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man chose to eat of another tree and found the way to Death. But man was warned. In Genesis 2:17, God says, " I n the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely d i e ." This first state- ment announces the principle that con- tinues through the Bible that sin and death are inseparably linked. But the Serpent, possibly at that time a beautiful and fascinating creature, the satanic tool, in bold denial of God's threat, says,'"Ye shall not surely d i e ." Strangely, too, the satanie lie is in the form of truth, as so many of his later lies haye been, for man did not at once die a physical death. Grace intervened to stay the penalty. The point should be established as a first and fundamental principle that sin involves death. " T h e soul that sinneth it shall d i e ." Ezek. 18:4. " T h e wages of sin is d e a t h ." Bom. 6:23. " T h en when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth d e a t h ." James 1:15. It is but natural, therefore, that the Arch Instigator to sin should have the power of death. : ''Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; tha! through deatn he might bring to naught him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. 2:14. The struggle, then, is literally a life and death struggle, a struggle between the Lord of Life and the King of Death, a struggle that shall not end before Death and Hades and Satan and his host have found their place in the lake of fire which is the second death. For details, see the twentieth chapter of Revelation. In the meantime the horrid toll of death goes on and this earth, still under the curse because of sin, lays the grim harvest at the feet of the Grim Reaper. Let us beware the common practice of ascribing death to the hand of God. The hand of the Savior when on earth was sufficient to stop the funeral train and restore the young man to his mother. It was suffi-
TEST of orthodoxy is one's position with reference to the Blood of Atonement. But why? "Wi t h o ut shedding of blood there is no remis- sion." Heb. 9:22. But why
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ilgani • . Because the Word of God declares it. But is the condition an arbitrary on«? or are there reasons assigned which flow in- evitably from the constitution of man and the essential nature of sin? These questions have had their answer for the Bible student in every age, but it is none the less true that to the average Christian the reasons have not been made dear. • . An evidence of this want of definite in- formation among church people has come to the writer of these pages whenever the theme of Life in the Blood has been pre- sented. Many have asserted that the teaching has brought to them a new per- ception of a truth that has been believed, but always with a measure of blindness. In response to frequent requests, the sub- ject now fin^s its way into type and is sent out with the hope that believers who read may welcome this statement of a truth which forms so large a part of the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. "Thou Shalt Surely Die."—God. "Ye Shall Not Surely Die."—The Serpent. Squarely a.t the beginning of human his- tory, the death penalty is pronounced upon the sinner. Warning precedes dis- obedience. But warning is- met by flat denial. In the brief description of the Garden, fresh from the hand of God, there is but one sinister thing, the mysterious tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Every tree pleasant to the sight is there and every tree good for food, even the Tree of Life. By a strange perversit,-, the one- forbidden thing is chosen. God's way, God's choice for man is Life. He is the Author and Provider of Life, but
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