When does spiritual death occur? The moment (“day”) one looks into the Word of God, reads what He has written therein, compares His Words to those of man, then deliberately chooses man’s way, which is in reality Satan’s way. Why does man choose death? The answer is found in two episodes recorded in Matthew 16:13-23. In the first instance we find Jesus asking His disciples whom the people believed Him to be. Answers ranged from Elijah to John to Jeremiah to some other prophet. He then asked whom they believed Him to be. Peter voiced the opinion of the twelve when he replied, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” Who spoke “the Words of eternal life.” Jesus then told Peter that God Himself (through His Holy Spirit) had spoken that Truth to him. Some time later Jesus told the disciples what would happen to Him when they arrived in Jerusalem–He would be beaten and crucified. Peter replied that Jesus was wrong. At which time Jesus answered the question concerning not only when sin enters, but how. Speaking directly to Peter, He said: “Get thee behind Me, SATAN, thou art an offense to Me, FOR YOU SAVOR NOT THE THINGS OF GOD, BUT THE THINGS OF MEN.” Note that Peter the uberbeliever, the disciple who had preached the Word, healed the sick and cast out demons, had been used by Satan as quickly and completely as he had previously been used by the Lord. In the second episode, his response, Jesus told him, had come directly from Satan. In both instances Peter believed what he heard in the spirit, first from God, then from the devil. In each instance he “knew” that what he heard was the “truth.” This is the same response church people have to hearing “smooth things, lies and deceits” (Isa. 30:10) spoken by their false prophets–they “know” they are hearing the “truth.”

In these episodes the Lord reveals that sin enters when man hears or reads the Words of God and the words of Satan and chooses the latter. In the instances above, the Lord’s Words were spoken directly to the believers. Today His Words are available to man in written form. Both forms–spoken and written–present the way and will (the mind) of God. As Jesus makes clear to Peter and us, the Words of the Lord are to be believed and obeyed regardless of how they are received.

Sin enters when man hears or reads God’s will and way and chooses “… the things of men”–the doctrines of man’s (Satan’s) religion (Catholicism/Protestantism/Islam, etc.). Doctrines put forth by these religious entities state what man wants the truth to be. The Lord’s Bible–the Truth (Jn. 17:17)–tells the religious masses what they do not want the Truth to be. Peter rejected Jesus’ Words for that reason. Notice how quickly he changed from hearing and believing the Words of God to hearing and believing the words of the devil. Notice also that Jesus identified the source of Peter’s response in both cases: God in the first instance and Satan in the second. Sin entered Peter when he believed the voice of Satan. He then exposed his sin by speaking Satan’s words.

In order to walk in obedience to God, we must identify the power that caused Peter to change so quickly and easily? What prompted such a quick turnaround? The same power that caused him to sink into the sea after having walked on water–unbelief in the Words of the Lord (Mat. 14:25-31). Notice in this episode that belief was followed by unbelief, and quickly. Notice that PETER DID WALK ON WATER TO WITHIN REACH OF THE LORD, Who was so far from the boat that they did not know Who it was, thinking it was a spirit. Upon hearing the Lord’s voice, Peter began walking toward him. Then his faith shriveled. “Why did ye doubt, O ye of little faith?” These Words of Jesus identify the power behind those who claim to be sons of God but do not obey Him–UNBELIEF IN HIS WORDS. Understand: unbelief is a power as potent as belief. Peter’s belief (trust in Jesus’ Word–“Come”) enabled him to walk on water. His unbelief in that same Word caused him to go under.

Adam and Eve set the pattern for Peter’s negative responses to the Lord’s Words. After hearing Eve rehearse what God had told her and Adam, the devil offered them an alternative way–his way, which the Lord called “the ways of man.” God had told Adam that “… in the DAY that ye eat of (the forbidden tree) “YE SHALL SURELY DIE” (Gen. 3:17). Satan then told Eve that Jesus had lied, that they could eat of the tree and  “… ye shall NOT SURELY DIE” (3:4). Note that both Adam and Eve lived many “days” after rebelling against God. However, they died spiritually at the time of their sin–the moment they doubted God’s Word. Acting on their doubt simply doubled their sin. As far as we know from Scripture, they remained spiritually dead until the day of their physical death many years later. To be continued. L.J.