The Faces of Death

A Word of Truth #124  

Death is separation.

Spiritual death is the separation of the soul from the God. Isaiah writes, “Your iniquities have separated you from God” (Isaiah 59:2). Only through Christ does a spiritually dead sinner have life. Paul writes, “You [Christ] made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).

Temporal death is the separation of the soul from the body. When God made Adam, He breathed life into a clay man. When a person dies, that breath of life—the spirit—again leaves the body and goes either to heaven or hell, and the body returns to the dust from which it was taken (cf. Genesis 3:19, Ecclesiastes 12:7).

Eternal death is the separation of both soul and body from God forever in hell. All who reject Jesus and His salvation will be condemned to eternal death on Judgment Day.

Sin brought three faces of death into the world, but Jesus Christ has redeemed us from them all.

God’s Law Cannot Save Us

A Word of Truth #125  

When I ask people how they plan to get to heaven, many of them respond by saying, “By keeping the Ten Commandments.” While I assume that they are very sincere and well intentioned, they are also mistaken. No one will ever get to heaven by keeping the Ten Commandments, for the simple reason that no one can keep them perfectly. God’s law demands perfection and nothing less. Trying hard or doing the best that one can do will not suffice.

Consequently, it is important to realize that God never intended His Ten Commandments to be a means of securing heaven. Rather, they were intended to reveal to us our sin and lost condition. It is only then that we will come to realize our need of a Savior—the very Savior God sent in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus did keep the Ten Commandments perfectly in our place and then He suffered on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin.