DEATH, SIN, AND THE LAW.
By John Nevins Andrews
TEXT.—“The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.” 1 Cor. xv, 55. These words are weighty and impressive; yet they are seldom pondered, and their force is not generally perceived. Death is personified, as though it were a living monster. It has a sting with which it inflicts deadly wounds. That sting is sin. There is an irresistible strength to the strokes of this sting. That strength is the law of God. This is a remarkable association of terms. Look at them; Death, Sin, the Law. Yet how closely connected are they to each other! Death is the wages of sin. Rom. vi, 23. Sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John iii, 4. If there were no law, there could be no sin. Rom. iv, 15. If there were no sin, there could be no death. Rom. v, 12; Jas. i, 15. The existence of death is proof that sin exists. The existence of sin attests the continued authority of the law of God. Death is a terrible reality. Sin, the source of death, is that all-pervading moral pollution that covers the whole face of the earth as completely as did the waters of the deluge. The law of God is that perfect rule of right which expresses the will of the Lawgiver, and represents his sovereign authority. It forbids sin. When sin is committed, it demands the death of the transgressor. That demand must be fulfilled. Death can never be banished from our world till sin is exterminated. Sin can never be brought to an end but by the utter destruction of the transgressors. But death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed. 1 Cor. xv, 26. All other enemies shall be destroyed first. Sin is destroyed when every transgressor suffers the just penalty of the law, and ceases longer to exist. Death ceases when the last sinner has died, and only immortal beings remain alive. Death and sin are in perfect accord. Sin deceives, and death destroys. Sin and death do business in partnership. The firm will never be dissolved till both the partners are buried in one common grave. Death and sin belong to one firm. But let none suppose that the apostle, by mentioning a third party, the law, in such intimate connection with sin and death, makes the firm include the law. No; by no means. Death and sin are united heart and soul; but sin and the law are in deadly antagonism. One or the other must perish. The law of God is simply the righteous will of the sovereign Lawgiver. Sin is rebellion against that authority. Death is the consequence of that rebellion. God's controversy with man is because he is on the side of the law, and man is on the side of sin. There never will be peace until one party prevails. If sin could prevail against the law, and overthrow it, there could be no peace; for sin can never bring peace to the transgressor. Satan and all his servants are strangers to peace. But the issue of the controversy is not doubtful. The law shall prevail; and wrong-doing shall be overthrown in the person of all wrong-doers, when death shall be their portion in the lake of fire. Rev. xx, 11–15; xxi, 8. Let us consider these three mighty forces; death, sin, and the law. The law is the eldest; sin, the next in age; and death is the youngest. Sin owes its existence to the transgression of the law; and death is the child of sin and Satan. The law of God in a mutilated form exists by nature in the hearts of men. So Paul teaches in Rom. ii, 15. This law upon the heart is precisely the same as that law which God gave to the Hebrews. See verse 14. What man has by nature in an imperfect condition, in consequence of the fall, he had in its perfection while he was an unfallen being. That is to say, the first man in his innocency had a perfect copy of the law of God upon the heart. This copy of the law in the natural heart is what responds to the truth of the moral law when it is preached. It is the basis of conscience. That which mars and obliterates the law to a greater or less extent in the natural heart, is the carnal mind, which is enmity to the law of God. Conversion is nothing more than the removal of this carnal mind, and the perfect writing of the law of God in the heart. So the new covenant promises to forgive the sins of the people of God, and to write the law in their hearts. Jer. xxxi, 33; Heb. viii, 10. Then the redeemed will have as perfect a copy of the law upon their hearts as Adam had before the fall. Paul alludes to this writing of the law upon the heart when he speaks of the epistle of Christ written “not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.” 2 Cor. iii, 3. This law was proclaimed by the great Lawgiver in person under circumstances of glory, and majesty, and terror, such as the second advent alone can parallel. Compare Ex. xix, 16–20; 1 Thess. iv, 16; 2 Thess. i, 7, 8; Matt. xvi, 27. It was written in ten precepts upon two tables of stone. These were placed beneath the mercy-seat. By this was indicated the fact that man had broken this law, and needed pardon. As the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin, the lesson taught by these sacrifices was that a sin-offering was to be made that could answer the demands of the law of God. So Jesus came with the law of God in his heart. Ps. xl, 8; Heb. x, 5–9. He came not to take away the law, but to take away sin, the transgression of it. Matt. v, 17–19; 1 John iii, 4, 5. He kept the law of God. John xv, 10; 1 John iii, 5. Then he took the curse of the law upon himself (Gal. iii, 13), being made a great sin-offering. 