Death as Wages of Sin

Ecclesiastes 7:1-4 highlight the Bible's attitude toward death, particularly its insistence that we allow the reality of death to change our approach to life.

I John 5:16 often raises questions about sin and its consequences. This verse is about more than appears on the surface, and holds out hope for backsliders.

There is life after death; there is an age to come in which all who have not been called to salvation will be raised to new life to hear what God offers.

Since the church no longer keeps the Passover with the slaughter of a lamb, we miss important and poignant details that could enhance our observance.

For centuries, preachers have scared churchgoers with the image of a fiery hell where sinners spend eternity. Is such a place or state biblical? If not, what is God's plan for those who refuse to submit to Him?

The second death is an event beyond physical death. It disproves the traditional heaven-hell and immortal soul doctrines, yet demonstrates God's perfect justice.

The dangerous false belief of inherent immortal life has led to an acceleration of sin and the danger of eternal oblivion. Only God can give eternal life.

Passover may be the most important festival ordained by God. Not only does it memorialize Christ's death, it also symbolizes our redemption and the covenant.

John Ritenbaugh, reiterating that the entire world is under the sway of Satan the devil (I John 5:19, Revelation 12:9, Ephesians 2:1-3), warns us to analyze and evaluate everything that enters our minds from the contaminated, mendacious media sources, medi. . .

In ancient times, the corpse of a murdered person was attached to the murderer, allowing the body to decompose until the murderer was infected and died.

Jesus' perfect offering of Himself for us fulfilled the sin offering of Leviticus 4. Our acceptance of His offering for atonement puts us under obligation.

It seems that some sins should be worse than others in God's eyes. Though all sin merits the death penalty, some sins carry greater consequences and penalties.

John Ritenbaugh, reflecting on the movie The Sound of Music, reports that the screenplay distorted the real events depicting the Von Trapp family. It seems that Satan has taken every art form, distorting, and twisting the underlying truth. Every Christian . . .

The annual reaffirmation of the covenant through the Passover is at the core of an on-going relationship with the Father and Son, beginning the perfecting process.

Jesus' well-known parable preaches the gospel of the Kingdom of God by revealing salvation, the resurrection to eternal life, and inheritance of His Kingdom on the earth. Martin Collins explains how.

We often hear of "innocent victims" dying in some tragic way, but are they truly innocent? John Ritenbaugh discusses God's perspective of the sinful, human condition.

John Ritenbaugh, reiterating that the adjective preternatural refers to 1.) something beyond nature and to 2.) something well-planned in advance, maintains that God intended the majority of human beings to be saved. When we measure the ripple effect of all. . .

God, before He created Adam and Eve, preternaturally planned the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to save humanity from the curse of sin and death.

The prevailing idea is that the soul is the indestructible part of a human being that lives on after death. The Bible reveals a different reality of life and death.

Are we "once-saved, always-saved"? Once God grants us His grace, are we assured eternal life? Richard Ritenbaugh exposes the fallacies of this Protestant doctrine of "eternal security."

John Ritenbaugh reminds us that we do not have immortality as a birthright (the lie which Satan told Eve), but that God is the sole source, making our relationship with God and God's judgment the most important focus of our life. One common denominator in . . .

Richard Ritenbaugh detects a massive inconsistency in the persistently saccharine assessment of Jesus as meek and mild, ignoring His wrath, while at the same time teaching the concept of an ever-burning Hell. God's wrath is measured and just, not excessive. . .

Most of Protestant and Catholic theology is immersed in pagan concepts of hell, reinforced by Dante's Inferno. Here is what the Bible says, without tradition.

Sometimes we are disturbed, even angered, because an act of God seems unfair. We have difficulty because we do not understand holiness, justice, sin, and grace.

John Ritenbaugh, reflecting upon Jesus' reluctance to go immediately to Lazarus, suggests that He intended to impress upon His close friends, Mary and Martha, the gravity of sin's consequences. The example also forcefully illustrates that Jesus (reflecting. . .

Christ's life and death were supernatural in that He had God's Spirit from the beginning, giving Him power over things, as well as undeniable logic.

Martin Collins, maintaining that there never has been , and never will be, another death like Jesus Christ's, reminds us that Our Omniscient God, who cannot sin, knew that we would sin and, therefore, pre-ordained a sacrifice that would satisfy all legal r. . .

While we must express some of our own faith as we come to salvation, the great bulk of "saving faith" is a gift of God, given graciously and miraculously as part of God's creative process in us. In particular, John Ritenbaugh uses the examples of Abel and . . .

Adam sinned, having abdicated his leadership position. His posterity has been cursed with overwhelming toil just to stay ahead. We are perfected by hardship.

Gravity is but one of the many natural laws. These cause-and-effect principles operate continuously in our lives. We either comply, or we suffer the consequences.

Do you realize not one in a hundred knows what salvation is—how to get it—when you will receive it? Don't be too sure you do! Here, once for all, is the truth made so plain you will really understand it!