The Word Podcast: The Bible Teaches

Answer to: Isn't it true that the dead know nothing?

Sat, 31 May 2008 02:38:25 GMT

Answer to: Isn't it true that the dead know nothing?

Dear Philip,

Thank you so much for your question. You wrote:

I am studying the doctrine of whether or not we go to heaven when we die. In one of your articles relating to heaven you write 'David was saved and went to heaven'. Yet we read in Acts 2:34 it clearly states that David (a man after God's own heart) did not ascend to heaven. Isn't it true that the dead know nothing (Eccles 9:5) until the resurrection? So the dead (even the righteous dead) are not in heaven but in the grave awaiting a resurrection?

Or am I missing something?

I think that the first thing that you are missing is that the soul and the body are two different things.

2Co 5:8 We are confident, [I say], and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
In this verse we see two things. First you can be absent from the body. This is talking about when you die your soul seperates from the body.
The second thing we learn from this verse is that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Of course the qualifier there is if you are saved.
When you die your body goes to the grave awaiting a resurrection and your soul goes either to heaven or to hell.
Your soul does not sleep. We see this over and over again in scripture. A good example is in Luke Chapter 16. Two men die and look what happens to them.
Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
In verse 22 we read that their bodies were buried.
Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
In verse 16 it is obvious that we are not talking about their bodies because they are still in a grave. What we are reading about is the soul that is seperated from the fleshly body. And we see that after you die your soul does have bodily form even though it is not the new glorified body. That happens at the last trump.
Luk 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
Lazarus was still recognizable as Lazarus and he still had a finger. The rich man could feel and was tormented.
Luk 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Lazarus is in Paradise and the rich man is in torment.
Luk 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that [would come] from thence.
And after you die you can not get out of torment.

Another example is the mount of transfiguration.

Luk 9:28 And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.
Luk 9:29 And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment [was] white [and] glistering.
Luk 9:30 And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias:
Luk 9:31 Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
Luk 9:32 But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.
Moses who died thousands of years previously came and talked with Jesus on the mountain. His soul had bodily form. He was recognizable as a man and talked with Jesus. Again this is not Moses in a glorified body because Jesus has not yet come back. This is Moses' soul and it is not asleep in a grave.

Another example should be sufficient.

Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Here we have souls of men that were slain for their testimony and their souls are not in a grave but in heaven and they are talking and asking God a question.
The Bible is clear, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. (That is if you have accepted Jesus as your personal savior. You are saved by faith and not by works.)

I think that the second thing that you are missing is the context of the verses you cite.

As far as Acts 2:34 you must always look at a verse in its context.

What is the verse before it and after it talking about. How does it fit into the topic at hand? The context is talking about how Jesus rose from the grave and asended in a resurrected body. David nor anyone else has done this. Acts 2:34 is talking about David's body not David's soul.
Albert Barnes puts it this way:
For David is not ascended into the heavens - That is, David has not risen from the dead and ascended to heaven. This further shows that Psa_16:1-11 could not refer to David, but must refer to the Messiah. Great as they esteemed David, and much as they were accustomed to apply these expressions of the Scripture to him, yet they could not be applicable to him. They must refer to some other being; and especially that passage which Peter now proceeds to quote. It was of great importance to show that these expressions could not apply to David, and also that David bore testimony to the exalted character and dignity of the Messiah. Hence, Peter here adduces David himself as affirming that the Messiah was to be exalted to a dignity far above his own. This does not affirm that David was not saved, or that his spirit had not ascended to heaven, but that he had not been exalted in the heavens in the sense in which Peter was speaking of the Messiah.

As far as Eccles 9:5 lets look at the context.

