There is an internal war within every human soul, and an external war with the forces of darkness, but this is not apparent until one is born again:

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Man, by creation, desires to live right and do what is right, but is unable because of indwelling sin and the influence of the powers that is at work to alienate man from the Maker’s will.

The apostle Paul spoke about it in his own spiritual warfare and struggles with indwelling sin in the following statement:

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me” (Romans 7:18-20).

Sin is no respecter of persons

Unfortunately, this is true with every human being – sin is no respecter of men or angels.

According to the Bible, and as already mentioned, Satan is the architect of sin. He is the first known creature to lose his holy standing before God, and to spread the sin virus throughout God’s creation:

“Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations” (Isaiah 14:11-12).

Satan fell from his lofty position among the holy angels because of pride – the root of all sin is pride. Pride and sin are synonymous:

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:14).

Through the spirit of pride in the dateless past, Satan became the enemy of his Creator (God), and later seduced man to become the same in the Garden of Eden.

Sin entering and finding residence in the human heart is the beginning of spiritual warfare. Ever since sin entered the world, it has become universal – every man sins because every man is born with a sinful (corrupt) nature.

“There is no man that sinneth not” (cf. 1 Kings 8:46). Man is corrupt from the womb:

“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” (Romans 5:12).

Adam’s sin is imputed to all his descendants judicially because we all carry the sin virus; therefore we are “unable not to sin” – the principle of sin lives in every human being.

As the head of the human race, Adam’s failure to live up to the divine standard is reckoned to all his descendants, but be aware, it is not every sin that Adam committed in life that is imputed, but the one-time sin of breaking a known command.

One offence brought judgment and condemnation to the race. Only one sin brought down the entire human race – only fools make mockery of sin:

“For the judgment was by one to condemnation” (Romans 5:16; cf. 6:23; Genesis 3; Proverbs 14:9).

Man is a sinner from birth, but is not responsible for this, but becomes responsible only when sin is practiced.

In other words, we are not be responsible for sin (corrupt nature or indwelling sin), but we are surely responsible for sins committed. Sin(s) ruins and corrupts life.

No man or woman shall escape the judgment of God, but it is up to each of us to decide whether to face God ourselves or accept His offer of total pardon and reconciliation through His appointed and anointed One – the seed of the woman.

This choice each of us must make now, while we have the opportunity:

“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

To sin is to rebel against the rule of God.

Sin defiles the soul and renders it guilty before God:

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king” (1 Samuel 15:23).

Sin locks the human soul to hell and under Satan’s rule: “The sting of sin is death” (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:56):

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).

The soul, if not rescued, would surely end up in the lake, which burns with fire and brimstone:

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (cf. Revelations 21:8).

We all lie because we all sin. The Bible calls Satan the father of lies and a deceiver:

“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:8-10).

Adam and Eve realized their mistake the moment they ate of the forbidden fruit, but it was too late – some mistakes are forever and others amendable.

Love for God and love for sin cannot co-exist

As Adam’s descendants, the greatest mistake any man can make in this life is to die in sin; to die without salvation. Sin is a mistake.

To die in sin is the denial and rejection of divine grace and mercy (cf. John 1:14):

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).

Sin, once acted upon, becomes a state; it becomes a way of life. And by becoming a way of life, the love for God is stifled.

Sin is lack of obedience to the revealed will of God. To say it bluntly, love for God and love for sin cannot co-exist. Any man who loves God must hate sin – he or she must flee from the presence of sin.

Biblically, all acts of sin are “sins of the flesh:” They are lust, sensuality and the product of the sinful and corrupt nature. Sin is fleshly and earthly in that it is what a man does to gratify self, but against his own eternal good and against the revealed will of God – “sin is lack of understanding.”

Sin attaches itself to the human desire and feeling and from there misdirects man’s motive and actions to serve its evil purposes. This may explain why almost every human act is accompanied by evil:

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John2:16).

Sin refuses to see the perfect and higher will of God for man in this life, and in the life to come.

Sin is looking downward; it fulfills the desires of the lower or carnal nature. Sin has no vertical window or higher goals for existence; sin does not look up to God, but downward to the grave. Sin is what a man can do and possess only in this life.

Many sins may shorten a man’s life on earth, but one sin is all that is needed to send a man parking into eternal destruction in the Lake that burns with fire and brimstone:

“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10).

In fact, sin is so insidious and deceitful that it is almost impossible to count how many sins a person commits in a day:

“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Mathew 5:27-28).

The only instrument for detecting sin is the word of God and by the illumination of the Holy Spirit.

I must confess, the only reason some of us do not commit or exercise certain heinous sins in life is because of the grace of God; given the opportunity, we shall all exhaust the list of sins, whatever they are.

