The consequence of sin is death — both physical and spiritual.
God warned Adam that eating the forbidden fruit would bring death (Genesis 2:17), and Ezekiel repeats the law: "the soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4). Les Feldick teaches that this death began immediately at Adam's disobedience and includes separation from God.
Genesis 2:17 — This is the first explicit statement in Scripture that sin results in death.
Ezekiel 18:4 — It confirms the same principle centuries later: the soul that sins shall die.
Romans 5:12 — It shows how Adam's sin brought death to the entire human race.
Scripture presents the consequence of sin as death. In Genesis 2:17, God told Adam, "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." The same principle is restated in Ezekiel 18:4: "the soul that sinneth, it shall die." The apostle Paul also reveals the universality of sin: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Romans 5:12 further connects Adam's sin to death entering the world: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Thus, from Genesis to the New Testament, the consistent biblical answer is that sin's consequence is death.
Les Feldick traces the consequence of sin back to the Garden of Eden. He calls God's command to Adam and Eve "the very first fundamental law in Scripture": "the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die" (Clip 2, Clip 3). He points out that this law was repeated in Ezekiel 18:4 — "the soul that sinneth shall surely die" — leaving the human race with no alternative except death because all have sinned (Clip 2, Clip 3). Les also teaches that death is not only physical. The moment Adam ate, the physical process of death began in his body, he immediately lost fellowship with his Creator, and his soul — the mind, will, and emotion part of him — became a sin nature (Clip 7). Sin and death entered the human race at that moment (Clip 7). Yet there is one "loophole": believers can die in the person of Christ on the cross by faith, so that when He died, we died (Clip 3).
Les Feldick calls God's command to Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree "the very first fundamental law in Scripture" (Clip 2). God said, "the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die" — with no alternative (Clip 3).
The Bible says the soul that sins shall die (Ezekiel 18:4), which goes beyond the physical body. Les explains that the moment Adam ate, the physical process of death began in his body, and he immediately lost fellowship with his Creator; his soul became a sin nature. Death also includes spiritual separation from God (Clip 5, Clip 7).
Paul states that "all have sinned" (Romans 3:23) and that death entered the world through Adam's one sin (Romans 5:12). Les points out that the human race faces no alternative but death because we are born in sin (Clip 2, Clip 3, Clip 7).
Les says there is a loophole. By faith in Christ's death on the cross, believers can die in the person of Christ — when He died, we died. This is the way around the death penalty (Clip 3).
What the Holy Spirit Reveals to Believers - 1 Corinthians 2:9-13 Explained
adults, and so what does He know we have the ability to do? Search the Scriptures. And how are you going to search the Scriptures? Comparing Scripture with Scripture. And when you compare Scripture with Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, you're on as solid a rock as you can get. And that's all I beg people to do. Search the Scriptures. Don't go by what I say. And so Peter is making it so plain.
Sin Brings Death Immediately
Les explains that God's warning to Eve meant that sin would immediately bring about death, and he then connects that warning to Ezekiel's later statement.
The First Fundamental Law
Les emphasizes that God's command in the Garden was the very first fundamental law in Scripture: sin must result in death, with no exceptions.
The Loophole: Dying with Christ
Les presents the only escape from the death penalty: being identified with Christ's death by faith, so that when Christ died, we died.
Adam's Willful Disobedience
Les describes Adam's choice to eat as a deliberate act in absolute disobedience to God's Word, beginning the whole human dilemma.
Death as Separation from God
Les teaches that death is more than physical; it is also spiritual separation from God, and both death and sin began when Adam ate.
No Death Before Adam's Sin
Les shares his conviction that nothing, even in the animal world, died in the Garden until Adam sinned.
Immediate Effects of Adam's Sin
Les teaches that at the exact moment Adam ate, physical death began, he lost fellowship with God, and his soul became a sin nature.
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 God's original warning to Adam, giving the first clear biblical consequence of sin: death.
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 repeats and confirms that the consequence of sin is death, applying to every soul.
Romans 3:23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
This shows that every person is guilty of sin, which is why death applies to the whole human race.
Romans 5:12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
This connects Adam's disobedience to the entrance of death into the world on behalf of all people.
Death. God told Adam that the day he ate the forbidden fruit he would surely die, and Ezekiel repeats that the soul that sins shall die.
Les explains that the physical process of death began immediately at the moment Adam ate, even though his body took 939 years to die. Death also includes immediate spiritual separation from God.
No. Les teaches that Adam immediately lost fellowship with God and his soul became a sin nature. Spiritual separation from God is also part of death.
Les teaches that by faith a believer is identified with Christ's death, so that when Christ died, we died. This is the loophole, or escape, from the death penalty.
Watch the Teaching: What the Holy Spirit Reveals to Believers - 1 Corinthians 2:9-13 Explained