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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
verbs in G en .-3:6 and note how each one is related to th e previous one. “ She saw, she took, she ate, she gave.” Sin is contagious. I t propagates itself. The evil th a t men do lives a fte r them . One sinner destroyeth much good. The resu lt of sin is also seen in th e earth itself. The m aterial and subordinate p arts of creation share th e fate of man. The ground is cursed, Gen. 3:17-18, and creation groans. Rom. 8:22. WEDNESDAY, May 7. Rom. 3:9-23. Sinfulness of Man. Both S cripture and experience ju sti fy the statem en t th a t w ith the excep tion of Jesus Christ, all men are mor ally depraved a t b irth and if they live long in th e world, are found guilty of personal sin. By m oral depravity is m eant th a t state of th e soul which n a t u rally leads to sin and which can only he explained as an effect of sin. There are passages of Scripture* which assert the sinfulness of all men. 1 K ings 8:46. Eccle. 7:20. Rom. 3:9. There are passages which teach th a t m an’s n atu re is vitiated a t b irth . Jno. 3 :6 ; Rom. 5 :12 ; 1 Cor. 7:14, 15:22; Eph. 2:3. No man except Jesus Christ has fully obeyed th e law of God. Every other man who has acted as a moral agent has broken th a t law. Gal. 3 :10 ; Jas. 2 :10 ; 1 Jno. 3:15. Selfishness reigns and h atre d to God is p resen t in the h earts of all un regenerate men. Phil. 2 :21 ; Rom. 8:7. No unsaved man can have any proper love to God because sin is in all the life and th e principle of holiness is en tirely wanting. All men are no t equally sinful, however. The Scriptures declare th a t th e sinful ness of some men is much g reater in some instances th an it is in others and 'especially th a t it is modified by the knowledge of the sinner. Prov. 2 9 :1 ; Lu. 12:48; Jno. 3 :19 ; Rom. 2 :12 ; 1 Cor. 14:20. THURSDAY, May 8. Gal. 5:13-21. The Works of th e F lesh. The casual read er is impressed by the app aren t disproportion between the works of th e flesh and th e fru it of the Spirit. T h ere are seventeen of the form er ag ain st nine of th e la tte r. How discouraging th e conflict against such odds! A closer view, however, makes evident th e fact th a t while th e works- of th e flesh are plural, th e fru it of the Sp irit is singular. I t is inclusive because it is love. As a beam of light;
He said Love your neighbor, and then indicated certain men to whom the word applies. | His teaching was not intended to produce ab stract saintliness h u t full rich fru itfu l life. We do not need to tak e a pilgrim age to find an opportunity. They come to us and w ait for us a t every tu rn . To find God we need not change our place b u t only our h eart. MONDAY, May 5. Gen. 3:1-13. Sin In Eden. The origin of evil is an unsolved mys tery. A g rea t theologian has said “Whoever explains sin nullifies it.” God was no t obliged to create. He was not lonely. H is T rin ity makes him self- sufficient. When He did create, how ever, He was hound to fu rth e r th e good to th e utmost. He could only do this by making a free moral agent instead of an automaton. By th a t act He made sin possible. Sin became actual through m an’s own choice of evil. God’s love was shown in Eden by His doing all th a t could he done to prevent man from sinning. His love is now seen not only in redem ption which He accom plishes by sending H is Son to pu t away sin by th e sacrifice of Himself, h u t also in th e use of every possible deterren t. Sin is th e most dreadful th ing in the universe. Men m ust be k ep t ou t of it a t any cost. G;od has th erefo re imposed th e most aw ful penalties upon it. Hell itself in th is sense may he regarded as an evidence of God’s love. TUESDAY, May 6. Gen. 3:14-24:. Consequences of Sin. When man fell th e resu lts foretold by God came to pass. Man died physic ally and spiritually. Physical death is th e separation of soul and body. From th e moment of his disobedience man became a dying creature. T h at his earth ly existence did no t end a t once was due to God’s work of redemption. S piritual death is th e separation of the soul from God. E te rn a l death is the perpetuation of th is condition. Man was excluded from God’s presence, from Eden and from th e tree of life. A lthough God punished our first p ar ents, ' He did no t curse them as He did th e serpent. Indeed th e ir exclu sion from th e tree of life was a mercy since it prevented an imm ortality of sin. Another sad consequence of sin is seen in th e fact th a t Eve became the tem ptress of her husband. Study the
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