Death delivers us from sin.

We are not delivered from sin by dying. Rather, after we die we face judgment.

The idea that we must sin while we are in the world is based on the idea that after we die, we will not sin any more. This is a fallacy. Sin began in Heaven around the Throne of God, when Satan decided to usurp the place of the Father; and on earth, in the midst of Paradise, when Eve decided to obey her own will instead of God's will.

The bondages of sin that keep us in moral chains are spiritual in nature. Why then, would it be true that when we die we no longer are bound by sin? This idea is neither logical nor scriptural. There is not one passage of the Scriptures to support it. Deliverance from the power of sin is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ, not in the spirit realm after we die.

When we stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, all that we are shall be revealed. Then we shall receive the good we have done and the bad we have done.

The Lord's coming will deliver us from sin.

Later the others also came. "Sir! Sir!" they said. "Open the door for us!" But he replied, "I tell you the truth, I don't know you." Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. (Matthew 25:11-13)

For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:29,30)

In the case of the foolish virgins, and the man who wasted his talent, we see that the Lord's return did not deliver them from sin. Rather, their sin was revealed and they suffered the consequences.

The Lord Jesus Christ has the authority and power to deliver us from sin today, while we are in this world. To put off to His coming our deliverance from the power of sin is not wise, for such a concept is without scriptural support.

When Paul cried out, "Who will rescue me from this body of death," he was reflecting on the inability of the Law of Moses to enable him to overcome sin.

Then Paul proceeds, in Chapter Eight of the Book of Romans, to show us first of all, that we are without condemnation when we are living in Christ. Then Paul explains that if we continue to live according to our sinful nature we will die spiritually, but if we choose to put to death through the Spirit of God the deeds of our sinful nature we will attain spiritual life. Then, at the return of the Lord, our body will be redeemed from its death-doomed state.

The work of attaining the resurrection to eternal life takes place now, in this present world. To put off our deliverance from sin to the coming of the Lord is to risk being thrown into outer darkness because of our neglect of the Kingdom gifts given to us now.

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, (Hebrews 9:27)

To be continued.