191. You will not Die
2 Samuel 12:13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
After David committed adultery and murder, he was convicted of sin and guilt and confessed with sincere repentance. The prophet responded with a word from the Lord: I have put away your sin; you will not die. The penalty of sin is death; God put away the penalty and the guilt of the David’s sins. However, he still had to suffer the consequences of his sins. The rest of the story of 2 Samuel relates the consequences for David with family troubles, rebellion, and unrest for Israel.
The promise is for David in this instance, but the promise of the Bible applies to us in the same way: We are forgiven and the punishment is put away, but we will suffer the consequences of our sins during our lifetime. The great promise for us is also contained in the words, “you will not die.” Jesus promises in John 11:26: “Everyone who believes in me shall never die.” The wages of sin is death, but if the sin is put away then death is put away. David deserved he death penalty, and so do we. But through repentance and faith in the Messiah we shall never die. Jesus died instead of us and by doing so He paid the penalty. Those who believe in Him will not die. We receive that promise of eternal life by repentance and faith in Christ.
David did die, of course, and so certainly shall we die physically. When the soul separates from the body the body dies. But the “not dying” promise Nathan gives to David and the “you will never die” promise Jesus gives to us deals with eternal separation from God. David and all people are conceived in sin and so are born dead (separated from God). Then we are born from above with a new life when we believe in Jesus. That life is eternal without being separated from God, ever. That is what Jesus did for us. Our certain death is an open door into heaven and eternal life with God in glory. This is God’s promise to David and Jesus’ promise to us. We do not want to die, but we are ready to die, for we have already passed from death to life. We have a promise. We are born from above with a life that never dies. We await the resurrection with hope and joy.