SIN by J. H. Durland

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 11, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 44.

SIN.

By J. H. Durland

BY ELDER J. H. DURLAND.

WHAT is sin? The apostle defines it thus: “Sin is the transgression of the law.” What law? The moral law as revealed on Sinai, which is summed up by Jesus in the words, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself.” Whatever is a divergence from this is sin, but so long as a man keeps within this boundary he does not sin. He is at liberty to traverse the whole length and breadth of this kingdom of love, and fear no apprehension of law or condemnation of judge. But let us here call the attention of the reader to a thought that is often overlooked, viz., that sin is more than the transgression of man’s interpretation of the law. In looking for a right understanding of sin we must divest our minds of the opinions and sentiments of men. Human systems of casuistry have so involved the subject that whoever studies it by them, or is guided in life by them, will be deprived of his moral liberty. We do not want the broad mind of the latitudinarian, who would leave man without limit, nor do we want the thousand circles of the humanitarian to set the bounds of moral action. The latter would have a circle drawn by each distinct mind, and lay it down that if a man break over his, he is a transgressor and a sinner, ignoring, of course, all violation of the circle of his neighbor as of any importance.

We can thank the Lord that sin is not the transgression of human law, opinion, or theory. Eating or drinking, wearing or doing, being or not being, what is simply contrary to the enactments of men in morality, is no sin before God.

We are not to give an account to men, but unto God. Rom. 14: 12. Neither the private nor public opinions of men will be the rule of judgment in the day when man shall render an account of himself to the great tribunal of heaven. It will not matter in that day what men and women think of you, but it will matter what God thinks of you. Then we should not be troubled now as to what will be said about our actions. “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,” should be the watchword of every Christian.

If we are looking to Jesus, we will want to know what he desires us to do. We will be anxious to have his interpretation of the law which is our standard. He was sent to magnify the law and make it honorable. Isa. 42: 21. Magnify is to make great, or to enlarge the vision of the beholder. The magnifying glass placed over the tiny insect does not make it any larger. Actual measurement will show that it has not grown any. But the glass does strengthen and enlarge the vision so that the beholder may be able to see the parts of the insect that he was unable to see before. So when Jesus magnified the law he did not add anything to it, or make any of its parts larger. He simply enlarged man’s comprehension that he might see those parts in the law that he otherwise would overlook.

When Jesus said, “Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment,” he did not intend to convey the thought that hitherto this act was any less murder than at the time he spoke. Anger is the fruit of carnality, and had always been, and still is, at enmity with God. See Rom. 8: 6, 7. When he said, “Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart,” he did not teach that he had added this clause to the seventh precept. It was already there. He enlarged their vision, or placed the magnifying glass before their eyes that they might see what was there. They had become so blinded by the fleshly desires that they were unable to see those parts of the moral precepts. So we in this wicked generation need to have our eyes opened that we may see every minute part of God’s precepts, and thus be enabled to shun sin in all its deceitful forms. The admonition to the Laodicean church is, “Anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” Rev. 3: 18.

Anointing is a symbol of consecration. When the sick are anointed with oil, it is an outward sign that they have given up all to the Lord; when the symbolic oil was poured upon the head, the Spirit of the Lord came upon the receiver and he was anointed from on high. “Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ and hath anointed us is God.” 2 Cor. 1: 21. But God’s anointing is the sending the Holy Spirit, as was demonstrated at the baptism of our Saviour. See Acts 10: 38.

Then, the anointing we need, that we may see sin in all its hideousness, is a complete consecration on our part, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on God’s part. The Spirit is to be both a reprover and a comforter. It is just as much an evidence of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit when sin is pointed out through that agency, as when we have its comforting assurance that we are accepted of him.

The Spirit speaks through the word. “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit,

and they are life.” John 6:63. When the Spirit that is given to us opens up God’s word, the word becomes a mirror into which we look and see not only our exterior, but we see the very secrets of the heart. In public places we often see a convex or a concave mirror with the words, “See yourself as others see you,” just over or under the glass. When our eyes are anointed, we see ourselves in God’s mirror as we are seen by the heavenly beings.