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How Can I
Live Forever?
Chapter 17
The Nature Of Sin
If
the nature of God's law is love, and if obedience to
that law is love, and if the works of true love include
our worship and praise of God and our self-denying ministries to the needs of others, then
the next logical question to ask ourselves is, What is
the nature of sin?
Having
come to the conclusion that obedience is a matter of
character, then it does not take any amount of genius to
deduce from this that sin, which is the opposite of
obedience, is also a matter of character. Like
obedience, sin is more a matter of what we are than it
is a matter of what we do or do not do. This is why . . .
`We
need to understand that imperfection of character is
sin.' (COL330)
Sin,
therefore, is not just a matter of stealing, it is a
matter of a character that desires to steal. Sin is not
just a matter of committing adultery, it is a matter of
a character that desires to commit adultery. Sin is not
just a matter of murder for . . .
`Murder
first exists in the mind.' (DA310)
Thus
sin is a heart/mind or, if you like, a character problem. The
sinful act is only ever a symptom of a deeper cause, and
the cause, in all cases, is an unconverted, sinful mind
or heart - which boils down to a corrupted character.
As
Jesus told us:
`Out
of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery,
sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.'
(Matthew 15:19)
The
heart, or character, therefore, is the source of and the
root cause of sin; the things that we do, say, or think,
are only symptoms. This is why . . .
`If
the law extended to the outward conduct only, men would
not be guilty in their wrong thoughts, desires and
designs. But the law requires that the soul itself be
pure and the mind holy, that the thoughts and feelings
may be in accordance with the standard of love and
righteousness.' (1SM 211)
Thus
we must conclude that sin is a matter of our deepest inner make-up. This is
why we do not have to perform a sinful act in order to
commit sin, we have only to desire to do the act in
order to sin, for the act, in all cases, is only a
product of our sinful inner desire. This is why Jesus
said, . . .
`Anyone
who looks at a women lustfully has already committed
adultery with her in his heart.' (Matthew 5:28)
Sin,
therefore, is something far deeper than mere actions,
for all of our actions have their roots deep down in our
hearts. In this regard, . . .
`[Jesus]
taught His hearers that the law was transgressed by the
thoughts before the evil desire was carried out in
actual commission.' (2MCP658)
And
this is why, in the judgment, our intentions, our
deliberations, our motives, and even our most private
inner feelings and yearnings will all be brought into
consideration - along with our actions. This will most
certainly be the case because . . .
`The
law of God takes note of the jealousy, envy, hatred,
malignity, revenge, lust, and ambition that surge
through the soul, but have not found expression in
outward action. These sinful emotions will be brought
into the account in the day when ``God shall bring every
work into judgment.'' ' (1SM217)
This
all makes us realise how vitally important it is that we
understand the true nature of sin - and there are at
least least two good reasons why this is so:
¤ 1) So that we will realise our great need and feel
more inclined to flee to the Great Physician for
healing.
¤ 2) So that when we do come to the Great Physician for
healing, we will not present to Him just our wrongful
acts, but also our "wrong-full" hearts. Only when we do
this is there hope of restoration, for only then will we
be able to co-operate with God in the removal of the
true cause of our problem, and not just focus His
attention, and ours, on a mere series of symptoms.
Our
Great Need.
The
greatest need of the human heart, therefore, is to
realise how great is the need of the human heart. In
fact, this realization is essential, for we will only
ever take full advantage of God's provision for sinners
when are we fully aware of the depth of our sinfulness.
Then, having a right understanding of our great need, we
will realise that, in our own strength, there is not
much that we can do to meet that need.
`Of
ourselves we are no more capable of living a holy life
than was the impotent man capable of walking. Man cannot
transform himself by the exercise of the will.' (DA203;
COL96)
Yet
even this realization is a source of hope, for `what is
impossible with men is possible with God' Luke 18:27.
God has made abundant provision even for the abundantly
hopeless.
`In
ourselves we are incapable of doing any good thing; but
that which we cannot do will be wrought by the power of
God in every submissive and believing soul.' (DA98)
While
we cannot even begin to change our characters, we can
nevertheless rejoice in the knowledge
that . . .
`It
is God who works in you to will and act according to His
good pleasure.' (Philippians 2:13)
God
is able to change our characters, but the sad truth is
that for as long as we have not discerned the
spirituality of God's law, for as long as we do not
understand that sin is primarily a matter of what we are, and not
just a matter of what we do, we will not realise our desperate need,
and we will not come to Him for healing. This is the
great danger of what we might call "pulpit flattery."
Once
we realise that sin is a matter of a defective
character, we will be rather reluctant to tell our
congregations that they are `the commandment-keepers of
God,' for who in any congregation has a character that
can stand in the light of God's law of perfect love?
`We
call ourselves commandment-keeping people, but we do not
comprehend the exceeding breadth of the far-reaching
principles of the law of God; we do not understand its
sacred character.' (1SM402)
In
like fashion, when we understand that obedience is love,
we would also be somewhat hesitant to declare to our
congregations that they are . . .
`A
chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.' (1
Peter 2:9)
In
Scripture, the above verse actually starts with the word
`but,' which means that it must be read in conjunction
with the preceding verse or thought, and we will notice
that the preceding verse is speaking about a people who
are disobedient. The thought that Peter is getting
across here is that the chosen people are not like those
who disobey.
Therefore, if obedience is love, if
obedience is a matter of character, are we doing our
congregation any favors by telling them that they are a
royal priesthood, a holy nation? Chosen we may be? But
perfectly obedient to the perfect law of
love . . .?
`For
all have sinned and fall short of the glory (character)
of God.' (Romans 3:23)
God
wants His people to understand that they are not saints
but sinners, and this because Jesus did not come to save
saints but sinners. The great problem with
"saints"
being that they feel no need of a Saviour and, as such,
they are in a more dangerous situation than an infidel,
for . . .
`It
is only when the sinner feels the need of a Saviour,
that his heart goes after the One who can help him.'
(5BC1111)
`The
soul must first be convicted of sin before the sinner
will feel a desire to come to Christ.' (FW31)
This
is why Jesus wishes that His Laodicean church were
either cold or hot, and not just lukewarm, for the
problem with lukewarm Christians is that they `do not need
a thing.' (Revelation 3:15,16)
Thus
the special need of God's church today is messages,
preached with great tact and kindness, that highlight
our sinfulness and our great need. Such messages,
provided they gently point us to our Saviour, will answer to the needs of
the soul and bring us to an understanding of our
spiritual vacuum, a vacuum that God alone can fill, and
one that He can only fill when we acknowledge our need
to be filled.
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