A Few Thoughts about Sin.
By John B. Tinker
"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." 1 Tim. i, 15. "And thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins." Matt. i, 21. We inquire, first, what does the word save mean? It means "to rescue;" therefore when it stands connected with sinners, it means to rescue, or preserve them from the consequences of sin. This leads to the inquiry, What is our danger? The prophet answers: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Ezek. xviii, 4, 20. Not merely because we are descendants of Adam, is death entailed upon us, "but every one shall die for his own iniquity." Jer. xxxi, 30. Our own sins will cause our final destruction. We not only inherit from father Adam a mortal, dying nature, in consequence of sin, but we must die for our own sin. "For all have sinned." Rom. iii, 23. "All we, like sheep, have gone astray." Isa. liii, 6. "The wages of sin is death." Rom. vi, 23. "But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and workers of lewdness, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Rev. xxi, 8. (See also Ezek. xviii, 26.) "For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day cometh that shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. iv, 1. (See also Rev. xx, 9, 14; Ps. cxiv, 20.) Having now ascertained what our danger is, we inquire, What is the cause? Says the apostle, "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." Rom. v, 12. This leads us to inquire, What is sin? Says the apostle, "Transgression of the law." 1 John iii, 4. But what law? Answer. God's law. What is God's law? Answer. The ten commandments. Proof. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me in the mount and be there, and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law and commandments, which I have written." See Ex. xxiv, 12. "And the Lord spake unto you . . . And he declared unto you his covenant which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments, and he wrote them on two tables of stone." Deut. iv, 12, 13. "For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers." Ps. lxxviii, 5. Let us now turn to Ex. xx, commencing with the third verse, and read to the eighteenth. Here we learn what the great God spake as his law. It says: "Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God," &c. And as there is no dispute among Christians on any of the commandments except the fourth, we will offer some proof of its being a part of God's law! "Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned my holy things; they have put no difference between the holy and the profane, neither have they showed difference between the clean and the unclean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them." Ezek. xxii, 26. In giving the reason, the Lord says he gave it "that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or no." Again, when Israel went out to gather manna on the Sabbath, the Lord says, "How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." Ex. xvi, 4, 28, 29. If the above does not prove the Sabbath commandment a part of God's law, then we cannot prove it. And as the ten commandments are found to be the rule to determine what sin is in the Old Testament, we shall find them the rule of the New Testament. Says Paul, "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." Rom. vii, 7. "For by the law is the knowledge of sin." Rom. iii, 20. Again, "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. . . . The law is spiritual," &c. See Rom. vii, 12, 14, 22. James ii, 8-12. But, says one, the ten commandments are done away. To this our blessed Lord replies, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matt. v, 17, 18. Lest any should say that sin is not the same, we will compare a few passages that speak of sin in both the Old and New Testaments. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they broke the first commandment, by choosing to obey the god of this world. Gen. iii, 1-8; 2 Cor. iv, 4. For says Paul, "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." 1 Tim. ii, 14. To Cain the Lord said, "If thou doest not well, sin lieth at thy door." See Gen. iv, 7. The apostle speaks of him as of that wicked one. 1 John iii, 12. When Israel made and worshiped the golden calf, Moses said to them, "Ye have sinned a great sin," &c. Of this matter Paul says, "Neither be ye idolaters." 1 Cor. x, 7. He also warns us not to commit any of the sins of ancient Israel, such as covetousness, idolatry, and adultery. But, says one, "I do not doubt its being sin to break any of the commandments except the fourth; that belonged to the old system of types and shadows." The Sabbath a type! Instituted in Eden before the fall of man?! Pray, what is it a type of? The Sabbath a type! No, never. The Sabbath made for man, and the commandment that guards its sacredness, is the most important part of the law of God, for it alone143points out the Creator of the heavens and earth. You think it done away, when Jesus says, I came not to destroy the law? But we have abundance of proof that it was and still is sin to transgress the fourth commandment. See Ex. xvi, 28, 29; Lev. xxvi; 2 Chron. xxxvi, 14, 15, 16, and 21; Ezek. xx, 12, 20; xxiii, 26; John ix, 16; Matt. xii, 2-12. But we have proved that the fourth commandment is a part of God's law, therefore it is sin to transgress it; for sin is the transgression of the law. We might stop and show that the Sabbath was kept this side of the death of our Redeemer, and was a day of public worship; that Jesus taught the disciples to pray that their flight be not on the Sabbath day, and that it will be kept in the new earth. Matt. xxiv, 20; Luke xxiii, 56; Acts xiii, 14, 42, 44; xvi, 13; xvii, 2; xviii, 4-11. The fact that God has ever had but one rule for the moral government of his creatures in all ages of the world, is not only rational and consistent, but as we have seen, is scriptural, and well comports with his character as a being of infinite justice and of an unchangeable nature. The violation of this rule has caused all our trouble. It has entailed sickness, sorrow, and pain in this life, and finally death; yes, the second death—destruction from which there is no reprieve. Man has no power to save us from this death. And as we see our lost, our hopeless condition in consequence of sin, we are led to exclaim, Oh! what boundless love the great God has shown to us in giving his Son to die for man. And how great our sins that God's Son must needs die in order to redeem us. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures." Christ hath also once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust. "So Christ once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Yes, Christ shed his blood to rescue us from the curse of the law. All who will accept of the conditions of his offered salvation may come to Christ and live. "To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name, whosoever believeth in him, shall receive remission of sins." "Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ," constitute the ground of acceptance with God. Repent of what? Of your sins. Break off your sins by righteousness. Now while the last merciful warning is being given, hasten, oh hasten, sinner, to repent. By the help of the Lord, keep the commandments of God, that you may have a right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Safe inside those pearly gates we are forever saved from sin, sorrow, pain and death. "Dear Saviour, thy promise is precious,
Thy guidance I evermore crave;
Oh help me to walk in thy footsteps,
And trust in thy power to save."
JOHN B. TINKER.
Allegan, Mich., Sept. 5, 1865.