The Eternal Warning: Understanding Sin and Salvation

Engage in Holy Scripture: Read John 8:21-30.

I have played these words over and over in my head: “You will die in your sins.” I believe He said them out of love.

An Awakening

Have you ever heard a fire-and-brimstone preacher? Sometimes their emotional pleas are effective; at other times, not so much. But there was this one time that goes down in the annals of Christian History.

On July 8, 1741, in Enfield, Connecticut, Reverend Jonathan Edwards delivered a profound sermon that would usher in the First Great Awakening in America.

He told the congregation that they would die in their sins.

The reaction was profound terror, deep spiritual conviction, and mass hysteria. The imagery of the Lake of Fire could not escape them. The congregants were physically overwhelmed. The fear in the room was intense. Some were so emotionally overcome that they felt they were slipping into the pit of Hell right then and there.

Ministers had to move through the pews, praying for the congregants and leading them to a personal salvation in Jesus Christ.

The massive religious revival swept across the American colonies. They were prepared for revolution!

The Warning

The sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” was a masterpiece, convincing souls of the reality of “dying in your sins.” The truth is the truth.

Reverend Jonathan Edwards obeyed the Lord, and the Holy Spirit opened the hearts of the hearers; they knew what choice they needed to make for eternity.

God can cast the unsaved into Hell at any given moment. Divine justice does not prevent God from destroying the unsaved right now. They’re marked for destruction – sentenced to eternity in Hell.

The unsaved suffer much because they follow their master. Satan. Their master stands ready to fall upon them and seize them as his own. They are sealed for destruction.

Hell is real. God’s loving restraints give us time to choose life. The unsaved will never feel secure. They cannot save themselves from sin’s death grip. Only those born again are saved from eternal death.

God continues to afford us the opportunity to accept or reject God. The only answer to eternal death is believing in Christ Jesus for salvation.

Jesus’ warning

But He continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins. John 8:23-24 NIV.

Sin is the corrupting force that keeps the world blind, deceived, and an enemy to God. Sin separates us from Him, blinds us to God, and refuses to keep hostility at bay.

Christ is the cure – the antidote for so great a poison. He brings forgiveness, cleansing, reconciliation, strength, salvation, grace, and so much more. He offers eternal life and secures our souls to receive it.

We need only believe that He is the One He claims to be.

More than a Warning

How many fire-and-brimstone sermons will awaken souls today? Will we see a great awakening in our generation? I don’t know.

Warnings come, and warnings go, yet there will be a day when the warning ends, and judgment begins.

Will we all be ready?

… They perish because they refused to love the truth and be saved. 2 Thes 2:10b NIV.

God’s Heart on the Matter

What is God’s heart in the matter? What does He think of this eternal death? God declares the unsaved sinner wicked

The soul who sins is the one who will die… Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? Ez 18:20a & 23 NIV.

Therefore…, I will judge you, each one according to His ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die… For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live! Ez 18:30-32 NIV.

God in His enduring and faithful love sent Jesus to seek and save the lost. This is all very, very real.

When we take communion, we remember the gravity of our decision. “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me. This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (1 Cor 11:24-25)

The Choice is still ours

Opportunities come, and opportunities go until we have no more time. Each of us is given time to believe by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Honestly, time is limited, and so we return to the heart of the gospel:

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:16-18 NIV.

My prayer is that you never hear these words from Jesus: “You will die in your sins.”

In Conclusion

Preachers like Johnathan Edwards are still preaching a fire-and-brimstone sermon. The Holy Spirit is still wooing the unsaved to the Lord’s side. Eternal life is still an open invitation to those who believe.

The Lord hasn’t changed.

Today is the day; now is the time to enter into an eternal, loving relationship with the Lord, with a new heart and a new spirit in you.

I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.”John 6:47 NIV.

You don’t need to die in your sin.