Two for the Price of One - Part 2

If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins [1 Corinthians 15:17].

Those human beings who approach the Lord Jesus, confess their sins to Him, and ask for His forgiveness—those folks are born twice. Based upon Jesus’ completed work on the cross, their sins are removed because Jesus paid the penalty for them (God's grace) and they accepted His payment (man's faith).. Thenceforth they are “in Christ”. As He is without sin, so too are they without sin “in Christ”.

Those human beings who don’t approach the Lord Jesus to confess their sins and ask for His forgiveness, who choose to go another way of their own making or choosing—those folks are born once. They are not “in Christ” because they reject His payment on the cross for the penalty of their sins. Consequently the bill still demands payment, and the wages of sin is death. Ergo, they must die for their sins.

Each of us eventually goes the way of all flesh. We die once. We die and pass into eternity. If we went to the cross and accepted the payment for the penalty of our sins, the bill is paid and we don’t die again. Indeed, from the moment we accepted Jesus’ payment for our sins, we were born again, born the second time, born twice…never to die again. By going to the cross of Christ and accepting His payment for the penalty of our sins, we are born the second time and only die once.

Alas, but those who are only born once face a different fate in eternity. They stand before the great white throne tribunal of Jesus Christ and are judged according to their deeds. No, they are not judged based upon their estimation of their deeds. They are judged according to the Lord’s estimation of their deeds.

Dear people, it won’t be pretty at the great white throne tribunal. As the Bible clearly reveals, all men have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is no one righteous, not even one. All have gone their own way. No one seeks God in spirit and truth. All our righteousnesses are but filthy rags.

This will be exposed in all its hideousness at the great white throne. Every man’s works will be shown to be contaminated through and through with sin. Not one of man’s works will appear righteous, all good intentions notwithstanding. Consequently, Judge Jesus will hammer his gavel on the Judge’s bench and thunder, “Guilty and sentenced to the lake of fire for all eternity!” That is the second death. This group of humans is born only once, so everyone in this group dies twice.

We’ve descanted today on both death and life, mostly on death because we spent our time around the cross of Christ. However, the Lord provides a bargain deal: two for the price of one. He not only offers us death to sin on the cross, but He gives a second heaping helping, viz., of life to righteousness at the empty tomb.

That is the message of the verse we quoted to kick off this study. But we haven’t time to delve into the issue now. Our time is up. Let’s enjoy time with the Lord before bed, shall we?

To further research this issue, I direct you to my books in the Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes Bible study series. To purchase my books please click on the "Shop" tab at the top of this page, where you will find a complete list of my books. Each book is available in both paperback (Createspace) and eBook (Kindle).

#1corinthians15 #cross #calvary #golgotha #crucifixion #resurrection #emptytomb