to a lost and dying world through the recognition of sin. Why do we need salvation? We need salvation because we are sinners. Once a person has correctly identified that they are a sinner, they next need to understand what salvation is before they can identify how it is that they receive it, when it is provided, and how it is accomplished. If one does not approach the topic of salvation in that order, confusion will abound.
[1] Romans 3:23
[2] Psalm 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
[3] Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
[4] 2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
[5] Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
[6] Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
[7] Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5
[8] 2 Corinthians 3:7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
[9] James tells us that if we have broken one law, we’ve broken them all: James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.