Sin is a pact

Below are few samples of how sin expresses itself in human life and in human society. But, know that these aggregates of sinful acts listed are all related; in real life they are inter-connected – sin is a pact:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all: ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

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.

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (Romans 1:18-32).

Regardless of one’s personality, gender, religion, politics, social, academic, and cultural standing, we are all regarded as sinners before the just and holy God and in need of salvation.

No man can claim to be good enough to merit a holy and acceptable standing before the holy and just God. I tell you the truth, unless a person receives a new nature through rebirth, he or she can never establish any relationship with the holy God:

“What is man, that he should be clean? And he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?” (Job 15:14).

“How then can man be justified with God? Or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?” (Job 25:4).

Sin and righteousness are two parallel lines that never meet throughout eternity. Sin and righteousness cannot live in the same house (life).

In the same way, the righteous and Satan cannot live together – every man must decide in life which path to take and who to serve – dead to sin and life in sin is confusion:

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (7:13-14).

The righteousness of God is not attainable by works and neither can it be merited; a man can only receive it as a gift from the holy and gracious God:

“See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil” (Deuteronomy 30:14-16; cf. 1 Corinthians 6:19).

Sin is lawlessness

Remember, the work of Satan is to tempt man to break the Law of God. All the laws ever given to man by God are summed up in the following:

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).

And this Law, sin and Satan works together to overthrow. No man can truly love his neighbor without a genuine love for God.

This is a hard saying but true: A man must first love God to love self and the neighbor, and there is no other way. A man who says I love my neighbor, but exercises no love and respect for God is a liar.

True love begins with love for God. God is love and the source of love:

“And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4:20-21).

“If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 John 4:19-21).

The love of God truly comes upon an individual at rebirth.

The distributer of God’s love is the Holy Spirit: “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5):

“Love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7b).

To reject the rule of God is share arrogance. For the creature to stand up against the Creator’s rule and goodness is wickedness.

Pride brought Satan, the arch-angel, down from glory to hell and grace to death. The same brought the human race down to hell. Sin seeks the glory only due to God:

“Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nation” (Isaiah 14:11-12).

The Law of God is good and necessary, but sin belittles and makes the Law appear bad and unnecessary:

“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).

“For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law” (Romans 5:13).

“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet” (Romans 7:7).

Every good gift and every perfect gift that man possesses is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning (cf. James 1:17).

How sin works in unrighteousness

Now, let me give some practical examples of how sin works in real life situations and also show you how wicked, insane and suicidal it is to engage in sin.

Example 1

Let me begin with sex and sexuality since it is the most popular and prevalent. Sexual intercourse is good and healthy. It is a gift from God and should be enjoyed by every man and woman.

Procreation depends on sexuality and sexual intercourse. Since human life is sacred, to some extent, the act of sex is also sacred. Ever since God breathed the breadth of life into man, life has never ceased, but for every human being that is born there is a divine supervision and endorsement.

Now, for man to fully express and enjoy the act of sex, sexual relationship and sexual intercourse, God safeguarded this precious gift by confining it only to the married relationship. This means, promiscuous sexual behavior is outside the divine boundaries.

Sexual intercourse would find its fulfillment only in marriage. For example, sex outside the marriage bed is fornication and is forbidden. Pedophilia is not permitted. To have sex with only one party married is adultery and forbidden.

(Remember, God is infinitely good and holy. He takes delight in the prosperity of His servants. If we we obey and serve him, we shall spend our days in prosperity, and our years in pleasures” (Job 36:11; Psalm 35:27).

Every law He gives to His creatures is for their ultimate good:

“Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18).

“But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints” (Ephesians 5:3).

“Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 1:7).

Further, sex between two males or females is forbidden:

“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination” (Leviticus 18:22).

“If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them” (Leviticus 20:13).

“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet” (Romans 1:26-27).

Further still, to have sex with a beast or an animal is strictly forbidden:

“Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death” (Exodus 22:19).

“Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion” (Leviticus 18:23).

“If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them” (Leviticus 20:12-14).

Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen” (Deuteronomy 27:21).

Sin knows it cannot prevent man from having sex, and so chooses to misdirect the use of this great gift by enticing man to trespass – sin entices man to do the very things that God hates.

Sin takes what belongs to man and uses it against him and to provoke the wrath of God. In other words, sin is a thief and a destroyer; it steals the souls of men for destruction by provoking the wrath of God against man:

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10).

Sin seeks to destroy God’s property – human life and human society. And to do this, sin provides its own counterfeit love called “lust” or the “spirit of lust” because it is empowered by the spirit of error the devil. Sin substitutes love for lust – love outside God’s will is lust.

For example, sin speaking deceitfully through the man or woman, would say to the unmarried, I love you, so let us have sex; instead of saying, I lust for you let us destroy ourselves (let us provoke the anger of God).

