Some heresies try to deny the matter of sin altogether. The Bible clearly tells us that man has sinned. In saying that man has sinned, the Bible means two things. First, man has sinned in his conduct; this is sin in conduct. Second, man has sinned against God; this is sin before God. Both are sins in the Bible, and both are facts. Some people have more agreeable dispositions, yet they are still sinful before God. Any teaching that denies these two facts of sin is a heresy. Some have tried to prove man’s sinlessness by philosophy. Others have tried to prove it by human physiological constitution. Christian Scientists as well as Russellites, or Jehovah’s Witnesses, fall into this category of people. They are heretics. Saying that man has not sinned annuls the work of redemption and the need of a Savior. Saying this is the same as saying that the gospel we preach is a lie. All those who deny the fact of man’s sinfulness are heretics.
The Bible clearly says that our sins are washed away by the blood of the Lord Jesus. The redemption of Christ is a biblical truth. There are two cardinal facts in the gospel of Christ. The first involves Christ’s person, and the second involves His work. His work redeemed man through the shedding of His blood. The denial of either one of these two aspects is a denial of the gospel of Christ. Concerning the redemption of Christ, man’s mind has been deceived by Satan into formulating many strange and devious teachings that lead to unimaginable results. Men try to overturn the work of the Lord. Some try to overturn it by overturning the reality of sin. They deny the fact of man’s inherent sin. This nullifies the need of Christ’s redemption. Others try to overturn the blood. They do not recognize the redemptive nature of Christ’s blood. This also nullifies the work of Christ’s redemption. Second Peter 2:1 speaks of those who deny the Master who bought them. This is surely heresy.
Some people believe in the person and work of the Lord Jesus. They believe in man’s sinfulness and in Christ’s redemption. But they overturn the fact of eternal judgment. They deny this by promulgating two kinds of teachings concerning death. First, they say that a man is simply sleeping when he dies. His body is asleep and his soul is also asleep. Neither the body nor the soul is conscious of anything anymore. When the Lord resurrects him, he will wake up once more. His death today is merely a gap in time. However, the Lord tells us that after a man dies, he is still conscious of many things. On the cross He told one of the thieves that he would be with Him in Paradise that very day. In Luke 16 the Lord relates the story of Lazarus and the rich man; both went to Hades after they died. Clearly they were conscious of many things. It is true that the Bible refers to man’s death as a kind of sleep. But this refers only to man’s body; man’s soul has not gone to sleep. Men came up with this theory in order to reduce the consequences of sin. This is heresy. Second, there are those who say that the second death is not an eternal judgment but a total annihilation or perdition, in which a man ceases to exist entirely. Yet the word used in the Bible for destroy (Matt. 10:28) is the same as the word used for ruined in the bursting of the old wineskins (9:17). The wineskins are broken and ruined, but they are still around; they have not ceased to exist. Christ said that there are those who can kill the body but not the soul (10:28). He also said that in Gehenna the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:48). A man in perdition is a man who suffers eternally in the lake of fire. This is God’s Word. This proves that after a man dies, he does not cease to exist. For any man to nullify the second death is for him to preach heresy. Such preaching does not honor the redemptive work of Christ.