Why does God say all have sinned, and what are the consequences of sin?

 Answers to Bible Questions
Scriptures are from the King James Bible

(Q)  Why does God say all have sinned, and what are the consequences of sin?

(A)  Romans 5:12: Wherefore, as by one man, (ADAM) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:10: As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: Romans 3:12: They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Romans 10:3:  For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

HEADSHIP OF ADAM

Adam was the federal head of the human race, and also the seminal head. The word seminal (seed) implies that everyone existed in seed form within Adam, and that he was the head of the human race. We were all in the body of Adam when he sinned, just as levi was in the body of Abraham when he met Melchizedek, Heb. 7:10. In that sense, every member of the human race played a part in the fall of man. When Adam sinned, we were actually sinning with him. Adam was also the federal head of the race. In this sense, Adam’s vote for sin is similar to the vote of a representative in the legislature (Congress or Senate), who by his vote obligates his constituents for certain indebtedness. While Adam’s disobedience resulted in the human race being plunged into sin, the obedience of Christ (the Second Adam) gives Christians the power to overcome sin in their lives. Rom. 5:12-21; Gen. 2:24.

IMPUTED SIN

 The meaning of impute.is “to ascribe to” or “reckon.” The imputation of sin occurred originally when the sin of Adam was charged to the account of every person. The imputation of sin is not arbitrarily charging people with sins for which they are not naturally responsible but reckoning to them the guilt they deserve. Imputation of sin is charged to all because we all are connected with Adam’s race. God not only imputes the sin of Adam to the race; He also offers to do the same with the righteousness of Christ, When God imputes the righteousness of Christ to the account of a believer, He makes the person’s record as good (or as perfect) as Jesus Christ’s. Imputed righteousness is the only remedy for imputed sin.  Rom. 5:15-16; Jer. 3:23. Romans 5:18: Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one (CHRIST) the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. Romans 5:19: For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

What are the consequences of sin for all who die in unbelief?

 Anyone who dies in unbelief will end up in Hell! People don’t like to hear about hell. But I’m here to tell you that if Jesus is not your Lord and Savior, you are on your way to hell. Some of you will be upset at this bad news. You think that I’m all gloom and doom. Tell me this…if your house were on fire, would you want me to let you know? I’m sure you would. You’d probably thank me for telling you. Well, if you go to hell, you will be the one on fire–and your soul will be lost forever.

Hell may not be a politically correct topic these days, but many people enter hell every day. Out of the 120,000 people [probably more by now] that die every day, most end up in hell. Hell is a real place in spite of the fact that people laugh and say that they want to go there. They simply don’t understand how horrible hell is. Just because you’ve never seen hell doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. We have descriptions of what hell is like in God’s word. Hell is dreadful—If you don’t put your total faith or belief in Christ alone for your salvation, you’d better get on the stick or else that’s going to be your eternal destination.

Satan is the god of this world, but his doom is already foretold, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10)

We all have been given free will to choose. This is the purpose of our lives. If we believe and put our faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, we will go to heaven when we die. However, those who remain in unbelief at the time of their death, will go into hell fire

Is Hell Eternal?

The words that are associated or written next to the different hells seem to indicate that it is forever. The definitions that are given for the noun, “aionon “ and the adjective “aionios” are accepted as authoritative for the teaching of the word used in the New Testament “everlasting” when used with “punishment.“ The Greek word for everlasting or eternal is “aionios” and is always restricted to the use of time in its adjective form in three ways that essentially mean the same thing; “without end,” “without beginning,“ and “without end or beginning.” This is used in Matthew 12:32 when Jesus said “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age [aionon ] or in the age [aionon ] to come.” This verse then clearly indicates that a person’s forgiveness in this case “will be without end.” That is, it means that it will be something that they will never, ever, and for ages without end, be forgiven. The Greek term “aionas or aionon” is literally translated as “ages of the ages.”

The word “eternal” is the same as everlasting and it means that it is without end when the context is about judgment. It never indicates that it is a temporary state that will end because by definition “aionon” or “aionios” is always without end. The same thing is mentioned by Mark 3:29 where Jesus says, “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin.” We cannot take the context of this in any other way than that of being “without end” because the other two possible renderings for “aionon ” is “without beginning” and “without end or beginning” which makes the verse nonsensical, thus it can only mean “forever” or what seems the best interpretation of the context and the Greek wording, “for ages without end.”

Some believe that eternal “punishment” is different then eternal “punishing” in the sense that the wicked will be punished and then cease to exist, and that is why they claim the use of the word “punishment” is a onetime event. I return again to Mark 9:48 where Jesus said about hell “Gehenna” as the place “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48) which seems to have no ending. The fire in the Valley of Gehenna and the worms eating the decaying bodies or garbage would never cease. Jesus uses the words “does not” and “is not” which are indicative of a time that is unceasing. The literal rendering can mean nothing else but what it implies. We see that by what Jesus was teaching in this setting in Mark 9:42-49:

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

We clearly see that hell is forever or for “ages without end’ as Jesus warned all who would not believe in Him. In Matthew 25:46, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” If the righteous have eternal life which means that we will live forever, then we see that the same word for “eternal” means the same thing for punishment. Jesus cannot mean that we will have life without end but then the punishment will have an end. That would be contradictory. If thiswere so,then this would seem highly unfair as Hitler would be annihilated just the same as the nice lady next door who, even though she was not saved, never hurt anyone.

Are the Fires of Hell Eternal?

