In all my years of being a Christian, something has become glaringly clear.
There are two kinds of Christianity. The first is the religious version—the one most people have come to know. The second is the Christianity revealed in the Bible itself, which, sadly, few ever come to recognize.
We’ve all been taught that our behavior—our sin—is what separates us from God. That sin directly caused death, and that getting our sins forgiven equals salvation. But that’s not what Scripture actually teaches.
Yes, if you only read the Bible at surface level, that’s exactly what it seems to say. But Scripture can’t just be read at surface level. It wasn’t written recently, nor was it written to us. It was written to a people who lived in a completely different culture and time. Their understanding of words, life, and God was shaped by their world. Ours is shaped by ours. To read Scripture as though its meaning automatically transfers across time and culture is not only naive—it’s a mistake.
Sin didn’t directly cause death. In fact, sin has no power at all to cause any kind of death. Physical death has always been a natural part of being human. If it were caused by sin, then what God says in Genesis 3 wouldn’t make sense. There, God says the tree of life can give everlasting life even to sinful people. That would be impossible if sin eventually leads to death. The only way that statement makes sense is if physical death was already a natural part of human life.
Sin doesn’t cause soul death either—that would be no different than physical death. The soul is what gives life to the body. So that leaves spiritual death.
But, if spiritual death were automatically caused by sin—if sin had built-in power to destroy spiritual life—then salvation would be impossible. No amount of grace or forgiveness could stop such an automatic effect. The moment someone received new spiritual life, their very next sin would simply kill that life again.
So while spiritual death entered the world through sin, it wasn’t automatically caused by sin. There’s more going on than that.
We are all born spiritually dead. That’s our condition. We inherited it—passed down from generation to generation—all the way back to Adam and Eve, who received it from God as a consequence of disobedience. When they ate from the tree, God separated Himself from them. That separation was spiritual death.
From that point on, humanity bore a new image. Genesis 5:3 says Adam had a son “in his own likeness, after his image.” Humanity was created in God’s image, but now we are born in Adam’s. Spiritually dead plus spiritually dead will always equal spiritually dead. That’s why Romans 5:12 says we all share in Adam’s condition.
Our behavior—our sin—is simply the natural result of being separated from God. It’s the symptom of our spiritual condition.
Even though we’re born spiritually dead, we aren’t guilty of sin until we choose to sin. A newborn infant, for example, hasn’t wilfully sinned. If that child dies, it has the grace of God upon which it will be saved. But given enough time, however, that child will eventually sin.
Now, if spiritual death is our condition and our sin is merely a symptom of that condition, then logically, it is not our sin that separates us from God, but our condition. And if our sin isn't what separates us from God, then getting our sins forgiven isn't going to save us. Our salvation, and the forgiveness of sin, are two uniquely separate events.
Forgiveness was accomplished more than 2,000 years ago and applied to all humanity. Every person born since the cross has entered the world already forgiven. There isn’t a soul alive today who isn’t already forgiven.
Imagine you’ve committed a crime deserving life in prison. A friend—completely innocent—offers to take your punishment in your place. The judge agrees. The moment your friend takes your penalty, you’re considered innocent and free to go. Do you need to ask for a pardon? Of course not. The price was paid, and justice was satisfied.
That’s exactly what happened at the cross. The moment Christ paid the penalty, the world was forgiven. And it’s because we’re forgiven that salvation is even possible.
This is why God tore the temple curtain—to show that anyone can now enter His presence for salvation. If forgiveness only happened at the moment of salvation, then no one could approach God to receive it, because they’d still be guilty. But since forgiveness was already given, salvation became possible for all.
It’s like judging someone with Alzheimer’s for forgetting things—then scolding them to “try harder” to remember. The problem isn’t their behavior. It’s their condition.
We’re all born in the same condition: spiritually dead. Do you have the right to judge another based on that? Of course not. You were no different. The true question is, can you love someone regardless of their symptoms?
That’s what true Christianity is about.
There are two kinds of Christianity. The first is the religious version—the one most people have come to know. The second is the Christianity revealed in the Bible itself, which, sadly, few ever come to recognize.
