01.16 Sin And Salvation
XVI. Sin and Salvation
It takes no Bible, or standard of morals, to make a man realize that when he would do good evil is present with him. We all recognize that there is a conflict between our conscience and our conduct, between our better judgment and our natural disposition. Men may call this "Moral Inharmony" or what they will, the Bible calls it SIN. Every careful and thoughtful observer will note that there is a difference between the animal creation and man. Animals do not have to contend against inherited tendencies to do evil. They are governed by instinct which naturally leads them to their highest possible attainments. But man has an inveterate tendency to go astray, to sin, to entertain all kinds of misleading errors, and it is an endless struggle with him to do good. Why this difference? Something has happened to man that has not happened to the animal creation. Something has happened to change his nature. What that thing is we would not have known if the Scriptures had not revealed to us the "Fall of Man" in Eden. Now we know what has caused the difference, it is SIN.
I. SIN
Sin is the world’s "BLOOD POISON." Bad blood manifests itself in the human body in two ways. Inwardly as diabetes, and outwardly in inflammation, boils, carbuncles and ulcers. The former is invisible and may for a time be unsuspected, while the latter are evident to the eye. We must distinguish between "SIN" and "SINS." "SIN" is that tendency or disposition to sin that we inherit from Adam. "SINS" are the "specific acts" of sin that we commit as the result of our tendency to sin. The first like diabetes is internal, the second like boils and carbuncles are external. Jesus came to make an Atonement for "SIN," not for "SINS." He came to remove the "Natural Depravity," or tendency to sin, of the human heart. That is to impart a "New Nature" in which there will be no tendency to sin, and therefore no desire to commit specific acts of sin. By "Natural Depravity" is not meant that there is nothing good in human nature at all, that men are never kind, affectionate generous, lovable, but that the tendency of the human heart is naturally toward evil. It is because people do not understand the nature of sin that they are offended when we speak of them as sinners. They think that a sinner is one guilty of some specific crime, as murder, theft or adultery, whereas a sinner is one who has a sinful disposition.
We have five definitions of sin in the New Testament.
1. LAWLESSNESS is Sin.
"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4. To break any law of God or man is to sin.
2. NEGLECT is Sin.
"To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17.
3. DOUBT is Sin.
"And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Romans 14:23. That is, to do anything we doubt the rightfulness of is SIN.
4. UNBELIEF is Sin.
"And when He (the Holy Spirit) is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on ME." (Jesus.) John 16:8-9. The crowning sin of all sins is to not believe in Jesus. Men and women are not lost because they are sinners, but because they will not accept Jesus as their Saviour.
5. ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS is Sin.
"All unrighteousness is sin." 1 John 5:17. This is a blanket mortgage that covers every kind of sin.
Let us for a few minutes turn the "Search Light" of God’s Word on our lives. The Psalmist said-"Thou hast set our ’iniquities’ before Thee, our ’secret sins’ in the light of Thy countenance." Psalms 90:8. Here the Psalmist speaks of two classes of sins, "Open" and "Secret." The "open sins" are such as are publicly committed, as profanity, intemperance, lying and theft. The "secret sins" are such as are committed in secret. Would you like the Almighty to turn the "X-RAY" of His omniscient "Eye" on your heart, and search every "Chamber of Imagery," and bring to light every impure and murderous thought, every feeling of envy, pride, jealousy,hatred, and revenge? The Apostle John says that "Whosoever hateth his brother is a MURDERER." 1 John 3:15. Do you wish that someone was dead that you might possess their property? Then you are a murderer. Jesus said that to merely look at a woman to lust after her is adultery. Matthew 5:27-28.
What does the Bible say about the human heart? Listen. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it." Jeremiah 17:9. One day Jesus dissected the human heart for the benefit of His Disciples. Read what He said-"For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." Mark 7:21-22. Here are 13 specifications that outline the character of the human heart; can any one read them and say, "That does not describe my heart?" In fruit there is a tendency to rot and decay, and unless preserved it will soon perish. So it is with the "root principle" of sin in the human heart. Out of Christ there is no difference between men. Take a man honest, honorable, truthful, upright, benevolent; take a woman pure, chaste, amiable, gentle, meek, the embodiment of all loveliness: take some sweet girl, pure as a lily, the light of the household, a living joy: take a little child, innocent, the heaven-sent prattler of the fireside, and as unspotted as the new fallen snow; and what is the difference between any of these and the lost spirits, the sin-saturated souls hating and hated, cursing and cursed, blaspheming and damned that writhe in Hell? It is simply the difference between meal into which the leaven has been placed, and meal in which the leaven has done its work. It is simply a difference as to time and development. The batch of meal that has been leavened cannot take the leaven out of itself, neither can it prevent the leaven from doing its work. Its final state is only a question of Time. If men and women go into the other world without having the leaven of sin eradicated by the "BLOOD OF JESUS," the leaven of sin will continue to work on down the Eternal Ages, and they will grow worse and worse as eternity rolls on, until they shall become as bad as the demons in Hell. The leper was just as truly a leper the moment the first taint of leprosy entered his system, as he was when he sat a loathsome creature outside the city walls and cried "Unclean ! Unclean !"