2 Cor. v, 21. Then he ascended on high, to become a priest for us in that heavenly temple where the ark of God's testament abides. Heb. viii, 1–5; Rev. xi, 19. He offers to forgive men's sins. He also offers to take away the carnal mind, and to write upon the heart a perfect copy of the law of God. He purposes that the life of every man shall be brought into such perfect conformity to the law of God, that the righteousness of the law, i. e., the right-doing commanded in the law, shall be fulfilled by them. Rom. viii, 3, 4. So James represents the law of God as obligatory in every precept. James ii, 8–12. He further teaches that we shall be held as transgressors of the whole law if we violate one precept; and that we shall be judged by the law of God. The gospel is a remedial system designed to bring men into conformity with God's great rule of right. When the gospel has done its work, then men shall be brought up to the Judgment, and be acquitted or condemned, according as they shall be found in conformity to, or in rebellion against, the law of God. The law is God's great rule of right, and by it sin is shown. Rom. iii, 20. The law of God condemns every member of the human family. Rom. iii, 19. The law is not made void, but established by the justification of men through faith. Rom. iii, 31. The law is written in the heart and mind of the subjects of the new covenant. Jer. xxxi; Heb. viii. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; and when men are converted by the law of God, their conduct is brought into exact conformity to it. Ps. xix, 7. If men would enter into life, they must keep the commandments. Matt. xix, 17. Whoever obeys the commandments, and teaches men66so, shall be highly esteemed in the kingdom of Heaven; while those who act otherwise, shall meet a different reward. Matt. v, 17–19. Making void the commandments of God, to keep the traditions of men, is very displeasing to God. Matt. xv; Mark vii. Finally, the law of God is perfect, spiritual, holy, just, and good. It is established in truth and uprightness, and stands fast forever and ever. Ps. xix, 7; Rom. vii, 7–14; Ps. cxi, 7, 8. Such is the character of God's great rule of right, the moral law. Now let us consider the second of the three great forces named by Paul. Sin is that all-pervading moral darkness and evil with which our world is enshrouded as with the pall of night. By one man's transgression, this great horror of darkness came upon the human family. When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, the wrong did not consist in some inherent evil in the fruit, but in the violation of the principles of morality which the transgression involved. The motive set before them was, to become elevated to the rank of gods themselves, a plain violation of the first commandment. To do this, they were induced to commit an act of robbery, Mal. iii, 8, to rob God of that which he had expressly withheld from them, when he had given them the fruit of every other tree. And before they plucked the fruit, covetous desires had been excited in the heart. It is certain that they did, by the act of eating the forbidden fruit, directly violate several precepts of the moral law. The test was made with reference to fruit. The action involved the principles of morality and righteousness. Adam and Eve dared to rebel against God. The motives of each for doing thus are fully laid open to our view, in the Bible. Eve believed Satan rather than God; Adam loved his wife more than God. Sin entered our world, and it has ever since been an all-pervading pestilence, poisoning the very air, and polluting every corner and every foot of our earth. Sin is a short word, but it comprehends all unrighteousness. Every crime, every evil deed, every act of wrong-doing of every kind, are all embraced in this great ocean of iniquity. Nor are the acts of men all that there is to sin. These make its existence visible; but it exists in the motives, purposes, and desires, of the heart. Here, alas! is the great fountain of evil. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Sin is a disease of universal prevalence. No one born of Adam's race has escaped its terrible infection. Nor is there any man free from this fatal plague of the heart, except such as have sought help from the great Physician of souls. His blood can cleanse from all sin. He undertakes the cases of all who heartily repent, and unfeignedly believe in him. Sin is that dreadful plague represented by the leprosy in the law of Moses. Lev. xiii; xiv. Like that, it is in its own nature, and so far as human means are concerned, an incurable disease. Like that, also, it is infectious. It communicates itself to all who come in contact with it. Like the leprosy, also, it eats up its victim alive. Like that terrible disease, it has its chief seat within, and pollutes the fountain of life, as well as makes the outer man an object of disgust and shame. But sin is not merely to be viewed as a terrible, pestilential disease. It is a mighty force organized for active warfare against God. It is armed rebellion against the Almighty. It is high treason against the government of God. It is the principle of wrong contending with right for a place in the universe. Rather, it is wrong struggling to extirpate right, and take the whole universe of God to itself. The law represents God's authority. Sin represents the rebellion of the wicked against that law. Were it not for the gospel, which attempts to save the rebels by making them penitent, and taking away their sin upon terms honorable to God's law, the struggle between sin and the law would long since have resulted either in the subversion of the law, or in the destruction of sin by the utter destruction of all transgressors in the lake of fire. The final conflict between sin and the law of God remains, therefore, to be witnessed; but the issue of that conflict is not doubtful. Death is the third, in the order of existence, of the three great forces named by Paul. Death is the result of sin, and sin is the transgression of the law. Death, therefore, is the last of the three to come into existence. