by R. L. Morrison

When Luke wrote to Theophilus, he said he was writing that " you might know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed" (Luke 1:3-4). This suggests that there are some "certainties" about which we also ought to be assured. In all probability, a study of some of these "certainties" will be of value to you, the reader. These certainties are based on the scriptures, therefore we can rest assured that they are certainties. Now, if you will, carefully consider some "Bible certainties".

First. All men, that is people who are accountable for their actions, have sinned. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) To this John adds: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). Not everyone knows the Bible so teaches, or they do not believe it. Some say, "I am not a sinner. I pay my debts. I care for the needs of my family. I am not a liar. I am an honest man. I love God." Perhaps one reason for this attitude is because they do not know what "sin" is. There are four passages of scripture in the New Testament which define sin so clearly that anyone should be able to understand it. (1) "All unrighteousness is sin" (1 John 5:17). (2) "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is a transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). (3) "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin" (James 4:17). (4) "And he that doubteth is dammed if he eateth, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). You will notice that sin is a transgression of the law! But what law? First the law of God, but it also includes the law of the land. God requires people to be under civil government, which He ordained. To violate the law of the land is sin against God, as well as the civil law. God's punishment for sin is delayed, but we can be certain that punishment will come. But all have sinned and "the wages of sin is death" and that is as certain as the rising of the sun in each new day.

Second: Christ died to save sinners. There are, of course, many who do not so believe. Some say man does not need a Savior. Others call his sacrifice of himself an unnecessary thing. Then there are those who say, I do not believe in a "blood" religion. However, God decreed that such a sacrifice was necessary and we are told why. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Although man was made perfect, he soon transgressed God's law and his sin separated him from God. Then a blood sacrifice was required by man to worship God.

However, the blood of animals could never be a sufficient sacrifice to cleanse man of the guilt of sin. "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sin" (Hebrews 10:4). The same writer also says: "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us" (Hebrews 9:11-12).

In the laws God gave to Israel, concerning sacrifice, it is said: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it unto you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul" (Leviticus 17:11). Here we learn that life of the flesh is in the blood. The animal sacrifices could not cleanse men of sin, though blood was offered. But Christ became a man in the flesh. Life with him, as with us, was in the blood. He lived above, or not guilty of sin, so his life and blood was offered as a sacrifice to God for our sins. The "sinless "blood of Christ is a sacrifice sufficient to cleanse all men from sin. All who accept him as the Son of God, and obey the requirements of the gospel receive the remission or forgiveness of sins. Paul stated it like this: "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him" (Romans 5:9). That Christ died to save sinners is a Bible certainty.

Third: All will die. This too, is certain. This refers to the physical death, but sometimes the word refers to the spiritual death. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were driven from the place God had prepared for them. They died spiritually that day, for they were separated from God by their own sin. God said to them: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for out of it was thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return" (Gen. 3:19). This is a reference to physical death.. "And it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27). We all know that sooner or later every living thing will die, and this includes man. True, we do not like to think about death, but that does not mean that we can escape it. However, there is one exception. We MIGHT escape it, but it will not be in our power to do so. Hear Paul, the apostle: "Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed ..." (1 Cor. 15:51-52). Paul simply says that some will be living at the time of Christ's return. They shall not die, but they shall be changed, even as the dead are raised to a new body, not a physical body, but a spiritual one. This is found in verse 44: "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body." And then these encouraging words are found in verse 49: "As we have borne the image of the earth, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." Other than spiritual, we are not told just what kind of body that new one will be, but we can rest assured that it will not be subject to death. Death, the last enemy, will be destroyed by the resurrection of ALL from the dead. We shall be raised to die never again. But it is certain that all now living are subject to death, and unless the Lord returns in our lifetime, we shall die physically.

Fourth: All will be judged by the word of God, or with the word as the standard of judgment in the last day of time. "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: because He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead" (Acts 17:30-31). "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10). "For it is written, as I live saith the Lord, that every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Romans 14:11-12).

In Matthew 25, Jesus gave a "word picture" of the judgment. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats" (verses 31-32). Now consider the standard by which we shall be judged in that day. "He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" (John 12:48).

There are many other scriptures which speak of the coming day of judgment, but if these are rejected any others would be rejected also. We have learned that the day of judgment is "appointed". This means that day has been set. We have learned that all men of all nations shall appear before Christ, as the Judge. All shall bow before him. Every tongue shall confess to God. We have also learned, that on this judgment day, a great separation will be made. Some will be placed on his right hand, the others on the left. Now, with these things in mind let us go back to Matthew 25 and read verse 46: "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." These things are as certain as was the resurrection of Christ from the dead. From this judgment there is no escape. We shall all be there.

Fifth. It is a Bible certainty that the unrighteous will be lost eternally. To introduce this subject is to invite immediate disagreement with a great many people. Some will say: "There is no hell. There is no punishment after death. All the punishment we get is the evil we endure here in this life." Others teach that the punishment of the wicked will be annihilation. It has been described as a flash of fire and a puff of smoke and the person is gone forever. They become as though they had never been. Others say that a loving Heavenly Father would never eternally punish one made in his own image. In fact, some say, God would never send anyone to hell.

There are other objections but these should be enough to show the attitudes of some people.