What does sin do? It produces shame and leads to separation. It drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden. Of the wicked it is said-"He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world." Job 18:18. And Peter said to Jesus-"Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." Luke 5:8.
What are the Wages of Sin? DEATH. Sin does not ask us to sin for nothing. It pays wages, and it pays on the instalment plan, and it pays in full, and we cannot avoid taking the wage. And the wage is DEATH. Not physical death, for animals and the righteous die. If the wages of sin were mere physical death it would be a blessing rather than a curse, for many a sinner would be glad to die a physical death if that was all the punishment he had reason to expect. It is not spiritual death for sinners are already spiritually dead. Ephesians 2:1-3. It is "ETERNAL DEATH." What is that? We are told in Revelation 20:11-15, that after the Wicked shall have been judged and found guilty they shall be sentenced to the "Second Death." What is the "Second Death ?" What is the "First Death?" It is the separation of the soul and spirit from the body. At the resurrection of the Wicked, the Wicked get back their bodies, but when they are sentenced to the "Second Death" they die again in the sense that they lose their bodies again, and in their soul and spirit, that are indestructible by fire, they go to the Lake of Fire where they remain separated from God for all eternity and that is what is meant by "Eternal Death."
Sin is not a misfortune, it is perverseness. To claim that we ought not to be held responsible for having been born with a nature tainted by sin is no excuse. Our sin is in refusing to accept the provision God has made to get rid of that nature by accepting Christ as our Saviour.. By my rejection of Jesus Christ as my Saviour I elect to bear the penalty of sin myself.
SIN is the most expensive thing in the Universe. It cost Satan the loss of his exalted position before the Throne of God and led to rebellion in Heaven. It cost the human race the loss of Paradise. It cost God the "Life Blood" of His Only Begotten and Beloved Son. It cost Jesus the agony and "blood sweat" of Gethsemane, and the excruciating sufferings of the Cross, and the tasting of Eternal Death when He took the place of the sinner and realized what it meant to be forsaken by God.
II. SALVATION
Every rational human being recognizes that he has a "Threefold Need." (1). In regard to YESTERDAY. Why? Because "yesterday" was the day of SIN. What are we to do with the past years? We cannot live them over again, nor balance them by "Works of" Supererogation." (2). In regard to TO-DAY. If I have managed to provide for the sin of yesterday, what am I to do for today? For today if there is no change in my nature I will sin as yesterday. (3). In regard to TOMORROW. Suppose that I have been able to make provision for the past and the present, for yesterday and today, what am I to do for tomorrow? for tomorrow will come with the same old forms of temptation, the same old suggestions to evil, the same helplessness to overcome sin as in the past. From this we see that we need PARDON for the Past, PURITY for the Present, and POWER for the Future. Where are we to get them?
If, as we have seen, SIN is the World’s "BLOOD POISON," and every human being born into the world has inherited the disease, then as there is a remedy somewhere for every disease, there must be a remedy for the "Disease of Sin," and this remedy is found in the Gospel. "For I am not ashamed of the ’Gospel of Christ;’ for it is the POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION to every one that believeth." Romans 1:16. The "Power" of the Gospel lies in the "BLOOD OF JESUS." "The BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7. This is fully explained in the Chapter on "Atonement and Redemption," and so need not be more fully dwelt on here.
Salvation is a "threefold process." It begins in "Justification," proceeds through "Sanctification," and ends in "Glorification." Titus 2:11-13. So we can say that we are saved, that we are being saved, and that we will be saved.
