WHAT WAS THE PENALTY? by J. W. S.

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 24, 1877

WHAT WAS THE PENALTY?

By J. W. S.

The second statement and conclusion that appear upon the sheet mentioned last week are these:—

“‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.’ Rom. 8:1.

“If Gen. 2:17 means physical death, then the just are in a state of condemnation, for they die.”

The author has placed himself astride the blind hobby of spiritualization, and declaring that God did not mean physical death in Gen. 2:17, he closes his eyes to everything else, and drives on. But these words of Paul, against which he has reined up, have no relation to Adam’s sin or its penalty. Paul is giving a discourse upon the relation of the law of God to the sinner and to them that are in Christ Jesus. In this discourse he says that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth. He shows that while we are living in a state of sin, we are under the condemnation of the law; that when we become convicted of sin by the law of God (Rom. 7:7), we die to sin (verse 9); and that in that lost condition the sinner looks to Christ as his only deliverer, crying in the language of Paul, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death?” Verse 24, marginal reading. To the question raised in this cry, Paul gives the answer in the next verse: “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord;” that is, I thank God, I shall be delivered from it through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Then Paul draws this conclusion: “There is therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” There is no condemnation to such on account of their own sins. They have found pardon through Christ, and are free from the condemnation of the law just as long as they are obedient to it, walking after the Spirit. Paul never intimates that we shall be excused from suffering death, even that death which comes in consequence of Adam’s sin. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men,” says Paul. Rom. 5:12. “As in Adam all die,” he says. 1 Cor. 15:22. But if we have obtained forgiveness of our sins, we shall be redeemed from this penalty; “for if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

Here are his third statement and conclusion:—

“The saved in Heaven are delivered from all penalty. ‘And there shall be no more death.’ Rev. 21:4. If corporeal death is the penalty, then they are in a state of condemnation; for their bodies are dead.”

When the author will prove that there are any such anomalies in Heaven as saints whose bodies are dead, or who have no bodies, then we may conclude that the serpent told Eve the truth, and that the devil is not the father of lies.

The fourth statement is, “‘Death passed on all men, for all have sinned.’ Rom. 5:12. If corporeal death is meant here, and death is the penalty of sin, then Enoch and Elijah and all who remain when Christ comes a second time are exceptions, and physical death is not the penalty.”

What a puzzle! Hear it again: If corporeal death is meant here, then certain ones are exceptions, and corporeal death is not meant here. What kind of logic is that? When he says, “if death is the penalty of sin,” we wonder if he ever read this: “The wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6:23. Enoch, Elijah, and those that remain when Christ comes, are exceptions, and the very statement that they are exceptions is an admission that the general rule is death. Paul says they are exceptions. He says, “We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

* His fifth idea is this: “Corporeal death is by divine appointment for purposes of mercy. Gen. 3:19; Heb. 9:27. If death were the penalty for sin, then the wicked dead ought not to be raised, for then they would suffer the penalty twice according to annihilation theories.”

He says death is by divine appointment. That is true. “It is appointed unto men once to die,” and this because our first parents sinned. Rom. 5:12. He also says that it is for purposes of mercy. Not so true. Death and the grave are everywhere in the Scriptures represented as enemies. The saints finally shout victory over them. 1 Cor. 15:55. Death itself shall be destroyed. “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Verse 26. But let us turn to Gen. 3:19, to which he refers, and see what was the purpose of the death there appointed, see why it was pronounced upon Adam. The death sentence of Gen. 3:19 reads thus: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Now what is that for? Was it as a special favor to Adam? for a merciful purpose? No. It was Adam’s punishment because he had eaten of the forbidden fruit. It is the very punishment threatened in Gen. 2:17, and the Lord directly refers to the same in giving this sentence. He says, “Because thou hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it,” thou shalt return unto the ground—shalt die.

If such language as is contained in Gen. 2:17 and 3:21 and intermediate verses should be used in a common book or newspaper, it would be taken to mean just what it says. Why not let it mean what it says where it is, and not wrest the inspired language of Moses, abuse logic, and ignore common sense, to sustain a theory that is contradicted by the united testimony of Moses and the prophets, Christ and the apostles? J. W. S.