Many people say they don't believe in heaven or hell. But, very few people would argue the fact that a person has a soul. Soul's are different from both your body and your spirit.
When Adam was in the Garden of Eden the Lord told him that in the day he ate the fruit that he would die. People read the Bible and see that Adam lived for hundreds of years afterwards and think that perhaps God was lying. But, he wasn't.
A human has three distinct parts to them- body, soul, and spirit.
Your body is easy for anyone to see, touch, etc. When Adam ate the fruit, his body began to die (not immediate).
Your spirit is life. God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life. The spirit is very different between a human and an animal. When an animal dies the spirit goes to the earth, the body goes in the earth (Ecclesiastes 3:21), but they don't have a soul. When a human dies, the spirit goes back to God (Ecclesiastes 12:7). The spirit is where your intuition comes from. With animals it's the ability to do exactly what it's parent's did even if it never met them. With a person it's the ability to feel the spiritual realm. When Adam sinned it was his spirit's relationship to God that immediately died.
Your soul is a little more difficult for people to grasp. Some say the eyes are the windows to the soul, there may be some truth to that because when you die the look in your eyes does change. The soul is sometimes referred to as your heart (not the organ, but the seat of your affection and desire). The whole "follow your heart" that seems to be going around today is very dangerous because your soul doesn't always have all the information it should when it falls in love or gets determined to accomplish something. When Adam ate the fruit, the destination of the soul was ordained- heaven or hell. When the body expires the soul goes to one of those places.
A soul will automatically go to hell because of sin. And, everyone has sinned.
Romans 5:12- Wherefore, as by one man 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;
Even one lie is enough to send a person to hell. Once a person knows what sin is they will be held accountable for it. Even is you were to weigh your good works against your bad works you'd fall short. Because we don't even realize how often we sin! Overeating is a sin. Anger without a righteous motive is a sin. Stealing someones peace or joy is a sin.
Romans 3:10- As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Isaiah 64:6- But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Sin has consequences to both your body and your soul.
For the body, you reap those consequences as you go through life.Eat wrong and never exercise and you could get obese. Drink alcohol and your liver could suffer. Sex with multiple partners can cause sexually transmitted diseases. Sin has built in punishments that you suffer when you commit them.
The soul, however, reaps the consequences after your body dies. That's when the payment for the sins of your life becomes due.
Romans 6:23- For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Revelation 21:8- But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
So, what is the price of a soul. How can this sin debt be paid?
You already know the answer. When you sell your soul you sign with what? Blood. Because, the price of a soul’s redemption is blood.
Leviticus 17:11- For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
Isaiah 53:5- But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Jesus Christ willingly sacrificed himself to pay the wages required to redeem your soul. The only price that could possibly be paid was made on the cross of Calvary by God Himself.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4- For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Romans 5:8- But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
1 Peter 3:18- For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
This was a one time sacrifice which covers all sins and it is the only acceptable payment. You see, the sacrifice had to be holy and sinless. It had to be offered willingly. And, it had to be presented by a holy, righteous priest before the Lord God Almighty in the exact manner that truth and justice demanded. You could never figure out how to make this payment, nevertheless actually be able to pull it off!
Hebrews 9:26b- hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Hebrews 9:12- Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
The Blood Atonement is the doctrine that the blood of Jesus Christ, the sacrificial Lamb of God, was shed to atone for the sins of lost mankind (John 1:29; Heb. 9:22), and that this sinless blood was applied to the mercy seat of God the Father in Heaven (Heb. 9:11-12).
All of the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament FORESHADOWED the Blood Atonement of Christ. The innocent animal that was slain in Eden for Adam and Eve's covering (Gen. 3:21) pictured the slaying of our Lord Jesus Christ for our sins. Abel's accepted offering, the firstlings of his flock (Gen. 4:4), was also a type of the Blood Atonement of Christ. There are many pictures of the Blood Atonement in the Bible, but probably the greatest is found in Exodus chapter twelve, where God REDEEMS His people by the BLOOD of the Passover lamb.
Anyone can ask for their sins to be forgiven by God and secure their soul’s justification if they believe that Jesus Christ is the only way. You can go ahead and try to "work" your way to heaven, but I guarantee you cannot ever do enough to outweigh your sin.
John 3:16- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Romans 10:9,13- That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Your works, or how you live your life, aren’t necessary to your salvation nor do they void Christ’s payment. That story of the very first Passover in Egypt is so amazing. The blood was applied to the door, and when the death angel came through he passed by that house and didn't make anyone inside die. He didn't stop and see if those in the house were considered worthy by his standards. He saw the blood applied and it was enough.
Titus 3:5- Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Ephesians 2:8-9- For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
If you ask Christ to forgive your sins and apply His blood payment to your soul you are redeemed (saved) from the wages is sin on the soul. Through the years the Jews would remember the moment their forefather's escaped during the destruction of the firstborn in Egypt with a memorial feast. They would tell their children of the time their family was spared the icy grip of the death angel. But, they never had to apply the blood to their door again!
1 John 1:9- If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 5:13- These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
You are not the one guaranteeing your salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who guarantees it!
John 10:28- And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
The Blood Atonement of Jesus Christ is one of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, yet many deny that it is necessary for salvation, while others deny it altogether.
Today, with the completed Blood Atonement behind us, all sinners have access to God THROUGH Jesus Christ, and through Him alone. Acts 20:28 says that God PURCHASED the church "with his own blood." Revelation 1:5 assures us that Christ can WASH us from our sins in His blood. Romans 5:8-9 says that we are JUSTIFIED by His blood, and we can have PEACE through His blood, according to Colossians 1:20. Salvation was made possible, not by the DEATH of Christ alone, but by His Blood Atonement which takes away our sins.
Once you ask God to save your soul, and the blood has been applied to your account in heaven there is only one thing you could ever possibly do to remove it- take the mark of the beast. This can only happen during a specific time (the last few years of the tribulation time period mentioned in the book of Revelation).
This is a future time coming where the rules of nature and the universe change- it's a new dispensation where you can be saved by asking Christ to save you, but you must keep the law to keep your salvation, and you must be willing to die instead of worship the antichrist or take his mark.
Revelation 13:16- And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
REvelation 14:11- And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
There is only one end for those who take the mark- death in the lake of fire. Even if they had previously asked Christ to forgive them of their sins and save their souls.
Hebrews 6:4-6- For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
This is a specific time that is called the Tribulation. And, it is preceeded by a rapture (disappearance) of Christians from the earth, a rise of a one world government with a single man as its leader.
Matthew 24:15-16, 21, 33- When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
That time will be the most horrible time the earth has ever seen. The basic two choices will be lose your life or lose your soul. I urge you to get saved now when all you have to do is ask. Don't wait until it's a life or death situation!