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.” Rom. v, 12. Death owes its existence to sin. Had not sin reared its head in rebellion, death would never have found a place to step its foot. Sin is the source of death, and death is the punishment of sin. The first man opened the door of his house by transgression, which otherwise death never could have entered. But death has entered by his fault, and passed upon all men. Nor is this all. Men are exposed by their own fault to die the second time. Nor is this hard to explain. To the human family, God has granted two probations. The first was given in a state of innocency, and man was subjected to trial, that he might become confirmed in virtue. In this trial he made a disastrous failure. He sinned against God. By his sin he brought death into the world. He forfeited his right to live. But before he was actually turned back to the dust from whence he had been taken, mercy interposed, and granted to him a second probation. This time he is on trial to recover his lost innocence, and also to become established in virtue. Had he been left at the close of his first probation without interposition of mercy, death would have made a final end of him, and the race would have been utterly exterminated. God lengthened out to him a dying life, and this dying, forfeited life is what he is able to transmit to his posterity. So death, as the consequence of Adam's sin, is the inevitable portion of all his family. Saint, sinner, and infant, alike bow their heads in death. But men have something to fear besides the consequences of Adam's transgression. They are on probation now, each one for himself. Each man must overcome, and gain eternal life, or, for his own transgression, receive the just penalty of his sins, the second death. From this death there is no resurrection. Probation shall never be granted to mankind again. They have failed this time, not merely in Adam, their head, but each for himself in his own proper person. So there remains the fearful penalty of the law for every impenitent transgressor. John describes the resurrection of the wicked to the second death, at the end of the 1000 years, in the following words: “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. xx, 13–15. Here is the awful end of the wicked. If any should reply that these are still dead when given up to be devoured by the lake of fire, I answer that this is a mere quibble, unworthy of the acceptance of serious men. The sea gives up the dead that have long since been dissolved in its waters, that they may be cast into the fire. But if they are dead when they are given up, of what consequence is this mighty bringing forth of dead bodies? Hades, the place of the dead, also gives up all its inhabitants. But on the non-resurrection theory, they are still dead. This, however, is not all that is said. Death gives up the dead; and when death gives up the dead, they will not be dead any longer. This cannot be denied. And this is all preparatory to the sentence of the Judge, and the retribution of the lake of fire. Then death and hades, in the person of their guilty inhabitants, shall be cast into the lake of fire. Or as the earth itself shall melt and be dissolved, hades itself, in the depths of the earth, shall feel the devouring fires; and death itself shall die when the last victim of its power shall cease to exist. Death began its reign upon our earth, and here it shall forever cease to exist. But death shall never end till sin itself shall be destroyed. The law of God is in every particular exactly right. Sin is inexcusably wicked and wrong, and that in every point. Death is the penalty of sin, and is the terrible consequence of wrong-doing. Right and wrong have struggled for the mastery for the whole period of our earth's existence. Sometimes one, sometimes the other, has seemed to have the advantage. But the struggle shall last only for the time that man is upon probation. Then wrong shall be overthrown and right shall prevail. Then shall sin be put down in the person of all transgressors, and right, as represented by the law of God, shall prevail and gloriously triumph. The gospel saves men from sin, and brings them into conformity with the law against which they have sinned. But when it has done its whole work for guilty men, it steps out and leaves men to the just demands of that law which they have violated. Then it will be found that the law of God shall make swift work in the utter destruction of sin and sinners. Thus it is seen that the law of God is in deadly antagonism against sin, its determined and inveterate foe. How then can the law be called “the strength of sin?” If we observe the peculiar figure used by Paul, it will not be difficult to understand this expression. Death is the great foe which cuts down our race with terrible destruction. Sin is the sting with which he is able to strike down the sons of men. The law of God arms the blow with deadly force. Now if we drop the figure we may state the truth which the apostle would teach us in these few words: Because men are guilty of sin against God, the law of God demands their death. Sin makes death the portion of the transgressor; and the law of God demands the infliction of the penalty. While death lasts we may be sure that there is sin; and while sin exists we may be certain that the law of God continues in force. Nay, the law is to witness the overthrow of sin, its deadly enemy, in the person of every wicked man in the lake of fire. When sin and death have ceased forever, God's law, the great rule of life, still exists, and all the nations of the saved will be in perfect subjection to it, and God be all in all. Paul's words do show beyond dispute that the law of God is in existence with its full authority at the resurrection of the just. Nor can this reference to the law of God as that which inflicts death upon the transgressor, be understood as referring merely, or even chiefly, to that death which Adam brought upon mankind. No, by no means. For that which God's law threatens is the death of each sinner for his own personal transgression, and this is the second death in the lake of fire. How terrible the fate of the wicked. Death, the great destroyer of our race, with sin, his fatal dart, shall, by the terrible energy of God's law, lay low the impenitent transgressor. The wages of sin is death, and this dreadful hire the law of God shall pay. Nothing then can be more certain than that the law of God inflicts the second death. The Christian can say, O death, where is thy sting? But the sinner shall fall before its deadly sting, armed as it shall be with the strength of the law of God.