1. We are saved from the PENALTY of Sin. This we get by "Faith." Faith leads to our JUSTIFICATION. "Therefore being JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:1. The word "Justification" is a legal term and means to declare not guilty. It can best be defined by an illustration. We will suppose that a man has been charged with murder and tried and found guilty and been sentenced to die. Before the hour of execution a man appears at the prison and asks to see the Sheriff, to whom he hands an official document, which when the Sheriff reads he finds to be a pardon. The man at once is set at liberty and walks out of the prison a free man, but not a justified man for the guilt of the crime still remains on him. He is simply a pardoned CRIMINAL. On the other hand we will suppose that the condemned criminal was really innocent, having been condemned on circumstantial evidence, and that before the date set for execution the real murderer surrenders himself to the Sheriff and produces evidence that he is the real criminal. What then must the Sheriff do? He cannot any longer hold the first man, for he is not guilty, he therefore sets him free, and he walks out of the prison a JUSTIFIED man because he is innocent of the crime charged against him. That is the legal meaning of "Justification" and that is the Scriptural meaning. Here is the "Mystery of Salvation." It would be impossible for an innocent man to satisfy the law, for while he might take the criminal’s place he could not take his GUILT. But uns is what Jesus Christ does. "He hath made Him to be SIN FOR US, who know no sin: that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21. The moment a sinner accepts by faith the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour he is JUSTIFIED. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and BELIEVETH on Him that sent me, HATH EVERLASTING LIFE, and shall not come into condemnation (Judgment), but IS PASSED from death unto life." John 5:24. The result of Justification is that we have peace WITH God. Romans 5:1. We must distinguish between "peace WITH God," and the "peace OF God." Php 4:7. Here an illustration will best serve our purpose. We will suppose that during the Civil War President Lincoln had issued a proclamation that any person in rebellion against the Government would be pardoned the moment that, coming from the South, he should step over the "Mason and Dixon Line." Suppose such a person had crossed the line at 12 o’clock midnight unknown to himself, at once he would have been at peace WITH the Government, but not knowing that he had crossed the line he continued on in fear of arrest and imprisonment until, as the day began to dawn, he realized that for hours he had been safe. What joy and peace of mind would then fill his soul. So the very moment we accept with saving faith the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour we have "peace WITH God," but it may be days, weeks, and even years before we know this, and have the "peace OF God" that passeth all understanding.
2. We are saved from the POWER of Sin. When the angel announced to Joseph that Mary was to have a son, he said-"Thou shalt call his name JESUS; for He shall save His people from their SINS." Matthew 1:21. So we see that Jesus is not only a Saviour from SIN, but also from SINS. From our daily besetting, or as the colored preacher said, upsetting sins. Writing to the Philippians Paul said-"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is GOD WHICH WORKETH IN YOU both to WILL and to DO of His good pleasure." Php 2:12-13. Now this does not mean" that we are to be saved by our works. It means that having received Salvation through faith we are to now work it out. That is, having been saved from the "Penalty" of Sin, we must work to be delivered from its "Power." And in this, though we do it with fear and trembling, conscious of our own weakness, we will be aided by God, for it is God who worketh in us, to WILL and DO of His good pleasure. What we need to do then is to cooperate with God in His work of Sanctification, to let Him will and do in us what is necessary to save us from the "Power" of Sin. The revelation of sin is progressive. It is not until after conversion that we really begin to realize what sin is. When you awake in the morning twilight you see a few conspicuous articles of furniture. As the light increases you see taking form the pictures on the wall and the toilet articles on the dressing table ; but it is not until the sun is up that you see smaller articles as pins, pieces of thread and particles of dust. When we came to Christ we were conscious of a few sinful habits. We gave them up. But as we grew in grace other things in our lives were seen as wrong and laid aside. And so it has gone on. Things that we did five years ago we would not do today, and what we do today, we will not do five years from now. Writing to the Corinthians eighteen years after his conversion, Paul said-"I am not meet to be called an Apostle." 1 Corinthians 15:9. Six years later he wrote to the Ephesians-"I am less than the least of all saints." Ephesians 3:8. And five years later he wrote to Timothy-"I am the chief of sinners." 1 Timothy 1:15. What was the matter with Paul? Had he grown worse? No, he only realized more than ever his own sinfulness. Paul never professed complete sanctification. He said that he was not "already perfect" or had "attained" unto that for which he had been "apprehended by Christ," but he was "reaching forth" and "pressing toward" the mark. Php 3:12-14. From this we see that Sanctification is a progressive act, and that our complete deliverance from the "Power" of Sin will not be until the death of the body, though we may have to a large extent "Victory. over Sin" if we surrender absolutely to the "Will of God," and permit Him to will and to do of His good pleasure in us.
3. We are to be saved from the PRESENCE of Sin.
Jesus died on the Cross to save our soul from death, He is coming back to complete our salvation by redeeming our body from the grave, or to change it into an immortal body at the Rapture. Not until then shall we be saved from the "Presence" of Sin. So we see that Salvation is a "threefold process." That it begins in "Justification" and ends in "Glorification." Justification being instant and complete deliverance from the "Penalty" of Sin; "Sanctification" being a progressive deliverance from the "Power" of Sin, and "Glorification" our final deliverance from the "Presence" of Sin.