SIN IS DEATH by H. P. H.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 25, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 25.

SIN IS DEATH.

By H. P. H.

BY H. P. H.

God is the life-giver; Satan, the life-destroyer. The work of God in creation was a manifestation of life in various forms. The first work of Satan in the world was to destroy the life that God had given; for when he induced man to disobey God, it brought the penalty, “Thou shalt surely die.” Hence, Satan is called “a murderer from the beginning.” Man’s life depended on obedience. As soon as he disobeyed, the death sentence was pronounced. This disobedience was sin; hence sin is death.

Man’s moral and physical natures were made in harmony with God’s laws governing the moral and physical universe. His life would continue so long as he lived in harmony with these laws; but every violation of them would be a step in death. It is a well-known fact that physical health depends on living in harmony with the laws of health, and that every violation of these laws destroys health, or life. The same is true of man’s moral nature.

The Hebrew expression rendered, “Thou shalt surely die,” more literally means, “Dying thou shalt die.” This indicates progressive movement towards death, and this is literally what occurs in the sinner. Every sin committed leaves the sting of death. Experience teaches that every transgression weakens the sinner; the farther one advances in sin, the harder, or more nearly dead, he becomes. This is not so because of an arbitrary sentence of God; but it lies in the very nature of sin. The work of death is in no sense the work of God, but wholly that of the enemy.

In Rom. 5:12 we read: “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.” This makes it further evident that sin is death; and being death, it can work nothing else but death. It alluringly promises pleasure and good days; but it can give only sighs and regrets, and pangs of sorrow; “for the wages of sin is death.” As all are born in sin, death is in all. As sin is manifested in the flesh, death is working, and continues its work till its victim is destroyed.

The workings of sin are called “lusts of the flesh.” If we yield to these enticing, pleasure-promising lusts, we become the servants of sin; for “know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Sin never fails to pay its servants; its unfailing wage is death. The process and outcome of sin are thus described by James: “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” 1:15.

Man is an instrument, which higher forces will use for good or evil. Left to himself, he will be the instrument of sin; for sin dwelling in his flesh being more powerful, uses him as its instrument. “Then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” Rom. 7:17. This working of sin in our members is called “this body of death.” Verse 24, margin.

But while man is only an instrument, his will is sovereign. God exhorts man not to yield his members to sin as its instruments; and the moment that a man wills to be free from sin, “the body of this death,” the Lord Jesus is there to set him free and keep him free as long as he desires righteousness more than sin. As long as a man wills to follow the Spirit instead of the lusts of the flesh, God will use his members as instruments of righteousness; and thus he is delivered from the body of death and turned to life. To follow the lusts of the flesh, or “to be carnally minded, is death;” but to follow the Spirit, or “to be spiritually minded, is life.” Rom. 8:6.

As all are born in sin, all are stung with death. But as God has provided a way of escape, and will free every one from “the body of this death” that will accept his deliverance, the responsibility rests with every individual as to whether he shall remain the victim of sin and death, or not. Let no one be deceived; as long as sin and disobedience are in his members, he is a child of death, and will reap the unfailing penalty. If you are not the instrument of righteousness to-day, you are surely the instrument of sin; and sin has no other wages than death. To whom are ye yielding yourself as servant to-day?

Basel, Switzerland.