42
The Fundamentals a religious training, the manifestations of that enmity may be modified or restrained; but he is conscious of it none the less. Thoughtful men of the world, I repeat, do not share the doubts which some theologians entertain as to the truth of Scriptural teaching on this subject. For, every waking hour brings proof “that the relationship between man and his Maker has become obscured, and that even when he knows the will of God there is something in his nature which prompts him to rebel against it.” Such a state of things, moreover, is obvi- ously abnormal, and if the divine account of it be rejected, it must remain a mystery unsolved and unsoluble. The Eden Fall explains it, and no other explanation can be offered. THE ROOT OF SIN I t might be argued that an unpremeditated sin—a sin in which mind and will have no part—is a contradiction in terms. But this we need not discuss, for it is enough for the present purpose to notice the obvious fact that with unfallen beings such a sin would be impossible. As the Epistle of James declares, every sin is the outcome of an evil desire. And eat- ing the forbidden fruit was the result of a desire excited by yielding to the tempter’s wiles. When a woman harbors the thought of breaking her marriage vow she ceases to be pure; and once our parents lent a willing ear to Satan’s gospel, “Ye shall not surely die,” “Ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil,” their fall was an accomplished fact. The overt act of disobedience, which followed as of course, was but the out- ward manifestation of it. And, as their ruin was accom- plished, not by the corruption of their morals, but by the un- dermining of their faith in God, it is not, I repeat, in the moral, but in the spiritual sphere, that the ruin is complete and hopeless. RECONCILIATION THE GREAT NEED Therefore also is it that while “patient continuance in well doing” is within the human capacity, Rom. 2:6-11 applies to
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker