Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
Are Christians Dead to Sin?
When studying the Bible, I 100% believe that the biggest mistake people make, is to focus too much on interpreting verses. A large portion of the verses in the Bible are verses that can be interpreted in more ways than one. So people interpret them to what they believe they mean. Unfortunately, too often they interpret them wrong. This is why there are so many different denominations and false doctrines today.
The Truth of God's Word is actually quite easy to find and you don't need to deal so much with whether you interpret a verse right or not. The truth is found in the Primary verses.
This is simple yet inarguable logic really. Gods Word cannot have any contradictions in it. There are many verses that can only be interpreted to mean one thing. They don't leave things open for interpretation. Nothing is left for the reader to assume. They say exactly what they mean. These verses that cannot be interpreted more than one way are the primary verses. If a verse only has one possible interpretation because it is so plainly written, then you know it must be the truth.
So when studying any subject in the Bible, look for the primary verses. Focus on each verse and actually try to play the devils advocate and come up with a second interpretation. If you can come up with any other logical interpretation for what a verse might be saying, then it is not a primary verse.
Every subject I study, that is the first rule I stick to. I gather all the verses I can on the subject and then find the primary verses. If I find two that seem to contradict each other, I start looking for a reason one is not a primary verse. In my studies, I have found that by looking to the Primary verses, I find the truth in God's Word with zero contradictions. And every interpreted verse is able to be interpreted to support the primary verses in some way. That's how I know I have God's Truth and not some person's or denominations interpretation of God's Word.
In looking at Primary verses, I find there are 18 primary verses that specifically tell us how we are saved.
These verses are from the writers of the books....
Acts 2:21
Acts 16:31
Romans 1:16
Romans 10:9-10
Ephesians 1:13
Ephesians 2:8-9
2 Thessalonians 2:13
2 Timothy 3:15
1 Peter 1:8-9
These verses are from Jesus own words.....
Luke 7:50
John 3:15
John 3:16
John 3:18
John 5:24
John 6:40
John 6:47
John 8:24
John 11:25-26
Every one of those verses tell us how one is saved. Every one of them say it is through believing in Jesus or faith in Jesus. Not one of them mentions anything else for how we are saved. Not works, not Water Baptism, and not Asking for forgiveness of our sins. Only believing in Jesus.
Now think about something for a moment. All of these verses that say we are saved by believing in Jesus and do not mention anything else. There are very few verses that people claim say salvation is through something else as well. Whether it is Water Baptism, Works, or Repenting of our Sins, not one of those verses are a primary verse. Not one!
So in order to believe any of those verses are the truth, you must first believe that an interpreted verse holds more authority than a primary verse. Then you need to believe that Jesus and His Apostles really sucked at preaching because they were completely negligent to mention this other prerequisite to our salvation in nearly 90% of the time they told us how we are saved. Think about it. If it was necessary to be Baptized by Water, to do good works, or ask God to forgive us of our sins, in order for us to be saved, how could Jesus preach to us so much specifically on how we are saved, and not mention it but once or twice?
The truth is God's Word plainly tells us we are saved by faith in Christ only. Nothing else.
Now there are those who believe that once we are saved, if we are truly saved, we stop sinning completely. They love to point out Romans chapter 6 among the scripture that proves it by saying we are dead to sin. Lets take a look at a couple of the verses in Roman's 6.
Romans 6:11 (NASB)
11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
The key word people tend to ignore here is "consider". That word is used when something is not absolute but you should see it that way. This verse does not say "You have been made dead to sin." it only says to "Consider yourself dead to sin". In the very next verses it keeps to this same line of thinking...
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
If someone who was saved could not sin because they are dead to sin, Paul would not have to tell them not to sin. They simply would not sin by default. Yet throughout these verses, he is telling his church that they should not let sin reign in their mortal bodies. "but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead." Once again the key here is "as those". This is saying to represent yourself in that way but does not mean you are that way automatically. And again, why would Paul need to tell his church not to keep sinning if by being truly saved they would stop sinning by default? Obviously Paul knew that those who are saved will still sin.
So Paul is not telling us that true believers are dead to sin and stop sinning. He is telling us that we are no longer slaves to sin. If we keep our eyes on Christ, we can turn away from sin and as followers of Christ, that is what we should do!
Romans 6:23 (NASB)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
They try to say that this is saying the wages of sin is hell. The second death. Lets look at what God told Adam and Eve...
Genesis 2:17 (NASB)
17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
God was not telling them that they would go to hell in the day they eat of that tree. He was speaking of physical death and that is actually what happened. Adam and Eve were supposed to live forever, but the day they sinned, their bodies began to age and decay like ours does. Their physical death began the day they sinned. So yes, the wages of sin is death. Physical death! This is not saying that those who sin will go to hell.
Interesting enough, I have not been able to find even one single primary verse that says sin will send the believer to hell. Many love to point out 1 Corinthians saying that those who sin will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Lets look at that verse.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NASB)
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
Those who use that verse usually stop reading after verse 10. I added verse 11 because it is so critical even though people don't pay attention to it.
First let me point out that it does not mention different sins we go to hell for. Fornicators and Idolators and adulterers are not types of sin. They are different types of sinners! What a lot of people don't realize is that never once does the Bible refer to a Believer as a sinner. Every time sinners are mentioned, it is referring strictly to the unbeliever. And those listed in this verse are different types of sinners (unbelievers). This is where verse 11 becomes so critical. It tells us we used to be those things, but we are no longer. We have been washed clean. We have been sanctified! So this verse does not say the believer will go to hell for sinning. It only says the unbelievers who are stuck in these sins will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Here's where it gets real interesting. Not only is there not even one primary verse that says sin will send the believer to hell, but there just happens to be a primary verse that says Jesus will not even consider sin when He saves us.
Hebrews 9:28 (NASB)
28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
I have used this verse to challenge many Christians who believed sin sends us to hell. Every time I ask them to give me their interpretation of what this verse is saying. I have yet to get a reply. They always continue to ignore this verse while still demanding that sin sends us to hell. Often they start insulting me. Claiming that I must have a sin I don't want to let go of. Saying I believe it is okay to live in sin. When they do that, it only confirms to me they are not sinless. For they are tearing down a brother in Christ just because they don't agree with what I teach and they cannot counter my arguments. Lets be clear, saying sin does not send the believer to hell, is not the same thing as saying its okay to live in sin. I will explain the difference shortly if you don't know it. For now, I want you to read that last verse again and say to yourself what you think it means.
Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many ........... Obviously this is the crucifixion.
Will appear a second time for salvation....... Can this be any other time than when Jesus returns and calls us up to Him to save us from God's Wrath?
Without reference to sin.......... This cant be said any more clear. He will not even reference sin when He comes to save us.
To those who eagerly await Him. .......... The only ones who will eagerly await Him are the believers.
This is a perfect example of a Primary verse. It only has one interpretation. It is so plainly written that it cannot be interpreted to mean anything other than what it says. So to believe this is not true, you have to be willing to believe that the Word of God contradicts itself. Since I know that God's Word will never contradict itself, I know this verse is the truth!
Think about what it means. If Jesus will not even reference sin when He returns to call us up, it means that even if we have sin in our lives that we never asked forgiveness for, it still will not be considered! So the truth is, sin does not send the Believer to hell! IF it did, it would be impossible for this verse to be true!
Now think about what all of those salvation verses I gave are saying, because they fall right in line with this last verse. IF we are saved by believing in Jesus alone, that means we are not saved by our ability to refrain from sin either. Since those verses never mention turning away from sin, then it means that anyone who believes in their heart that Jesus is Lord is saved. Even if they continue to have sin in their life! It is impossible to have it both ways! If sin sends us to hell, then our salvation is also based on our ability to refrain from sinning. That means we would be able to boast that we saved ourselves because we are the ones who refrained from sinning. But what does Paul say about that?
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Our salvation is a gift from God, not as a result of our own works so that no one may boast! Any way you want to twist it, refraining from sin would fit into the category of our own works.
Now you are wondering, doesn't this give Christians a free license to sin? Not quite!
Yes it is a license to sin and still go to heaven, but it is not free. Not even close! Just because sin doesn't come with the price of hell, it definitely still comes with a heavy price! So I am in no way telling Christians they can go sin and live it up and be happy and still be saved. That would be a lie. They would still be saved, but they would never be happy.
What a lot of people don't understand is that when God chooses to save us, and yes it is God who chooses to save us. When He does, He changes our spirit to desire Him! The moment we believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord, God sends the Holy Spirit to enter us and seals us with the promise of salvation. From that point on, there is no happiness in sin. Believe me, this is coming from someone who fell away and lived in sin for nearly 30 years! When someone is Born Again, they are still susceptible to being dragged back into a life of sin. And while they are there, they are miserable! You will never find a Christian who truly believes in his heart that Jesus is Lord living in sin and happy. I look at those 30 years as my own personal hell on earth!
Our spirit desires God! The Bible says sin separates us from God and it does. That doesn't mean we go to hell, it means that in this life it separates us from God. Sin builds a wall between us and God and the more of it that is there, the more it shuts us off from God. The further from God we fall, the more miserable we are. And that's not all sin does.
Sin eats away at our rewards in the afterlife.
Some tend to believe that everyone will be the same in heaven. We all have the same things and spend all day just praising God. That's not what it will be like. In fact we will not even spend eternity in heaven. We will be given a New Earth and a New Jerusalem to live in. We will have physical bodies. Imperishable bodies but still physical to some extent. Just like Jesus' body when he ascended to heaven then returned to the disciples before finally ascending to heaven for good. We will live in a city. We will have different positions.
Mark 9:35 (NASB)
35 Sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”
If anyone wants to be first (Here in this life), he shall be last of all and servant to all (In the afterlife). The fact one would be a servant to all is evidence that we will all be given different positions and jobs as well. Some will have servants and some will be servants. If sin eats away at our rewards, what happens if we live in sin and it eats all of our rewards away?
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (NASB)
11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Verse 15 is the key here. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved. So even if you sin so much that it burns your rewards away completely, you will still be saved. But you wont have any rewards. If you don't have anything in the afterlife, you are going to be a servant to others. You will still be happy to be in God's presence and live forever, but you will only be a servant. Forever! We are not talking about the 30 or 40 years you live as an adult in this life. We are talking about forever! Tell me sin isn't still costly! Not only does it make you miserable here on earth, but it leaves you with nothing in the afterlife as well. Forever! Or one can strive to be right with God in this life and be much happier in this life, then reap rewards in the afterlife!
The unbeliever will be tossed into hell for their rejection of the Lord. They will burn for their sins.
Sin will not send the believer to hell. They will still be saved. Sin will make them miserable and eat away their rewards.
No we are not dead to sin. We are to live as if we are dead to sin. But the truth is, everyone sins. Even if they don't believe they do.
There are seven different words in Greek and Hebrew that are translated into the word "sin". Their meanings range from deliberate sins against God to just not doing what God wants you to do. Basically, sin means to miss the mark. And we all fall short from time to time. We are still humans even if we are Born Again. We are prone to make mistakes. We all sin.
1 John 1:8 (NASB)
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
We all sin, but that is one of the many great things about God. If you ask Him to forgive you for your sins, He will forgive you. Asking God to forgive us for our sins is not how we are saved. It is how we stay right with God in our personal relationship with Him. That is so important to our lives on a daily basis.
I know many don't believe this way. I would challenge them to argue their beliefs with primary verses. They will only have their interpretations of verses to back them up. What I teach in this article is the truth of God's Word. It is backed up not by man's interpretation of some verses in the Bible, but it is backed up by the Primary verses of the Bible.
The Truth of God's Word is actually quite easy to find and you don't need to deal so much with whether you interpret a verse right or not. The truth is found in the Primary verses.
This is simple yet inarguable logic really. Gods Word cannot have any contradictions in it. There are many verses that can only be interpreted to mean one thing. They don't leave things open for interpretation. Nothing is left for the reader to assume. They say exactly what they mean. These verses that cannot be interpreted more than one way are the primary verses. If a verse only has one possible interpretation because it is so plainly written, then you know it must be the truth.
So when studying any subject in the Bible, look for the primary verses. Focus on each verse and actually try to play the devils advocate and come up with a second interpretation. If you can come up with any other logical interpretation for what a verse might be saying, then it is not a primary verse.
Every subject I study, that is the first rule I stick to. I gather all the verses I can on the subject and then find the primary verses. If I find two that seem to contradict each other, I start looking for a reason one is not a primary verse. In my studies, I have found that by looking to the Primary verses, I find the truth in God's Word with zero contradictions. And every interpreted verse is able to be interpreted to support the primary verses in some way. That's how I know I have God's Truth and not some person's or denominations interpretation of God's Word.
In looking at Primary verses, I find there are 18 primary verses that specifically tell us how we are saved.
These verses are from the writers of the books....
Acts 2:21
Acts 16:31
Romans 1:16
Romans 10:9-10
Ephesians 1:13
Ephesians 2:8-9
2 Thessalonians 2:13
2 Timothy 3:15
1 Peter 1:8-9
These verses are from Jesus own words.....
Luke 7:50
John 3:15
John 3:16
John 3:18
John 5:24
John 6:40
John 6:47
John 8:24
John 11:25-26
Every one of those verses tell us how one is saved. Every one of them say it is through believing in Jesus or faith in Jesus. Not one of them mentions anything else for how we are saved. Not works, not Water Baptism, and not Asking for forgiveness of our sins. Only believing in Jesus.
Now think about something for a moment. All of these verses that say we are saved by believing in Jesus and do not mention anything else. There are very few verses that people claim say salvation is through something else as well. Whether it is Water Baptism, Works, or Repenting of our Sins, not one of those verses are a primary verse. Not one!
So in order to believe any of those verses are the truth, you must first believe that an interpreted verse holds more authority than a primary verse. Then you need to believe that Jesus and His Apostles really sucked at preaching because they were completely negligent to mention this other prerequisite to our salvation in nearly 90% of the time they told us how we are saved. Think about it. If it was necessary to be Baptized by Water, to do good works, or ask God to forgive us of our sins, in order for us to be saved, how could Jesus preach to us so much specifically on how we are saved, and not mention it but once or twice?
The truth is God's Word plainly tells us we are saved by faith in Christ only. Nothing else.
Now there are those who believe that once we are saved, if we are truly saved, we stop sinning completely. They love to point out Romans chapter 6 among the scripture that proves it by saying we are dead to sin. Lets take a look at a couple of the verses in Roman's 6.
Romans 6:11 (NASB)
11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
The key word people tend to ignore here is "consider". That word is used when something is not absolute but you should see it that way. This verse does not say "You have been made dead to sin." it only says to "Consider yourself dead to sin". In the very next verses it keeps to this same line of thinking...
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
If someone who was saved could not sin because they are dead to sin, Paul would not have to tell them not to sin. They simply would not sin by default. Yet throughout these verses, he is telling his church that they should not let sin reign in their mortal bodies. "but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead." Once again the key here is "as those". This is saying to represent yourself in that way but does not mean you are that way automatically. And again, why would Paul need to tell his church not to keep sinning if by being truly saved they would stop sinning by default? Obviously Paul knew that those who are saved will still sin.
So Paul is not telling us that true believers are dead to sin and stop sinning. He is telling us that we are no longer slaves to sin. If we keep our eyes on Christ, we can turn away from sin and as followers of Christ, that is what we should do!
Romans 6:23 (NASB)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
They try to say that this is saying the wages of sin is hell. The second death. Lets look at what God told Adam and Eve...
Genesis 2:17 (NASB)
17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
God was not telling them that they would go to hell in the day they eat of that tree. He was speaking of physical death and that is actually what happened. Adam and Eve were supposed to live forever, but the day they sinned, their bodies began to age and decay like ours does. Their physical death began the day they sinned. So yes, the wages of sin is death. Physical death! This is not saying that those who sin will go to hell.
Interesting enough, I have not been able to find even one single primary verse that says sin will send the believer to hell. Many love to point out 1 Corinthians saying that those who sin will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Lets look at that verse.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NASB)
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
Those who use that verse usually stop reading after verse 10. I added verse 11 because it is so critical even though people don't pay attention to it.
First let me point out that it does not mention different sins we go to hell for. Fornicators and Idolators and adulterers are not types of sin. They are different types of sinners! What a lot of people don't realize is that never once does the Bible refer to a Believer as a sinner. Every time sinners are mentioned, it is referring strictly to the unbeliever. And those listed in this verse are different types of sinners (unbelievers). This is where verse 11 becomes so critical. It tells us we used to be those things, but we are no longer. We have been washed clean. We have been sanctified! So this verse does not say the believer will go to hell for sinning. It only says the unbelievers who are stuck in these sins will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Here's where it gets real interesting. Not only is there not even one primary verse that says sin will send the believer to hell, but there just happens to be a primary verse that says Jesus will not even consider sin when He saves us.
Hebrews 9:28 (NASB)
28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
I have used this verse to challenge many Christians who believed sin sends us to hell. Every time I ask them to give me their interpretation of what this verse is saying. I have yet to get a reply. They always continue to ignore this verse while still demanding that sin sends us to hell. Often they start insulting me. Claiming that I must have a sin I don't want to let go of. Saying I believe it is okay to live in sin. When they do that, it only confirms to me they are not sinless. For they are tearing down a brother in Christ just because they don't agree with what I teach and they cannot counter my arguments. Lets be clear, saying sin does not send the believer to hell, is not the same thing as saying its okay to live in sin. I will explain the difference shortly if you don't know it. For now, I want you to read that last verse again and say to yourself what you think it means.
Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many ........... Obviously this is the crucifixion.
Will appear a second time for salvation....... Can this be any other time than when Jesus returns and calls us up to Him to save us from God's Wrath?
Without reference to sin.......... This cant be said any more clear. He will not even reference sin when He comes to save us.
To those who eagerly await Him. .......... The only ones who will eagerly await Him are the believers.
This is a perfect example of a Primary verse. It only has one interpretation. It is so plainly written that it cannot be interpreted to mean anything other than what it says. So to believe this is not true, you have to be willing to believe that the Word of God contradicts itself. Since I know that God's Word will never contradict itself, I know this verse is the truth!
Think about what it means. If Jesus will not even reference sin when He returns to call us up, it means that even if we have sin in our lives that we never asked forgiveness for, it still will not be considered! So the truth is, sin does not send the Believer to hell! IF it did, it would be impossible for this verse to be true!
Now think about what all of those salvation verses I gave are saying, because they fall right in line with this last verse. IF we are saved by believing in Jesus alone, that means we are not saved by our ability to refrain from sin either. Since those verses never mention turning away from sin, then it means that anyone who believes in their heart that Jesus is Lord is saved. Even if they continue to have sin in their life! It is impossible to have it both ways! If sin sends us to hell, then our salvation is also based on our ability to refrain from sinning. That means we would be able to boast that we saved ourselves because we are the ones who refrained from sinning. But what does Paul say about that?
