The law is fulfilled by faith when God reckons the believer as having died with Christ, so the demanded death has already taken place in Christ.
Because every person is a sinner in Adam, everyone must die. God provided a loophole: Christ died in our place. When a person believes, God counts him as crucified with Christ, so the old Adam is put to death and the penalty is satisfied.
Ezekiel 18:4 — This is the exact law Les Feldick says restates God's death sentence on the sinner.
Genesis 2:17 — This is the first statement of the law that sinning brings death.
Romans 6:6 — Paul shows how the law is fulfilled: our old man is crucified with Christ so the body of sin is put out of commission.
The Bible states the death penalty plainly. In Genesis 2:17, God told Adam, 'For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.' Ezekiel 18:4 repeats the principle: 'The soul that sinneth, it shall die.' The New Testament reveals how this death sentence is carried out for believers. Romans 6:5 says believers have been 'planted together in the likeness of his death.' Romans 6:6 says 'our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed.' Romans 6:7 adds, 'He that is dead is freed from sin,' and Galatians 2:20 declares, 'I am crucified with Christ.'
Les Feldick teaches that this law cannot be ignored. Every person is a sinner because we are sons of Adam, so every person must die. Rather than cancelling the law, God provided a loophole: Christ died in our place as a substitution. Yet the believer does not escape death; he experiences that same death in the person of Christ. At the moment of faith, God reckons old Adam as crucified and dead. Crucifixion kills, so God puts old Adam out of commission. The body of sin is not annihilated but is put out of business. Paul's conclusion is that the believer, being dead, is freed from sin, and old Adam no longer reigns. Les is careful to say that old Adam may still seem to be in force experientially, but his power has been broken and God sees the believer in Christ's death and resurrection.
Les traces this demand to the first law God gave the human race: 'The day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die' (Genesis 2:17). He also cites Ezekiel 18:4, 'The soul that sinneth, it shall die.' Because every human being is a son of Adam, every human being is a sinner and therefore must die. Les calls this 'the law of all laws.'
God did not cancel the law; He gave a legal way through it. Les calls it a loophole: 'He died in our place.' This is substitutionary death — Christ took my place and yours. Yet the believer still must experience that same death, but he experiences it in the person of Christ. God counts Christ's death as the believer's death.
Les explains that the moment we believe, God reckons old Adam dead and crucified with Christ. This is not something we feel; it is something we know because 'the Book says so.' Faith identifies us with Christ in His death and resurrection, as Romans 6:5 states. Paul could say, 'I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live.'
Crucifixion kills, so God kills or puts out of commission the old Adam. The body of sin is 'destroyed' in the sense of being put out of commission, not annihilated. Because he that is dead is freed from sin, old Adam loses his control and no longer reigns. Les repeats that experientially old Adam may still seem to be in force, but God reckons him dead and his power over daily behavior has been broken.
Faith Knows by the Word
Les says true biblical believing is knowing that Christ's death is ours because the Book says so — the believer is planted together with Christ in the likeness of His death and resurrection.
Old Adam Crucified and Put Out of Commission
Les teaches that our old man, the old Adam, is crucified with Christ; crucifixion kills, so God puts the old Adam out of commission and destroys the body of sin.
Dead to Old Adam by Faith
At the moment we believe, God reckons old Adam dead, so Paul can ask how we who are dead to old Adam can continue living in sin; this is Galatians 2:20's 'I am crucified with Christ.'
Old Adam's Experiential Presence and Broken Power
Les explains that old Adam has been put to death and his power over daily behavior broken, yet experientially he may still seem to be in force; God reckons him dead.
God Reckons Believers Crucified
All these acts are God's acts; God has reckoned believers as crucified with Christ, which means put to death — necessary because of the law 'The soul that sinneth shall surely die.'
Substitutionary Death as the Loophole
Les says God gave a loophole to the first law: we do not have to die in ourselves; Christ's death takes our place as a substitution, and so old Adam must be crucified.
Death Frees From Old Adam
Using the analogy of a guilty criminal who dies, Les teaches that the only way to separate from the old Adamic nature is to put Adam to death; once dead, he loses control and ceases to reign.
Experiencing Christ's Death as Our Own
Because the law makes all sons of Adam subject to death, God's loophole is that Christ died in our place; we still experience that same death, but in the person of Christ, called substitution.
Genesis 2:17: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
This is the earliest statement of the death penalty for sin, which Les Feldick describes as the first law.
Ezekiel 18:4: Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
This verse is the direct source of the question's phrase about the soul that sins being put to death.
Romans 6:5: For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Paul ties the believer to Christ's death and resurrection, which Les uses to show salvation's identification with Christ.
Romans 6:6: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
This verse explains how the penalty is applied to the believer: the old man is crucified and the body of sin put out of commission.
Romans 6:7: For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Paul states the legal result of death: the believer is freed from sin's dominion.
Romans 6:8: Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Paul connects death with Christ to future life with Him, part of the believer's identification with Christ.
Galatians 2:20: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Paul personally testifies to the crucifixion of the old man and Christ's life in the believer.
No. Les teaches that all have to die, but God lets believers take Christ's death as substitution. God reckons the believer as having died in Christ, so the law is satisfied.
Les says true biblical faith is knowing it because the Book says so, not because it is felt. God reckons the old Adam dead the moment we believe.
Les says old Adam can still seem to be in force experientially, but God reckons him crucified. His power over daily behavior has been broken, and the believer is freed from serving him.
Les says the body of sin is 'destroyed' or put out of commission, not annihilated. It is exactly what Romans 6:6 means when it says 'that the body of sin might be destroyed.'
Watch the Teaching: What the Bible Really Says About the Old Sin Nature