Yes, man must love his neighbor as self, but this is not an end in itself. It hinges on the foundation of the first commandment: “Love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” This means, two people cannot agree to do evil or wrong.

To be correctly positioned before God, a man must have both motive and action right. To the question, is it possible for any man that is born of God to love his or her neighbor without sin? The answer is absolutely yes:

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a).

Remember, sin does not work in isolation; for example, the spirit of lust works with the spirit of lies and many others.

Sin is a lie and all who are deceived by it are not wise:

“But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death” (Proverbs 8:36).

“Whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul (Proverbs 6:32).

“Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18).

Sin sets the sinner up against the wrath of God and divorces man from the will, and the good purposes of God. Sin makes God appear bad or overly good.

These are some of the voices of sin:

1. “If God is so good, He would readily forgive your sin even if you deliberately did them”
2. “It is Ok to sin”
3. “You do not need to repent of any sin, for God knows you are human”
4. “After all, your sins reveal and promote the holiness of God”
5. “If God hates sin, He would not forgive even if you confess them”
6. “Since you are so bad, and already in sin, then why not continue”
7. “After all, you are not the only person who will go to hell”
8. “Do not allow anybody to disturb your conscience because there is none perfect”
9. “How do you know there is a God”
10. “There is nothing like sin”
11. “Sin is in the mind”
12. “There is no God”

As you can see from all these statements, examples and many others that you may be already aware of, Satan belittles sin and the consequences for sin.

Also, do you understand why Satan works so hard to promote religion and sexual infidelities?

The world belittles sin and its consequences, for it creates it own definition for sin, which is contrary to the Bible. In fact, many of the so-called great religions of the world do not even have the word “sin” in their doctrines.

Example 2

Another example of the ravages of sin is covetousness. The wealth of the earth is inexhaustible. There is enough wealth on earth, even at the present to make every man rich and wealthy; it is that which can never get finished.

But, Satan knowingly tempts men to abuse these privileges and blessings also. The sin of covetousness includes the following:

Stealing – this is to take what belongs to another without his or her consent or permission; hoarding – to take more than you need from what belongs to all; profiteering – to exact more than one deserves in a given transaction;

Envy – to lust after what belongs to another, or to wrongly desire what belongs to another; kill – to destroy the weak for what belongs to them; looting – to take what belongs to another because of a calamity; greed – to take more than you need, and to continue to take from what is meant for all:

“But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” (1 John 3:16-18).

Human society hails the rich and ignores the poor, but the wisdom of God teaches man that everything on earth is rental, so why take more than you need?

Example 3

Another example of sin is idolatry; this sin covers serving and worshipping anything – it involves bowing down, worshipping and serving something or someone other than the Creator and God.

Idolatry can also mean serving and worshipping the true God through someone or something (dead or alive) other than Jesus Christ. Satan knows sinful man cannot have intimations with God because of His infinite holiness and the justice of God.

But, Satan sets ambushes to ensnare the souls of men to do the forbidden. He entices man to seek God, and divine intimations outside the revealed will of God by providing counterfeit answers through palm reading, libations, orgy boards;

Numerology, paganism, sorcery, witchcraft, divinations, liver reading, cards, familiar spirits, necromancy, astrology, incantations, transcendental meditations, telepathy, witch-hunting, voodoo, conversations with demons.

Sometimes, these devils or familiar spirits mimic the voices of the dead, and appear in visions and dreams as angels of light and even causes events to coincide. Listen to Divine Counsel:

“There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch” (Deuteronomy 18:10; cf. 2 Kings 17:17; 21:6).

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).

“Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold” (Exodus 20:23).

“The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger” (Jeremiah 7:18).

Satan knows God has forbidden all of these, yet this is exactly what he makes us to do and to seek after.

The devils talks to people as if God is speaking or their loved one, and causes event to come to pass in the lives of those he is able to deceive. As someone said, “These devils tickle us with little truths, just to lead us into our deepest woes:”

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king” (1 Samuel 15:23).

“And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger” (2 Chronicles 33:6; cf. Micah 3:4).

Unfortunately, we have those who make a living by tying up the souls of men for destruction.

They are like the pseudo-prophet Balaam:

“Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon” (Jeremiah 27:9; cf. Jude 1:8).

Truly, humanity must be thankful to God for His infinite kindness and mercy in that the fall did not wipe clean the image and likeness of God upon us.

There is still a knowing when the truth is heard, even though faint in every man. We still have the gifts of conscience – guilt and shame. Conscience cannot provide power to avert sinful and abominable acts and their consequences, but it can alert us of wrong and right.

The carnal verses the Spiritual

Briefly, let me show the condition of every human heart from the moment of natural birth; what every man is made up of and capable of doing because of indwelling sin. The Bible calls these characters “the works of the flesh:”

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like” (Galatians 5:19-21).

