In our last post we left you hanging on a cliff with the question, “Why would a loving God almost scare His own people to death at Mt. Sinai?”
The answer is found in the text at the end of the story, “…in order that the fear of God would remain with the people, so that they may not sin!”
Jesus Died for Our Sins
The benefits of understanding the doctrine of sin as defined by God Himself, and conversely, the doctrine of holiness, are foundational to not only understanding the Bible, but in developing an intimate relationship with God! This is what the Lord Himself said through the prophet Isaiah,
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden {His} face from you, so that He does not hear. Isa. 59:2
“Initially we fear looking squarely at our sins, lest we get overwhelmed. But the reverse turns out to be true. The more we see the depth of our sin, the more we realize the height of God’s love.”
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:23).
The word death in this verse means eternal separation from the presence of God. In that light, “There is no fact as evident and no subject so important as that of sin…a right concept of sin is therefore imperative for if man errs here, he errs everywhere.”
God does not change. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. For God to change, He would either have to get better or worse, that’s impossible, He’s perfect! God does not change, and His definition of sin has never changed either. The New Testament tells us that sin is the transgression of God’s law (1 John 3:4).
The whole point of the Bible is to show us how God can forgive sin without compromising His justice. Since all of us have sinned, and since He cannot over look a crime (or He would be unjust) Jesus died for us! That’s because He loves us!
Understanding the Whole Bible
The Old Testament is commonly referred to as “The Law,” and the New Testament is known conceptually as “The Gospel of grace.” To be sure, grace is found in the Old Testament (Gen. 15:6 for example), and Law in the New ( Romans, 2:15; 3:20; 7:7). But, the predominant themes respectively are: Law in the Old, grace in the New; in that order and for good reason. Simply stated, it is because we have broken God’s Law that we need His grace. Grace presupposes Law.
Here is the whole Bible in one sentence. It’s found in Gal. 5:14, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” There you have the words, “Law” and “love” in the same breath. The importance of understanding these two foundational Biblical principles, and their relationship to each other, cannot be overstated.
In our next post (God willing) we will show you how we know the Bible is true by looking at how the Old and the New Testaments (in some cases separated by thousands of years) point back and forth to each other. Only God could do this. Click here to learn more.
You can learn much more on our CD entitled: The Power of God From Sinai to the Cross on our website, www.voice-wilderness.org
Grace and peace.
Phil
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