Ecc 9:4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
Ecc 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Ecc 9:6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any [thing] that is done under the sun.
We have seen in all the examples that I gave earlier that the dead do know quite a bit. We saw that they remember, and talk, and reason. They are awake and aware. So the phrase in verse 5 "the dead know not any thing" cannot mean what you imply.
The context clears is up. What you have to ask is; what exactly is the any thing in verse 5 referring to. For example I can say that I do not know anything about racing cars. (That is true by the way) But that does not mean that I don't know anything at all. You have to know what is the anything referring to.
Verse 6 answers that. "...neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun." The anything is specifically that which is done under the sun. (A reference to the earth).
They cannot earn any more reward (verse 5). Their emotions and activity on the earth is finished. They are not in heaven or hell reading the daily newspaper or watching the news on T.V.

Philip I do hope that this helps clear up the issue for you. And I thank you for the opportunity to give you an answer.

How To Pray Biblically

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 22:26:09 GMT

We are to pray to the Father

Mat 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Mat 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Luk 16:27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:

Joh 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Mat 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

We are to pray in Jesus’ name.

Joh 16:26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:

Joh 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do [it].

We are to pray in the Spirit

Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Jud 1:20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

In Scriptural prayer all three members of the Godhead are involved. We should not leave anyone of them out when we pray.

The Father grants our prayers

Mat 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Mat 18:19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

Joh 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give [it] you.

Jesus mediates for us

Joh 16:26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:

Jesus is our High Priest and gives us access to God.

Heb 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, [even] Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast [our] profession.

What Jesus did for us on the cross gives us the boldness to pray.

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.

Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

The Spirit guides us in prayer.

Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

All three are interested in, and are involved in our prayers. We need to pray as the Bible instructs us to pray. We need to pray to the Father, in Jesus’ name, and in the Spirit.

Sounds pretty simple and straight forward you say. I didn’t know there was any other way you say. Why have a lesson on this you ask?

One time I was sitting in a church and heard a Pastor preach that you should not pray to the Father. He taught why would you want to pray to a God that is a billion zillion miles away. Instead pray to the Holy Spirit that is in your heart. Of course he had no scripture to back up his teaching and he had to ignore much of the Bible to teach it.

What he taught is wrong on so many levels.

One it denies God’s power. Distance is nothing to God. He hears no matter how far it is.

Second the Bible tells us to pray to the Father not to the Spirit. Praying to the Holy Spirit is praying in disobedience and rebellion to the clear teaching of the Word of God.

Third granting answers to prayer is not the Holy Spirits part in prayer. His part is in guiding our prayers. Praying to the Holy Spirit is a misdirected prayer.

A part of getting your prayers answered is praying in obedience to the way God instructs us to pray, and not in some new way that you invented out of pride.

Jam 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

Instead of praying your way, pray Gods way. To the Father, in Jesus’ name, and in the guidance of the Spirit as opposed to praying in the flesh.

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How to be saved

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 22:33:00 GMT

1st Know that God loves you.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

2nd Know that God wants you to know that you can have eternal life

1Jo 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

3rd Know that you are a sinner

Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

4th Know that sin must be paid for. There is a penalty for sin.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

You will face a judgment when you die. Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

If you do not get saved, you will be forever separated from God and you will pay for your sins forever in the lake of fire.

Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

5th Know that you cannot save yourself.

Rom 3:20 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.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:

Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

6th Know that Jesus paid for your sin on the cross

Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us

Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God

Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

7th Repent of you sins. Repent means to Change your mind.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

And call upon Him to save you.

Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out

Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Right now pray to God, tell Him that you are a sinner, admit to him that you cannot save yourself, and ask Him to save you. And you have His promise that He will.

Lesson #3 on Sin - Who Has Sin

Sat, 26 Aug 2006 05:32:30 GMT

The first pair were the first humans to sin

Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Sin is disobeying God. God had told them not to eat of the tree and they disobeyed. They only had one rule. There was no excuse for their willfully disobeying God’s command.

Adam’s sin is what brought sin into the world

Rom 5:12 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:
And we all have sin. We inherited it from Adam. Death is the result of sin. All men die because all men have sin. Are you going to die someday – then you have sin.

Adam passed his sin to his descendants

Gen 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat [a son] in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
Adam was created without sin in the image of God, but notice, when Adam had children they were not created in God’s image. They were created in Adam’s likeness, after Adam’s image, which was now a sinner. Adam passed his sin nature to his children, and they passed it to their children and so on until it was passed to you.