The Bible does not teach that God sends people to hell. It does teach that God sent Christ to die for us and that he revealed a law of pardon. It teaches us that through obedience to that law, we can escape the consequences of our sin, which is eternal punishment But IF one chooses to accept and obey that law, God allows him to do so. If one chooses to reject, or refuse to obey that law, God allows him to do so. God allows us to do as we please, to live any way one may choose to live. Of course, if one decides to live in sin, he chooses the place he shall be in eternity, and God allows him to go there. God DOES NOT make man a sinner, therefore God does not send anyone to hell, He allows them to go to the place for which they have prepared themselves in life. I think one can readily understand, that one who stands before the Judge and realizes that he is lost, will not want to go to hell. But it will then be too late to change the conditions or circumstances which brought him to that end. So the conclusion is that God does not send men to hell, he allows them to go there, if that is the choice they made in this life.

Now we need to consider a few scriptures which give us some idea of the place of punishment for those who refuse Christ and die in their sins. "So shall it be in the end of the world: the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:49-50).

In Mark 9, Jesus referred several times to eternal punishment: "Into the fire that shall never be quenched again and the fire is not quenched". In verses 43-48 he spoke of fire that is not quenched." Peter, in his second letter, chapter 2 gives some vivid descriptions of the deeds that men would do and also describes the punishment that follows. Yes, it IS a certainty: The unrighteous will be eternally lost!

Sixth: The righteous shall inherit the rest that God has prepared, for them eternally. In Matthew 25:24, we find a reference to this "rest". "Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." In Hebrews 4:3, we find another reference to this rest. "For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world." Verse 1 says: "Lest any of you should seem to come short of it". These passages are from Psalms 95, where God spoke of Israel, whom he brought out of Egypt, who did err in their hearts and did not know God's ways.

And so it can be said today: "Not everyone who says Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica concerning this "rest'. "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch-angel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:15-17). Note that Paul said "And so shall we ever be with the Lord." This is in harmony with what Jesus said in Matthew 25, Matthew 7:21 and what Paul wrote in Hebrews 4:3.

This is also described as "eternal life" in many of the passages previously referred to. Something eternal is beyond the ability of man to comprehend, but we believe God is eternal. We were made in his image and the spirit, which is a part of very one of us in God's image, is also eternal. A life time (for us in the flesh) is as nothing when compared to eternity. But we shall exist in eternity. And the redeemed, the obedient, will be in a place that God as chosen to call "My Rest". This assuredly, is another Bible certainty.

Seventh: There are some who will reject the Word when it is preached unto them. This has been true almost from creation. Therefore it should not seem strange when people reject it now. God gave commandment to Cain and Abel, the first sons of Adam and Eve. Some say He did not! But Hebrews 11:4 says Abel offered by faith. "Faith comes by hearing the word of God" (Romans 10:17). God commanded. Abel heard and obeyed. Cain rejected God's word and followed his own will. Time after time we read the history of Israel, who rejected the word of God and turned to idols. When Jesus began his public ministry there were many who rejected him. The people of Nazareth, the village in which he grew up, also rejected him. They attempted to throw him over a cliff to take his life. The Jewish leaders at that time also rejected him. They had to acknowledge his works, which were so apparent they could not be denied, but they refused his teaching and finally brought about his death. Even Pontius Pilate, the Roman judge, knew that it was for envy they delivered him. Stephen, a Christian, disputed with a group of Jews from a certain synagogue. They could not resist the spirit and wisdom by which he spoke. So they stirred up the people, brought him before the council and would not so much as allow him to finish his defense before the council. They stoned him to death! The apostle Peter wrote about false teachers who would teach damnable heresies. He said many shall follow their pernicious ways.

Look about you today. Consider the many different denominations who claim to be followers of Jesus. But they each teach different and conflicting doctrines, denying the Lord. They have changed His doctrine, His word, to suit themselves. They have changed worship from the simple activities the New Testament teaches to whatever man thinks is good or what they like. The New Testament has been replaced with the disciplines, catechisms, manuals and creeds of men. Many of them make no claim to be the church that Jesus built. They say their organizations were founded by men, many years following the work of the apostles. They call their churches after the names of men or something that men decided would sound good.

Anyone who is familiar with the "religious condition" of today knows this is true. And this should be just as easily recognized. God is NOT the author of their religious confusion.

God, through Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the apostles, revealed His will for man in this last dispensation of time. It is the New Testament. It teaches the same thing today, in the same words it taught 1900 years ago. It, the gospel, is God's power to save a sinner today. This gospel is the TRUTH, which alone can make men free from the guilt of sin and prepare them for an eternal home in God's rest.

Study your New Testament. Learn what God requires of you then DO IT!!! There is no other way to escape eternal damnation. Will you continue (if you are) to be an unbeliever??? Are you rejecting God's word, refusing to accept what He has done for you? Do you realize that you must answer for it in the day of judgment? But then, it will be too late for you to turn to God. If you are a Christian, determine that you will more diligent in your Bible study and in the application of its principles in your daily life. This is the ONLY way anyone can be and please God. And these things are just as certain as anything can be, for God has so decreed. But this LIFE can only be found and obtained by submission to His will!!!

Will YOU do so?

PS. Will you try to "imagine" eternity? The best definition I know is "time without end." Try to imagine that! You will be there - but where? Your destiny is determined by what you believe and do NOW!!! Hurry, you haven't much time left!