III. DEATH COMING IN THROUGH SIN
Romans 5:12b tells us that death came in through sin. Satan seduced man to commit sin. Through sin, death came into man. Thus, sin was not the actual issue of man’s fall, but death.
IV. MAN BEING DEAD IN SINS
Ephesians 2:1 says that man is dead in sins. Satan brought man into death through sin and today Satan keeps all men in sins that death may continue to work in man and on man. All men are dead because all are under sin.
V. MAN’S BODY BEING OF DEATH
Man’s body is now a body of death. In Romans 7:24 the body is called "the body of this death." This is the killing death which utterly weakens and disables the corrupted body so that it cannot keep God’s commandments. Man’s body is of such a present killing death, so Paul says that "the body is dead" (8:10). Romans 7 shows that despite man’s mind wanting to do good, man’s body, being of the killing death, will not allow man’s mind to work out what the mind wants. In Romans 7 the warfare is between man’s mind and man’s body. Because man’s body is of such a present killing death, it prevails against man’s mind.
VI. MAN’S MIND SET ON THE FLESH BEING DEATH
Romans 8:6a says, "For the mind set on the flesh is death." Man’s mind wants to do good, but if man’s mind is set on the flesh, on the corrupted body, man’s mind also becomes death. Thus, we see from the points above that man is dead in sins, that man’s body is of the killing death, and that man’s mind can also become death if it is set upon the corrupted body. Satan has the might of death, and Satan has brought man into death. Now man is dead, man’s body is of death, and man’s mind set on the flesh is death.
VII. THE SON OF GOD COMING AS LIFE
In order to save man from both sin and death, the Son of God came as life (John 1:4a; 10:10b; 11:25a; 1 John 5:12a). Generally speaking, Christianity mostly stresses that the Son of God came to accomplish redemption for us. They do not stress that the Son of God came as life to save us by His life. We need to stress the verse references above from John’s writings to show that the Son of God came as life that we may have life.
(Basic Lessons on Life, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee)
