The Law is Holy but We're not

Have you ever wondered why the Old Testament laws were so strict? To modern ears, they sound barbaric. But God meant those laws to be a blessing and a lesson to the Israelites.

First of all, God is the one who made us so his word is law. In Ezekiel 18:4 (BBE), God spoke, "See, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so the soul of the son is mine: death will be the fate of the sinner's soul."

God shows his justness in Ezekiel 18:20 (BBE) when he instructed that only those who commit sin will die for it. "The soul which does sin will be put to death: the son will not be made responsible for the evil-doing of the father, or the father for the evil-doing of the son; the righteousness of the upright will be on himself, and the evil-doing of the evil-doer on himself."

But this lets nobody off the hook since we're all destined to perish. In Genesis 2:17 (BBE) God gave Adam and Eve one simple command. "But of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not take; for on the day when you take of it, death will certainly come to you." They didn't fall down dead, thanks to God's mercy, but all Adam's descendents owe God their forfeited lives.

How then can we say that we'll have eternal life when we have the sentence of death in our DNA? Jesus gave Martha the answer. John 11:25 (BBE) reads, "Jesus said to her, 'I am myself that day and that life; he who has faith in me will have life even if he is dead;'"

Many of the Old Testament commandments were prophetic illustrations of Christ's work on the cross. As I've pointed out before, the Passover is symbolic of Christ dying so that spiritual death won't come upon us. The blood of the Passover lamb was put on the doorposts to show the death angel that God's people were within the house.

Another seemingly trivial point was that none of the Passover lamb's bones were to be broken. Exodus 12:46 (BBE)  says, "It is to be taken in one house; not a bit of the flesh is to be taken out of the house, and no bone of it may be broken."

And as we read in John 19:36 (BBE),after roman soldiers broke the legs of the other two crucified men, "These things came about so that the Writings might be true, 'No bone of his body will be broken.'"

I'll be writing more about the crucifixion of Christ and it's eternal ramifications in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? There are some people who see Christ's death on the cross as his ministry going wrong. But we who know our scriptures realize that it was planned long before the first atom was created.

On Thursday, I'll post about why Christ hasn't returned yet. He actually has a great reason for waiting so seemingly long to come back to us.

Saturday Song: Elton John, "Empty Garden"

December 8, 1980 was an ordinary evening for me. I had no idea that while I was at the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship dinner in Edmonton, John Lennon fought for his life in New York City. Not only was I oblivious about his death but I didn't know it happened until I bought a news paper the next morning.

Elton John summed up all of our feelings the next year with his song called "Empty Garden." That line about one insect destroying so much grain described the situation well.

Listen to this tribute to John Lennon here.

According to many people these days, it's the availability of guns that's the problem. They claim that if there were no guns, nobody would die. But we see that in lands where guns are tightly restricted, criminals steal or smuggle them in.

The real culprit is the human heart. Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV) puts the situation bluntly. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

Only God knows the depths of human depravity. As Jeremiah 17:10 (KJV) explains, "I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."

We can't blame our environment or upbringing either. Look at what Scripture says in Ezekiel 18:20 (KJV). "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him."

Neither will banning guns help. Wicked people will just find other weapons to commit murder with. The real problem is spiritual, not material. Ephesians 6:12 (KJV) declares, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

So, what are your memories of that tragic evening when John was murdered by a mentally disturbed man? Let me know.

By the way, Monday's post will be about the prophecies of Christ's birth. This is one of many proofs of the Bible's veracity.

Where Do the Souls of Dead Babies Go?

Since I wrote about the genuineness of Christianity, I feel equipped from Holy Scripture to state where the souls of departed infants go. I know this is an emotional question but please bear with me as I explain what I've found out about this from the Bible, the only source that matters.

We need firstly to understand that all souls belong to God and he does what he wants. As Ezekiel 18:4 )KJV) states, "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die."

Furthermore, each person is culpable for their own wilful sins.
Ezekiel 18:20 (KJV) plainly states, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him."

As I study the scriptures, I find that there are two types of sin. The first is inherited from Adam and the punishment of it is death. We all die as a result of Adam's transgression. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:22 )KJV), "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

The second type of sin is wilful rebellion. We all know what that is so I need not go into it here. This is the sin which we must repent of.

Since all humanity is infected with the sin virus and all die, the death of babies is the payment for that sin of Adam. Furthermore, infants can't know good from evil so they are able to enter God's heaven.

This is one thorny subject which I plan on tackling in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? People need to realize that there is no neutrality. Either you are the child of Christ or of Satan. That's just the way it is.