All men are born with sin

Job 15:14 What [is] man, that he should be clean? and [he which is] born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Job 25:4 How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean [that is] born of a woman?
Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
The sin nature is not acquired later in life, it is not acquired the first time that you do something wrong. The sin nature is not received at birth. You get the sin nature when you are conceived. At conception you are shapen in iniquity.
Gal 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
1Ki 8:46 If they sin against thee, (for [there is] no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;
Ecc 7:20 For [there is] not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
The above verses make is very clear that all men have sin and yes that would mean you.

There is only one who does not have any sin

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.
Heb 7:26 For such an high priest became us, [who is] holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
Jesus is the only one who did not have any sin of his own. That is why He could die for our sins. Jesus was the just dieing for the unjust.
1Jo 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
The reason that He came to the earth (was manifested) was to die for our sins on the cross. He paid for our sins on the cross because we cannot pay for them ourselves.
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
To God all your righteousnesses (all your good works to try to earn heaven) are filthy rags. Think of it this way. If you could work your way to heaven, then there would have been no reason for Jesus to have to die on the cross.

Lesson on Sin #2 - How Sin is Described

Sat, 22 Jul 2006 20:39:26 GMT

In lesson number one on sin we learned a simple good definition of what sin is. Sin is anything that is against the will of God. Now lets take a look at how does God describes sin.

1 Sin Stings

1Co 15:56 The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law.

Jam 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Sin stings. It is sin that brings forth death. Everyone will die because everyone has sin. Adam and Eve would not have known death if they did not sin.

But the Christian can say o death where is thy sting. 1Co 15:55 O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory? O we will still die physically some day, but we will not die eternally in hell. Therefore, to the redeemed, death no longer stings.

2 Sin is unfruitful

Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove [them].

Sin might appear to have fruit for a time, but in the end sin is always unfruitful. Man can do sinful things to make money. Man can build an empire and say look at all the fruit of my labors. But he cannot take it with him. It will do him no good when he slips into eternity. And what he leaves behind will just rust and corrupt. Man can also do sinful things not to build an empire but to satisfy fleshly desires. They might appear to be fun at first, but sin is always unfruitful, and they will end up in ruin. The only fruit that sin is capable of producing is rotten fruit. Broken homes, addiction, diseases, regret, and in the end hell for eternity if it is not put under the blood of Christ.

3 Sin is an abomination

Pro 15:9 The way of the wicked [is] an abomination unto the LORD: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness.

Jer 44:4 Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending [them], saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.

Sin is an abomination to the Lord. He cannot stand sin. God will not let sin into His presence. That is why people who instead of trusting Christ and letting him wash away their sins will be thrown into a lake of fire.

4 Sin is a reproach

Pro 14:34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin [is] a reproach to any people.

Many in America today have forgotten this fundamental truth. Sin is a reproach to any people. God will not exalt a nation that is steeped in sin! Time and again Israel in the Bible would turn from God and turn to sin, and God would send reproach their way. How dare we think that it will be any different with us. God will not bless sin. Sin will have the opposite effect.

5 Sin is filthiness

Pro 30:12 [There is] a generation [that are] pure in their own eyes, and [yet] is not washed from their filthiness.

I have worked on a bus route a few times, and visited the children in my Sunday school class, when I was teaching children. Many times you would knock on the door and when the door was opened you could just smell the sin. Many times it would almost be enough to make you gag. I am not just talking about the filthy smell of cigarettes, there would be other smells. There would be smells of rotting food, and of a house and bodies that have not been cleaned in a long time. Sin is filthiness and cleanness is next to godliness. How often it is that the deeper into open sin one goes the filthier his surroundings become.

6 Sin is perverse

Isa 59:3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

Sin will cause men to do very perverse things. Not only acts of perverseness, but this verse is specifically talking about speaking perverseness. I know of this from experience. The day after I got saved it seamed that every third word would no longer come out. I had to learn how to talk all over again. I did not realize how many perverse words that I said. After I got saved the perverse words would not come any more. The perverse speech just stopped. People have perverse speech because sin is perverse.