In 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 the words everlasting destruction come into question. This is what it says: “In flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.” You have to exist to be from His presence.

Destruction never means annihilation. It means loss of wellbeing, or ruin as far as the purpose of existence is concerned. The word translated “everlasting” or “eternal” [aionios} is used seventy times in the New Testament Three times it may mean “ages of limited duration”Rom.16:25; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2. The other times it means eternal or endless. It is used in Romans 16:26 to describe the unending existence of God.

In Luke 16, the rich man wanted a drop of water to cool his tongue. If the fire had burned him up or destroyed him, then why was he being tormented in the flame? How did he still exist?

Matt.18:8 “to be cast into everlasting fire.” Why have everlasting fire?

Mark 9:43 ” to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.” A fire that is not quenched is a fire that never goes out.

Jude 7 “suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

Is.33:14 “who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings.” How is one burned “everlasting” if they do not exist?

Ps.49: 19 “they shall never see light.” (If one was burned up, how could they still exist to never see light?

Ez.32:21 “the strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell.” One must still exist to speak.

Dan 3: 19 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who were thrown into a furnace of fire, yet were not consumed.

Rev 20: 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Rev 14:10-11 he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

Unsaved men spend eternity in the same place as the Devil and his angels: Rev 20: 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

“What kind of bodies will people have in hell?”

The Bible indicates that both believers and non-believers will have resurrected bodies on the last day Daniel 12: 1-2. Those going to hell will be eternally separated from God. That’s the “second death”-being cast into the lake of fire to be tormented for eternity, separated from God, Revelation 20: 14.

One clue that people in hell have a body of some kind is Jesus’ account of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. The rich man in hell had the ability to feel “torment” and “agony” (verses 23-25), the ability to see and speak (verses 23-24), and a “tongue” that he wanted cooled (verse 24). Since this story is set before the resurrection on the last day, it seems that those now in hell exist in an “intermediate” state; many theologians believe this to include a “spiritual body” of some type-or perhaps the spirit takes on some of the attributes of the body it inhabited.

People currently in heaven also have a “spiritual body,” it would seem. Lazarus’ “finger” is mentioned in Luke 16:24. And, when the three disciples saw Moses and Elijah on the mount of transfiguration, the two prophets did not appear as disembodied spirits; rather, they were recognizable individuals. They were visible as “men … in glorious splendor” Luke 9:30. Even pre-resurrection, Moses and Elijah have a body of some kind.

God has good news regarding the harsh reality of hell’s existence. God, in His justice, prepared hell for the punishment of sin; but, in His mercy, He also provided the means by which we can be saved. Romans 5:8-9 states, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” Because of Christ’s sacrifice and our faith in His atoning blood, we can be at peace with God Romans 5: 1. We can look forward to the time when we will live with Him for all eternity in the resurrected bodies He will give us.

Matthew 25:46, “And, these shall go into everlasting life, and these shall go into everlasting punishment.” He used the same word for everlasting. It is the word Aionios. In describing heaven as everlasting, so is hell everlasting. Eternal punishment is because we need to recognize who we have sinned against: A holy, omnipotent, perfect, and eternal God. In addition, we need to realize that God sent His only Son to die a horrific death on the cross for our sins. God sacrificed His all for us. To reject Jesus is saying we don’t value what God values therefore, our rejection of Jesus is deserving of eternal punishment in hell. It will be your own fault if you go to hell because you have been warned over and over throughout your life. It’s not God’s decision. It’s yours.

In Matthew 25:41 Jesus said, “Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil, and his angels.” Most of us have no trouble with believing that the devil will be in eternal fire or in hell forever. Jesus just pointed out in that verse that people are cast into the same place as the devil, “Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” So, people are going to the same place. Matthew 25:41 uses the same word in Romans 16:26.

There is no way to describe hell. Nothing on earth can compare with it. No living person has any real idea of it. No madman in wildest flights of insanity ever beheld its horror. No man in delirium ever pictured a place so utterly terrible as this. No nightmare racing across a fevered mind ever produces a terror to match that of the mildest hell. No murder scene with splashed blood and oozing wound ever suggested a revulsion that could touch the border lands of hell. Let the most gifted writer exhaust his skill in describing this roaring cavern of unending flame, and he would not even brush in fancy the nearest edge of hell.

Those who reject Jesus will be cast into the lake of fire for all eternity. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. AII the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but therighteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-33, 41, 46.

There is nothing temporary about this punishment. “He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever.” Revelation 14:10-11 “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Revelation 20:10.

There will be no second chances after you die. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.” 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10
Regardless of what you actually call it, Hell / The Lake of Fire is a real, eternal place of everlasting punishment for those who reject the free salvation of Jesus Christ. Unbelievers will not simply fall asleep for eternity and cease to exist. Nor will they be given a second chance or be able to earn their way out of eternal punishment. Eternal is eternal. Everlasting is everlasting. Forever is forever.

The consequence of sin is eternal separation from God in the lake of eternal fire, where there is no light. Think long and hard folks on these things. Sin brings death, but the free gift of God is eternal life. You must put your faith in Christ Jesus alone with no works on your part. If you do, you will escape the horror of hell fire and be with our loving God in heaven forever and ever in complete joy, peace, no pain or suffering. It’s all up to you!! Choose life eternal, not everlasting suffering in hell!

May God open your understanding to comprehend these spiritual truth’s.

Maranatha (Lord Come)

John