Also, let me briefly show you what the state of the heart of every man that is born of God; this was the character of Adam before the fall and also that of the Son of God:

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23).

The Bible calls these characters “fruit of the Spirit” because they are in alignment with the divine character.

From the womb, fallen man is not upright and holy, but depraved and would surely perish unless saved by grace. To be holy or righteous is beyond the reach of every man – it cannot be achieved by self-effort, religious piety, and works.

Yes, to some extent man can do good works, which we always do, but that alone cannot make any man righteous, and neither can it erase the fact that man is bad and incurably sinful. Holiness is a gift that every man must receive from the holy God:

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses (good deeds) are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6).

Truth often hurts, but there is nothing a man can do about it – we can only accept or reject the truth when revealed.

Like leprosy, sin eats away the human soul until it is totally consumed. Sin is a seed that once sown grows until it is ready for harvest. The virus of sin never dies, and no man gets away with sin. Adam and Eve experienced sin, but with no power within themselves to overcome it.

Sin produces death in the sinner – to commit sin is to commit suicide. Sin makes Satan ruler over the soul of man and gives him power to destroy God’s masterpiece.

A right concept of sin is essential to human life and existence – “if a man errs from here, he errs everywhere:”

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

Again, a wrong and distorted view of sin leads to a wrong view of God, and His plan of salvation.

Unpardonable sin

Now, before I conclude this chapter, I would like to briefly talk about one particular sin, which is the “sin unto death.”

This sin, which is primarily found among unbelievers and professing Christians, has to do with partnership with the devils to blaspheme the name of God, cast insult upon the Holy Spirit, and trample upon the blood of Jesus Christ:

“If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death” (1 John 5:16-17).

“But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation” (Mark 3:29; Hebrews 6:4-6).

Jesus said blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is death.

This truth may also apply to Christians who blaspheme the name of Jesus and turn against Him after they have witnessed, received, and tasted the grace of God.

The result of some peoples sins are immediate, while other seems to be deferred. Further, for some sins we may have the opportunity to repent and to be prayed for, but for others we may never have the opportunity.

There are sins that can cause a born again believer to die prematurely; for example, the apostle Paul wrote that some Christians had died because they took communion in an unworthy manner (1 Corinthians 11:27-30). Another example is that of Ananias and Sapphira – the couple was struck dead because they lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-11).

In truth, some of these individuals may be saved on the Last Day, but better still if they had lived the full length of their days. Sin stands alone as man’s greatest enemy and preventing every man from living forever, achieving his or her dreams and goals, and having any union and communion with the Creator.

It is for sin that Jesus Christ alone is the way to God and without any middle grounds, middle men or gods.  After this life, we shall all live, but for the quality of life? It all depends on what we individually do with the seed of the woman while we have the opportunity in this life.

The need for a substitute and propitiation

In conclusion, let me briefly state numerically exactly why we all need a substitute -propitiator and propitiation to possess eternal life (the life that God gives and which is not affected by the limitations of time and subject to change in quality):

1. God needs to be appeased. He is angry with man for breaking His Law; sin is lawless (cf. Romans 3:23; 6:21; 1 John 3:4).
2. Man (male and female) needs righteousness. We have not just sinned, but sinning is now a habit. We are not just guilty, but condemned sinners, who are unable not to sin. As a result, what God requires of every man is righteousness – a state of being unable to sin (cf. Romans 8:28-29; Ephesians 1:4).
3. Man must be born again and be reconciled to God. Every human being is born with a corrupt and depraved nature due to the fall, and in need of a second birth to possess a new nature – a divine nature. Every man needs to be spiritually born of God into the original state of righteousness and true holiness before the fall (cf. John 3:1-6; Ephesians 4:24).
4. Man must pay for the wages sin – the soul that sins dies according to the divine Law (cf. Ezekiel 18:20; Romans 6:23). “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22).
5. Man must live in pepertual obedience to God – man must live by faith, for faith obeys (Hebrews 11:6).

Now, it is because fallen man cannot meet any of the above demands that God provided His only Son, the seed of the woman, as the substitute man and the propitiation for sin (the sin-sacrifice).

Jesus the Christ, is God’s appointed substitute and propitiation (sacrifice for sin) for every human being – He is all that we need to please God and to free ourselves from sin and death: He is the Lamb of God (cf. John 1:36).

In fact, we can all create our own means of reaching God. Like the tower of babel, we can mount every kind of religious ladder to take us to God, but believe it or not, the only sure way is to approach God by the ladder He has purposely sent down to earth from heaven to take us to Him – the seed of the woman:

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

Certainly, we must be sorry for all the wrongs done to God and to each other and repent of them, but most importantly, we must be grateful to God for His longsuffering, love, grace and mercy toward us by giving us a Savior.

Thanks for reading.