The Way of Life and the Way of Death

The Way of Life and the Way of Death

God, who is Spirit, cannot be seen and experienced through physical sight and touch. Because the laws of God are spiritual, they must be obeyed in faith; what God has spoken is to be accepted as His ultimate Word of divine truth to us. 

In the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), the rich man’s defiance assigned him a place in Hell. He begged Abraham to send Lazarus back to his five brothers so they would repent and not come to the place of torment where he found himself. Abraham replied, 

They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them. (Luke 16:29) 

The  Apostle Peter also implored us to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy Prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through the Apostles (2 Peter 3:2). We are instructed to trust the Word of God and accept its authority. The Lord God declared through His servant, the Prophet Habakkuk.

The righteous will live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2:4) 

Jesus Himself reiterated the importance of faith, 

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. (John 20:29) 

Preserving humans’ physical existence is grounded in the acknowledgment and obedience to all physical laws. The Lord equipped us with the senses and intelligence to recognize, accept, live, obey and survive according to these laws. We have learned never to question the law of gravity, the consequences of prolonged exposures to high or low temperatures or the consumption of toxic chemical substances. Preserving life requires unquestionable respect for these laws as assurance for survival. Violation of even a fraction of these laws results in physical harm or even death.

In complete contrast to the unquestionable obedience to the natural laws, is humans’ long history of disobedience to the spiritual laws. The Lord God, Himself, warned Adam and Eve that if they eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they will surely die (Genesis 2:17). They disobeyed God’s commandment and sin and death entered humanity.  

Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)

The Bible records a similar destiny for Ephraim; the moment he offended through Baal worship, he died. (Hosea 13:1) Death in the above cases refers to spiritual death. Baal worship broke the first commandment: You shall have no other gods before Me (Deuteronomy 5:7). The blessings and curses, life and death for obeying or disobeying God’s Laws refrain throughout the Bible. The Prophet declared,

Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33:11)

And again,

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? (Ezekiel 18:23)

The Prophet Ezekiel speaks to the Israelites of spiritual death due to sin. Only turning away from their corrupt ways can cancel their spiritul death. In the book of Revelation, Jesus sternly warns the church in Sardis. He identified their problem as spiritual death. 

I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. (Revelation 3:1)

The death that results from disobedience to God’s spiritual laws is spiritual. Are the believers shielded from such finality? Do we view our position in the Kingdom of God as so privileged that we can override God’s spoken Word and His spiritual Law? Are we victims of the enemy’s deceit, or is it just our foolishness? If we trust anyone, it must be God Himself. His Word has the answers.