7 Sin is evil

Mat 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

Jer 44:11 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.

From the heart proceeds evil thoughts because all men have sin in their heart and sin is evil. The reason that there is so much sin in the world today is because sin is evil.

8 Sin is deceitful

Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Sin is very deceitful. People will see a beer commercial and see the people on the T.V. having what seems to be a good time. It looks like a lot of fun. But it is deception. They do not show you the hang over, the broken homes, the unwanted pregnancies, the mom and her kids that were killed by a drunken driver. And this principal goes for all sin that the devil would tempt you with. He will promise a good time with the sin, but in the end you will be the worse off for it because sin is deceitful.

9 Sin is iniquity

Psa 90:8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret [sins] in the light of thy countenance.

Sin is iniquity. Sin is just out and out wrong. It is unrighteousness and injustice. And we are guilty of it. It is our iniquity before God. And this verse tells us that our secret sins are in the light of God’s face. We might think that they are secret, but to Him they are in the open. There is no escaping sin’s iniquity, on our own, because we all have sin and sin is iniquity.

10 Sin is wicked

Jer 44:3 Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, [and] to serve other gods, whom they knew not, [neither] they, ye, nor your fathers.

Sin is wicked and we can think of many wicked things that people do because of sin. But the context of this verse is talking about a specific wickedness, the wickedness of serving other gods. This is talking about the wickedness of man in creating and serving false religious systems. Religious systems that man made up and are not to be found in the Bible. Praying to Mary instead of God would be just one example of this. Men do this wickedness because sin is wicked.

11 Sin is presumptuous

Psa 19:13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous [sins]; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

The definition of presumptuous is: 1. Bold and confident to excess; adventuring without reasonable ground of success; hazarding safety on too slight grounds; rash; applied to persons; as a presumptuous commander.

That definition sums it up pretty well. This is the kind of sin that is running rampant in America today. As a country we have lost the good sense to be ashamed of and hide our sin. Today Americans are bold and confident to excess with their sins.

We can see how terrible sin is from looking at how God describes it. Sin stings, sin is unfruitful, sin is an abomination, sin is a reproach, sin is filthiness, sin is perverse, sin is evil, sin is deceitful, sin is iniquity, sin is wicked, and sin is presumptuous. O how our sin hurts the heart of a Loving God. We should be ashamed of our sin, we should want to turn from our sin, we should want nothing to do with our sin knowing that our sin holds for us no good thing. And instead turn to God who can cleanse us from our sin.

Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Lesson on Sin #1 - What is Sin.

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 02:06:43 GMT

Everyone has a preconceived idea of what sin is. And what one person says that it is, another will deny it. One person will say that drinking is a sin and someone else will say that it is not. And most often when someone says that a certain thing is not a sin, you will find that they are engaged in that sin. They like their sin more than they love God so people will tend to find teachers who will teach what they want to hear. They like to have their conscience soothed. We truly live in the day that 2 Timothy 4:3 is referring to. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;” It is bad enough that in their own lust that they heap to themselves false teachers and will not endure sound doctrine, but then they try to get others to join them.

Listening to all the different teachings out there will just get you confused. I thank God that we do not have to listen to opinions. To know what sin is all we have to do is look and see what God says that it is.

1) Sin is transgression against the law.

1Jo 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

The law is more than the Ten Commandments. The Law is referring to all the laws and commandments that God gave Moses to give to the people. That is why it is also called the Law of Moses. One example of this is 1Co 9:9 “For it is written in the Law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn.” This law actually contains hundreds of laws.

2) Man cannot keep the law.

Jam 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.

The law is too vast for a man to keep it all, and if he offends in just one thing in the law then the Bible says that he is guilty of all. Lets look at just one point of the law. The law says that “Thou shalt not bear false witness” or in other words you are not to tell a lie. Everyone has told some kind of lie during his or her lifetime. It might be something small. It might be a little white lie or some exaggeration. You might have even stretched the truth just a little to help cheer someone up. Anything that is not 100 truth is a lie. Man cannot keep the law. That is why the Bible says in Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. That is why we have to turn to Jesus. Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

3) Sin is of the devil.

