By Jenny Fulton

*Originally Published on iBelieve on March 06, 2023.

Two of the biggest enemies we face in this world are sin and death. They are everywhere and have been around since Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2-3). Everybody sins. Everybody dies.

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12, NASB).

But sin and death are not undefeatable forces.

Our God is a God of hope, goodness, and life. In Christ, we can have victory over sin and death.

What is Sin?

Sin is anything we think, say, or do outside of God’s perfect will. The Bible says all people sin (Romans 3:23) and that anyone who says they don’t is lying (1 John 1:8).

However, that doesn’t mean sin has absolute power over us, that Christ doesn’t have victory over it, or that we can’t also have a relationship with God and be declared righteous (right and just by believing in Him and that what He says is true).

Slaves to Sin

If you are a slave to someone or something, you are completely controlled by them. You must do as they command.

“Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” (Romans 6:16, NASB).

Being a slave to sin means we have no choice but to act in a manner contrary to God’s will and ways.

As Adam and Eve tried to hide in the Garden of Eden, our sins can cause us to withdraw from God. We might become terrified of facing His goodness.

But God never wanted us to live separated from Him. He sought out Adam and Eve amid their sin and covered them with animal skins, enabling them to feel more acceptable in His presence. Though there were consequences for their behavior, in Genesis 3:15, God promised to defeat Satan—the father of sin—to gain victory over the power of sin in our lives.  

Victory over Sin

When Jesus, fully man and fully God, came to live among people, He showed us how to live in complete obedience to God.

“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38, NASB).

Jesus showed us it’s possible to resist temptations.

“For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15, NASB).

When He died sinless on the cross, He took our sins upon His shoulders and put them to death. By doing this, He freed us from their control.

“and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24, NASB).

When Jesus returned to life, He enabled us to have a free and eternal relationship with God that is unhindered by the presence of sin.

“For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin” (Romans 6:5-7, NASB)

Through the Holy Spirit and God’s grace – His spiritual empowerment – we, as Jesus did, can resist temptation.

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13, NASB).

When we sin and regret that we’ve done so, God helps us return to doing what’s right, completely cleanses us, and enables us to continue to walk with Him. He declares us to be righteous, just as Abraham was when he “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3, NASB). 

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, NASB).

What is Death?

Death is perhaps the scariest part of life, in part because it’s the biggest unknown. The Bible describes two kinds of death: spiritual and physical.

Thanatos, the Greek word for spiritual death, is the separation and removal from God’s presence. While sin and a refusal to acknowledge God may create temporary spiritual death in this life, it isn’t complete because God is still active and seeking people’s hearts. However, once we die, we lose any opportunity for a relationship with Him. This is full and eternal death.

“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28, NASB).

Necros, physical death, is biological. It’s what happens to our bodies when we stop breathing and our heart stops beating. Other than a few people in the Bible, everybody until the 2^nd coming of Christ will die a physical death.

But not everybody will suffer spiritual death, nor will everyone remain physically dead. Christ has, and will, obtain, victory over both.

Victory over Death

Jesus’ resurrection proved God’s power to conquer biological death. It also made it possible, once and for all, for people to have eternal, spiritual life with God.

“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:9-10, NASB).

All who live on this earth will die. But when Christ comes again, even physical death will be destroyed.

“But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death” (1 Corinthians 15:20-26, NASB).

Nothing, not even sin and death, is too big for God to handle. He is so much stronger than everything we face. And He loves us with all His strength. With God in our lives, we have nothing to fear, now and forever.

To learn more about the concepts of life and death in the Bible, read this article by John Fulton: What is Life? What is Death? Are Zombies Real?

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*Cover Image by Sergio Cerrato – Italia from Pixabay