“You will not surely die”
Genesis 3 is a sad chapter in scripture as it
describes the fall of men.
We have recorded the first sin committed by Eve and then Adam.
This sin was a result of the temptation of Satan.
Recall that in Genesis 2:15-17,
Then the
Lord God took the man and
put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the
Lord God commanded the man,
saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that
you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Notice that Adam was warned not to eat of the tree of knowledge
of good and evil. Clearly
these instructions were passed on to Eve, for in Genesis 3:1 we find the
serpent saying to her, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every
tree of the garden’?” She
responded, that they could
eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden EXCEPT “the tree which is in
the midst of the garden. She
noted that God had said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it,
lest you die.” (Genesis 3:2-3).
Clearly, Eve understood the LORD’s instructions.
Genesis 3:4-5,
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it
your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil.” We know that this
was an outright lie, as the serpent was manipulating the LORD’s words
and even accused Him falsely.
He deceived Eve according to 2 Corinthians 11:3. Jesus called the
devil, Satan, a liar and a murderer.
You are of your father the
devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer
from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he speaks a
lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father
of it. (John 8:44)
As a result of his lies, Adam and Eve were both punished, and the nature
of this world changed (Genesis 3:16-19).
We die because of the sin of Adam – Romans 5:14-18, 1 Corinthians
15:22, etc.
We are fully aware that Satan has lied and
continues to lie. But is he
alone? No! There are many
who do his bidding for him. Just
as Satan lied to Eve, telling her she would be fine after eating the
forbidden fruit, many lie today with doctrines that give false comfort.
They manipulate God’s word and question His character.
The Bible warns of false teachers.
2 Peter 2:1-3, But there
were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false
teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies,
even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift
destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of
whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will
exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not
been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15,
For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And
no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform
themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according
to their works.
When false teachers lie saying, “You shall not surely die”.
When they teach “once saved,
always saved.”
Obeying the gospel is only the beginning of the Christian life.
Most of the New Testament is written to Christians about how to
be Christians and stay faithful.
In many places GOD HAS SAID we are expected to remain faithful.
There are warnings against drifting such as, Hebrews 2:1,
Therefore we must give the more
earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. Paul
himself in 1 Corinthians 9:27 said that even he needed to discipline
himself lest he be disqualified.
Revelation 2:10 writing to the church at Smyrna said,
Be faithful until death, and I
will give you the crown of life. And
Peter in powerful language spoke of those who have again entangled
themselves in the world. He
said, For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the
knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled
in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the
beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the
way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy
commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to
the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having
washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”
(2 Peter 2:20-22)
Such passages could be multiplied.
But there are false teachers today who say, “You shall not surely
die” because they teach eternal security without any conditions.
They say, “once you are saved, it is impossible for you to be
lost”. But that is contrary to
what the Bible teaches. They
give a false sense of hope that enables you to live in rebellion against
God or to reject certain of His commands.
When they deny the existence of hell.
While an unpleasant subject, a study of the Bible warns
us of the reality of hell.
Jesus mentioned often in His teachings.
He used drastic descriptions to demonstrate how terrible it is.
He said, “If your hand or
foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better
for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands
or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye
causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for
you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be
cast into hell fire.” (Matthew 18:8-9)
If there is no eternal consequence, what could Jesus be saying?
Furthermore, He often described hell in terms of eternal torments
– Matthew 25:46 where the word is used twice – once to describe eternal
life and the second time to describe eternal condemnation.
In Matthew 8:12 Jesus spoke of hell being a place of outer
darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
In Luke 16:23, he spoke of the
rich man awaking in torments desiring to have Lazarus dip his finger in
water and touch the tip of his tongue for momentary relief.
He even pleaded with Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his
brothers lest they come to the same place as him – (Luke 16:24-31).
2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 speaks of the righteous judgment of God
repaying with tribulation those who persecute Christians.
Paul said that He would be, “in
flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those
who do not obey the gospel…These shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord…”
Many other passages could be added to these, but we find here
sufficient warning that hell is a place we should seek to avoid at all
cost. Consider also the
following passages – Matthew 25:41 speaking of the lake of fire prepared
for the devil and his angels.
Revelation 20:10, 14-15, 21:8 and you see that Satan will not
occupy this place alone.
Yet, there are many who teach there is no hell.
Some teach that if you die unsaved, you simply cease to exist.
While a doctrine of supposed comfort it contradicts scripture.
The teacher who says there is no hell is saying in reality,
similar to Satan, “You shall not die.”
He is saying there is no consequence to rejecting God and His
will.
When they twist scripture to
justify error.
Jesus warned that in
the last day we will be judged by His words, John 12:48.
Scripture is clear that we must obey the gospel.
Galatians 1:6-9 warns of following another gospel.
2 John 9-11 warns of the consequences of receiving one who is not
abiding in the doctrine of Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:8 again warns us that God will in flaming fire
take vengeance on those who do not obey the gospel.
Peter warned in 2 Peter 3:16 of “untaught and unstable people”
who twist the scriptures to their own destruction.
The point is, if we expect to be saved we have to obey the
gospel, as in becoming a Christian, AND keep obeying the gospel AS a
Christian.
Yet there are many false teachers, who manipulate
passages to make them say what they don’t.
Some say God will tolerate adulterous marriages (see Matthew
19:8-9, 5:32). Others teach
homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-11,
Romans 1:21-27, etc.). Some
have disregarded the role of women in the worship assembly (see 1
Corinthians 14:34-35, 1 Timothy 2:11-15).
There are many other doctrinal errors, both religious and moral,
that lead men and women astray.
In essence these false teachers are saying, “If you practice
these things, you will not surely die”.
Friends, the premise of this article is to warn us
to beware of false teachers.
Just as sure as the serpent lied to Eve, so false teachers will
lie to you. And they will
make it look convincing as they tell you, “you will not surely die”.
So how do we avoid such?
1) Study the word of God regularly (2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy
3:16-17, etc.); 2) Test what is said by the word of God (1 John 4:1);
and 3) Avoid those teaching error (Ephesians 5:11, 2 John 9-11).
Don’t let someone else rob you of
your eternal reward. Think
about it.