If we are ever going to understand why Jesus had to die we must become familiar with the scriptures that describe this for us. For in them is the truth the “doctrines of men” like original sin and sin nature have obscured for those who will not study for themselves.
We have seen that Adam was natural and not spiritual. And that this is the reason Jesus came. Showing us that man’s need for Jesus began with Adam’s creation. And not with the sin he committed by eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
We also saw in Rom.5:12 the succession of events as they happened. Not what caused them to happen. And their effects upon Adam and his progeny. That death, not sin, passed to all men. And that this was because men could no longer eat from the tree of life and live forever. And that because death reigns in the earth all who have sinned have sinned.
The reason I say “all who have sinned have sinned” is because the scriptures teach plainly that not all men have sinned. I know this is a shock to many church-ites because most have been taught to understand this is what Paul said in Rom.3:23.
Let me give an example that shows plainly not all have sinned. Luke1:5,6 state plainly that John baptist’s parents Zachariah and Elizabeth for their whole lives “walked in all of the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.”
This excludes them from “all have sinned” of Rom.5:12. And they were believers in Israel’s coming messiah. So this excludes them from the sin Jesus told His disciples He would send the Holy Spirit to reprove the world of. The sin of unbelief.
So here we have 2 people the Bible plainly says never sinned. And this is why when reading passages used by original sin and sin nature adherents, like Rom.3:23, Rom.5:12, Ps.51:5, and Jer.17:9 to name a few. We must see their error for what it is. A method of Bible study created by them that forces them into a distortion of the true meaning these passages are conveying. For them and purpose of putting people under the law and not under grace.
Keeping this in mind we will now look at the next step in the chart the Lord gave to me that explains His plan of salvation. We see next in Rom.5:12 and Gal.3:22 Paul saying “all have sinned.” With Gal.3:22 stating plainly what the sin is that Paul is referring to here. That sin is unbelief.
How do we know this? Because in Gal.3:22 Paul said, “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” Paul shows us here that the remedy for the sin he is referring to is believing. And has nothing to do with forgiveness for bad behavior.
This should help you understand that even though you may have had regrets and sorrow for bad things you may have done before you trusted in Jesus. And maybe even afterward for some. The only thing anyone needs for salvation is to believe in Jesus.
So the forgiveness for salvation idea comes from somewhere else. It comes from mixing Israel’s need for it while under the law. With what Jesus did by becoming her once for all time final sacrifice for those sins. 2Cor.5:19 secures this forgiveness for them.
This is why Israel did continual sacrifice for sins under the law year after year ad infinitum. Because under the law their sins of violating the law were imputed to them.
But, today in this dispensation this is not so. Because Paul plainly states in Rom.6:14, and again in 2Cor.5:19 that the whole world, believer and unbeliever alike, is not under law but under grace. And as Rom.5:13 on the right and left hand side of the chart says, “sin is not imputed when there is no law.”
This means that for those who were not of the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob it is the same as it is for us today who live in this dispensation of the grace of God. Sins defined by the law are not imputed to us because we are not under law but under grace.
Please see the arrow that goes from Adam to Jesus on the left. It shows that for those not of Abraham’s line their naughty behavior was not imputed to them either. Because they were never under the law.
However, we must be careful that we do not dis-impute sin all together. We must simply redefine it to what Jesus said in John16:9. Sin as unbelief.
Because as we see in Rom.1:18-ff where Paul was telling about those who lived in the Old Testament times who were not under the law, they still needed to believe in the true God to be saved. Because anyone no matter what dispensation they live or have lived in “who hold the truth in unrighteousness”, which simply means they know better “by what has been made” but still refuse to trust and believe in the true God, are held accountable by God for that.
Accountability before God for the sin of unbelief transcends all dispensations. While the sins defined by the law only apply to those Israelites who were under the law. Which is why Paul said in Rom.3:19, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law”. But, we are not under law but under grace, remember? And so were they.
So this is why I wrote in this chart that sin defined by the law “does not count” against anyone who has never been under the law. And as a matter of fact those sins are not imputed to Israel anymore either.
This is also why as I showed in this chart believing God is righteousness. And why Paul says in Rom.4:1-5 that God said of Abraham that his believing God is what made God consider or “reckon” him to be righteous.
This is also what Paul teaches us in Gal.2:16. Saying that the believer’s righteousness is the same as Jesus’ righteousness. And that our righteousness is not His righteousness “imputed to us” when we believe. But, is truly a righteousness derived from our believing just as Jesus did when He believed the Father.
Righteousness is believing because it is our side of the relationship we have with God. Just as God’s side is His showing His love for us by His grace that sent Jesus to join with us in our mortality and death.
Our relationship with God through faith in Jesus and His resurrection is righteousness. Righteousness is not the forgiveness of sins defined by the law. Any more than salvation is forgiveness of sins defined by the law.
As I have shown that forgiveness was only needed by Israelites who lived under the law. And according to Heb.9:14 they received that forgiveness through their animal sacrifices long before Jesus came.
But, for them and for us Jesus’ coming, living among them, and dying on the cross makes it possible for Israel to have their consciousness purged from those dead works of law keeping. So that now for both Israel and the rest of the nations faith in Jesus and His resurrection gives us eternal life by a spirit God creates in us. A birth from above as John3:1-8 says. Which joins us to God as children. And as children makes us heirs to His kingdom.
Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. And believe in your heart that He has raised from the dead. If you will do this then you will have eternal life now. If you will do this then you will become immortal at the resurrection. If you will do this… then I will see you there or in the air!
This message can also be heard at: https://rumble.com/v7e7wna-forgiveness-of-sin-charting-godsplan-of-salvation-pt.3-rom.51213.html