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Our salvation is a gift from God, not as a result of our own works so that no one may boast! Any way you want to twist it, refraining from sin would fit into the category of our own works.
Now you are wondering, doesn't this give Christians a free license to sin? Not quite!
Yes it is a license to sin and still go to heaven, but it is not free. Not even close! Just because sin doesn't come with the price of hell, it definitely still comes with a heavy price! So I am in no way telling Christians they can go sin and live it up and be happy and still be saved. That would be a lie. They would still be saved, but they would never be happy.
What a lot of people don't understand is that when God chooses to save us, and yes it is God who chooses to save us. When He does, He changes our spirit to desire Him! The moment we believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord, God sends the Holy Spirit to enter us and seals us with the promise of salvation. From that point on, there is no happiness in sin. Believe me, this is coming from someone who fell away and lived in sin for nearly 30 years! When someone is Born Again, they are still susceptible to being dragged back into a life of sin. And while they are there, they are miserable! You will never find a Christian who truly believes in his heart that Jesus is Lord living in sin and happy. I look at those 30 years as my own personal hell on earth!
Our spirit desires God! The Bible says sin separates us from God and it does. That doesn't mean we go to hell, it means that in this life it separates us from God. Sin builds a wall between us and God and the more of it that is there, the more it shuts us off from God. The further from God we fall, the more miserable we are. And that's not all sin does.
Sin eats away at our rewards in the afterlife.
Some tend to believe that everyone will be the same in heaven. We all have the same things and spend all day just praising God. That's not what it will be like. In fact we will not even spend eternity in heaven. We will be given a New Earth and a New Jerusalem to live in. We will have physical bodies. Imperishable bodies but still physical to some extent. Just like Jesus' body when he ascended to heaven then returned to the disciples before finally ascending to heaven for good. We will live in a city. We will have different positions.
Mark 9:35 (NASB)
35 Sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”
If anyone wants to be first (Here in this life), he shall be last of all and servant to all (In the afterlife). The fact one would be a servant to all is evidence that we will all be given different positions and jobs as well. Some will have servants and some will be servants. If sin eats away at our rewards, what happens if we live in sin and it eats all of our rewards away?
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (NASB)
11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Verse 15 is the key here. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved. So even if you sin so much that it burns your rewards away completely, you will still be saved. But you wont have any rewards. If you don't have anything in the afterlife, you are going to be a servant to others. You will still be happy to be in God's presence and live forever, but you will only be a servant. Forever! We are not talking about the 30 or 40 years you live as an adult in this life. We are talking about forever! Tell me sin isn't still costly! Not only does it make you miserable here on earth, but it leaves you with nothing in the afterlife as well. Forever! Or one can strive to be right with God in this life and be much happier in this life, then reap rewards in the afterlife!
The unbeliever will be tossed into hell for their rejection of the Lord. They will burn for their sins.
Sin will not send the believer to hell. They will still be saved. Sin will make them miserable and eat away their rewards.
No we are not dead to sin. We are to live as if we are dead to sin. But the truth is, everyone sins. Even if they don't believe they do.
There are seven different words in Greek and Hebrew that are translated into the word "sin". Their meanings range from deliberate sins against God to just not doing what God wants you to do. Basically, sin means to miss the mark. And we all fall short from time to time. We are still humans even if we are Born Again. We are prone to make mistakes. We all sin.
1 John 1:8 (NASB)
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
We all sin, but that is one of the many great things about God. If you ask Him to forgive you for your sins, He will forgive you. Asking God to forgive us for our sins is not how we are saved. It is how we stay right with God in our personal relationship with Him. That is so important to our lives on a daily basis.
I know many don't believe this way. I would challenge them to argue their beliefs with primary verses. They will only have their interpretations of verses to back them up. What I teach in this article is the truth of God's Word. It is backed up not by man's interpretation of some verses in the Bible, but it is backed up by the Primary verses of the Bible.