We’ve all been taught that our behavior—our sin—is what separates us from God. That sin directly caused death, and that getting our sins forgiven equals salvation. But that’s not what Scripture actually teaches.
Yes, if you only read the Bible at surface level, that’s exactly what it seems to say. But Scripture can’t just be read at surface level. It wasn’t written recently, nor was it written to us. It was written to a people who lived in a completely different culture and time. Their understanding of words, life, and God was shaped by their world. Ours is shaped by ours. To read Scripture as though its meaning automatically transfers across time and culture is not only naive—it’s a mistake.
Let’s start with the belief that sin caused death. This is a perfect example of why surface-level reading will only lead to confusion.Sin didn’t directly cause death. In fact, sin has no power at all to cause any kind of death. Physical death has always been a natural part of being human. If it were caused by sin, then what God says in Genesis 3 wouldn’t make sense. There, God says the tree of life can give everlasting life even to sinful people. That would be impossible if sin eventually leads to death. The only way that statement makes sense is if physical death was already a natural part of human life.
Sin doesn’t cause soul death either—that would be no different than physical death. The soul is what gives life to the body. So that leaves spiritual death.
But, if spiritual death were automatically caused by sin—if sin had built-in power to destroy spiritual life—then salvation would be impossible. No amount of grace or forgiveness could stop such an automatic effect. The moment someone received new spiritual life, their very next sin would simply kill that life again.
So while spiritual death entered the world through sin, it wasn’t automatically caused by sin. There’s more going on than that.
Scripture teaches that it is our condition that separates us from God, not our behavior. This is something so obvious that we've somehow missed it. If I was to ask you, "Why is it that we sin?" What would your answer be? Whatever your answer is, it should be glaringly obvious that if your answer is what causes us to sin, then sin itself is the symptom, not the cause.
We are all born spiritually dead. That’s our condition. We inherited it—passed down from generation to generation—all the way back to Adam and Eve, who received it from God as a consequence of disobedience. When they ate from the tree, God separated Himself from them. That separation was spiritual death.
From that point on, humanity bore a new image. Genesis 5:3 says Adam had a son “in his own likeness, after his image.” Humanity was created in God’s image, but now we are born in Adam’s. Spiritually dead plus spiritually dead will always equal spiritually dead. That’s why Romans 5:12 says we all share in Adam’s condition.
Our behavior—our sin—is simply the natural result of being separated from God. It’s the symptom of our spiritual condition.
Even though we’re born spiritually dead, we aren’t guilty of sin until we choose to sin. A newborn infant, for example, hasn’t wilfully sinned. If that child dies, it has the grace of God upon which it will be saved. But given enough time, however, that child will eventually sin.
Now, if spiritual death is our condition and our sin is merely a symptom of that condition, then logically, it is not our sin that separates us from God, but our condition. And if our sin isn't what separates us from God, then getting our sins forgiven isn't going to save us. Our salvation, and the forgiveness of sin, are two uniquely separate events.
Imagine you’ve committed a crime deserving life in prison. A friend—completely innocent—offers to take your punishment in your place. The judge agrees. The moment your friend takes your penalty, you’re considered innocent and free to go. Do you need to ask for a pardon? Of course not. The price was paid, and justice was satisfied.
That’s exactly what happened at the cross. The moment Christ paid the penalty, the world was forgiven. And it’s because we’re forgiven that salvation is even possible.
This is why God tore the temple curtain—to show that anyone can now enter His presence for salvation. If forgiveness only happened at the moment of salvation, then no one could approach God to receive it, because they’d still be guilty. But since forgiveness was already given, salvation became possible for all.
In modern Christianity, the focus is too often on behavior. But every major religion in the world is about behavior—about doing better, trying harder, sinning less. It’s easy to judge others when we measure faith by conduct.It’s like judging someone with Alzheimer’s for forgetting things—then scolding them to “try harder” to remember. The problem isn’t their behavior. It’s their condition.
We’re all born in the same condition: spiritually dead. Do you have the right to judge another based on that? Of course not. You were no different. The true question is, can you love someone regardless of their symptoms?
That’s what true Christianity is about.
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