The account in Genesis tells us that Adam sinned, and died (death came into his body so that it began to die); and all of us have sinned.
The Bible tells us that:
"ALL humans have sinned and ALL humans fall short of the glory of God." -- Romans 3:23-24.
"Just as it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one." -- Romans 3:10.
So there is a guilty verdict on all of humanity, which brings death - but there is good news:
Imagine you're the Titanic, which has struck an Iceberg, causing a gaping hole. The hole represents your own sinful thoughts and desires, the lies you've told, and the amount of times you have broken one of the ten commandments, and any other sin you may have committed.
You've tried to stop up the hole with your own goodness, decency, and holiness, your own obedience to the ten commandments and to God's holy law, but all this is mixed with your sin. It's not holding, because God is 100% just, and a judge who is 100% just, has to punish all sin.
Jesus said, "No one has ascended up to Heaven except He who came down from Heaven, the Son of man who is in Heaven. But even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him." (John 3:13-16).
"Now has come the salvation and power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers is cast down, who accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony. And they did not love their soul to the death." -- Revelation 12:10-11
So when Paul wrote, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?", he immediately answered his own question:
"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. " (Romans 7:24-25a).
Paul could say this because just as Paul also wrote,
"For He has made Him (Christ Jesus) who knew no sin, to be sin for us,
that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
2 Corinthians 5:21.
Isaiah 53:6
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:6.
Jesus said,
"I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me." -- John 10:11; 14:6
"I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." -- Jesus the Messiah, John 8:12.
WHAT THE PATTERN REPRESENTED: THE NEW COVENANT IN CHRIST'S BLOOD
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." -- Isaiah 53:6
"For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." -- 2 Corinthians 5:21
"Therefore Jesus also, so that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate." -- Hebrews 13:12
Hebrews 9:6-28 concerning the Old Testament (Old Covenant) temple.
"And for this cause He is the Mediator of the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-32; Matthew 26:28), so that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, those who are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." -- Hebrews 9:15
Jesus said, "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes on Him should have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the last day." -- John 6:40
As the author to the Hebrews and all the authors of the New Testament also testify,
"God, who at many times and in many ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the ages, who being the shining splendor of His glory, and the express image of His essence, and upholding all things by the word of His power, having made purification of our sins, He sat down on the right of the Majesty on high." -- Hebrews 1:1-3
WE ARE SAVED BY CHRIST THROUGH OUR FAITH IN HIM
Romans 3:23-25
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God publicly displayed him at his death as the mercy seat accessible through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed."
Titus 3:7
"That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
Faith simply means believing. We are justified by His grace and by His blood, through faith (believing):
"For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world: our faith." -- 1 John 5:4.
"Our faith in Christ overcomes the world" is not saying that our faith itself is what saves us or justifies us. We cannot be saved or justified by our faith. What is our faith in? In our faith? In ourselves?
"He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." -- John 3:18-19.
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God sent His Son for our salvation,
not a boat like the Ark that was built by Noah.
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John 3:17-18
"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God."
The only way to God the Father is through Jesus Christ:
"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6).
The only way to come through Jesus Christ is through faith in Jesus Christ.
"For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" -- John 5:4-5.
Righteousness can only come through faith in Jesus Christ
Hebrews 11:7
"By faith Noah, having been warned by God of things not yet seen, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."
Christ paid the price. The blood of Christ and the empty tomb proves it. Nothing we can do, nothing other than the blood of Christ and the empty tomb will ever prove that we belong to Him and that we are saved, if we believe. There is nothing more that we can add to it, because Christ died for us while we were sinners (Romans 5:8), and that is what saved us - Christ's death, and Christ's resurrection.
WHAT HUMAN EFFORT IS ABLE TO DO
"Make every effort to ADD to your faith:
Excellence, to excellence, knowledge; to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love."
Why add this?
"Because if these things are really yours and are continually increasing, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately." -- 2 Peter 1:5-8
We can add the above to our faith, but we cannot add our salvation or our justification through human effort, because it was all accomplished by Christ, but now, knowing that we are saved by Christ and justified by Christ through our faith (and not by human effort), for our own sake we should nevertheless make an effort to be diligent to add to our faith in Christ the list of things Peter mentioned above,
and we are doing so in order that we will kept from becoming ineffective and unproductive in our pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately.
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