1Jo 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Joh 8:44 Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Sin is of the devil. It started with him. You can read of the devils fall into sin in Isa 14:12 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!

Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. After the devil fell into sin he went and temped Eve. Sin loves company. And notice how many times he said I will. Sin is basically anything that is an “I will” instead of God’s will.

4) Anything unrighteous is sin.

1Jo 5:17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

Some people want to have an all-inclusive list for what are sins. Creating this list would be impossible for it is anything that is unrighteous. The list would be so long that you could not read it all, and if you could read it all you could not remember everything in the list.

5) Not only are sins things that you do, but sins can be things that you do not do.

So far all of the verses on sin that we have looked at are sins of commission. That is things that you have done. But that is not the only kind of sin. There are also sins of omission.

Jam 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin. If you know that God says to not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, and you do not go to church, then it is a sin. If you know that God says to tithe and you do not, then it is a sin. If you know that God says to love thy neighbor and you do not, then it is a sin. God says to witness, help the fatherless, widows, poor, and the list goes on. We are all guilty of the sin of not always doing the good that we know to do.

6) A lack of faith is sin.

Rom 14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because [he eateth] not of faith: for whatsoever [is] not of faith is sin. This is another sin that we are all guilty of. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Sometimes it is our finances, sometimes it is our witnessing, and sometimes it is just not having enough faith to trust God with the trial that we are going thru.

7) Foolish thoughts are sin.

Pro 24:9 The thought of foolishness [is] sin: and the scorner [is] an abomination to men. Having a foolish thought is sin even if we do not act on it. A good example of this is Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. If a man looks at another woman, even for a moment, that thought is still a sin. Even if he never touches her.

8) Our imaginations can be sin.

Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually.

Gen 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart [is] evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

Truly all people have sin. The Bible clearly teaches that sin is not just the things that people do to get thrown in jail. Sin is more than hurting someone else. A simple definition of sin would be anything that is against the will of God. Both the things that we do that are against the will of God and the things that we don’t do that He wants us to.

That leaves us with what to do about it. Well first if you are not saved then pray to God and admit to Him that you are a sinner and ask Him to save you. Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Then after you are saved and you mess up in some area, then confess it to God and ask for forgiveness. 1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The Bible teaches that there are things that God cannot do.

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 21:26:44 GMT

Number one – God cannot lie.

Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; Hebrews 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

You might be thinking duh. Of course God cannot lie. But if you stop just for a moment and think about it, you will see that most churches, bible colleges, and preachers, actually teach that God does lie. Let me give you just a few examples.

The Bible is very clear that man cannot work his way to heaven. Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags… Your works do not impress God. The Bible says they are as filthy rags! Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. That is pretty clear. You are saved through faith and not of yourselves, not of works! And yet works is what the Catholics teach, and the Mormons, as well as many others. By teaching a works salvation contrary to what God has said, they are teaching that they are right and God is wrong. They are teaching that God lied!

The Bible teaches that you cannot buy your way to heaven. Acts 8:20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Both the man and his money perished because he could not buy the gift of God with money. It is so basic. If you buy something, then it is no longer a gift. And yet the Catholics teach that you can buy your way out of purgatory and into heaven. They are teaching that they are right and God is wrong. They are teaching that God lied!

God said that his words are pure and perfect and that He would preserve them. He said that they shall not pass away. Psalm 12:6-7 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. So either God’s words are with us today or God lied. You have no other choice. And yet most churches’ statement of faith says that God’s words are perfect but only in the original autographs. In other words God lied and did not preserve his pure perfect words for us today. They are teaching that they are right and God is wrong. They are teaching that God lied!

And the list would be endless. I am glad that my God cannot lie. I am glad that I have his words in my Bible, and that I can trust them because God cannot lie.