SIN LIKE LEAVEN SPOILS THE LIFE
Rom. 5:12
Morning Meditation 12/26/14
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"
Marsh says, "It is a axiom in science, that for every effect there must be an adequate cause. Thus sins committed, have their cause in heart corruption. The heart is diseased, therefore the life is wrong (Matt. 15:19). The fountain is foul, therefore the stream is impure (James 3:11). Insanity is enthroned in the mind, therefore madness rules the man's actions (Eccles 9:3). As a bad liver paints it owner's face with a yellow hue, so sin within, is the cause of the black color in the life of the man (Rom. 3:12). As the engine moves the screw which moves the steamer, so sin is the moving cause of all the sinful acts in the life (Rom. 7:15). As when the regulator in the watch is wrongly set, the watch will be wrong; so long as the heart is wrong, the man is wrong (Jer. 17:9). As everything within (Rom. 7:18), like a smouldering fire, it will burst forth into flame in the life. Heart corruption is the cause of all corruption. As salt in meat, or leaven in meal, will permeate the whole; so sin in the heart gives a heart to sin, which makes it beat in wickedness and rebellion against God." --F. E. Marsh
Let's notice the following about sin:
SIN INHERITED
By this I mean the Bible teaches that the sin nature is inherited by the child from his parents. This does not mean babies go to hell. But it does mean that babies inherit the nature to sin and when they are old enough to know right from wrong they are responsible for their sins. When David sinned the great sin with Bathsheba, God took the life of the child.
2 Samuel 12:16-24, "David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshiped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I SHALL GO TO HIM, BUT HE SHALL NOT RETURN TO ME" (Caps mine for emphasis). David went to heaven when he died. That means that the baby went to heaven when he died.
This happened one time in the Scripture where a child was taken because of the parents sin. I believe this is the exception to the rule. When a preacher or Christians go around saying, "You had better straighten up. God may take one of your children if you don't." I believe this in an unwarranted threat. God did do it in this case. I certainly do not have the explanation for it. I believe it because it is in the Word of God. However, God does not go around killing a Christians children because of the parents sin. If you have two children and one of them sins, which child do you chasten? I ask you. Which one would you chasten? I believe I know the answer. You would not take an innocent child and whip him because of the disobedience of the other child. Is man more righteous than God? Absolutely not. God knows where to find us and chasten us when we do wrong.
Romans 5:12 says, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" This verse definitely teaches that our nature to sin is inherited from our father, and his from his father, and his from his father, all the way back to Adam.
A. W. Pink says, "The scriptural answer to that question makes evident the utter futility of the schemes of social reformers for "the moral elevation of the masses," the plans of politicians for the peace of the nations, and the ideologies of dreamers to usher in a golden age for this world. It is both pathetic and tragic to see many of our greatest men putting their faith in such absurdities."
"Divisions and discords, hatred and bloodshed, cannot be banished while human nature is what it is. But during the past century the steady trend of a deteriorating Christendom has been to underrate the evil of sin and overrate the moral capabilities of men. Instead of proclaiming the heinousness of sin, there has been a dwelling more upon its inconveniences, and the abasing portrayal of the lost condition of man as set forth in Holy Writ has been obscured if not obliterated by flattering disquisitions on human advancement. If the popular religion of the churches--including nine-tenths of what is termed "evangelical Christianity--be tested at this point, it will be found that it clashes directly with man's fallen, ruined and spiritually dead condition."
When one tries to ignore what God has said, and do what his rational mind says, he will be in harmony with the world-view and do what he claims is right from the human viewpoint. This will put him in favor with the so-called Bible believers who are not informed on the doctrine of Total Depravity. Man is dead in trespasses and sins and cannot do a thing that is in harmony with God's law.
Pink says of man that, "he is 'without strength,' thoroughly incapable of bettering himself; he is exposed to the wrath of God, and unable to perform a single work which can find acceptance with Him. Almost every page of the Bible bears witness to this truth. The whole scheme of redemption takes it for granted. The plan of salvation taught in the Scriptures could have no place on any other supposition."
It is difficult for a pride filled man to come to the place where he agrees with what God says on this subject. This is the reason churches are filled with unrepentant professing Christians. You will notice that I did not say, "Christians." They claim what they are not. They have never repented or else they would be living a different life than they are. While our works do not save us, works are what confirms the sincerity of our professed faith. If you are on God's side, you will prove it by the works you do. Titus 3:8, "This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things ARE GOOD AND PROFITABLE UNTO MEN." Men are won to Christ through observing a Godly life being lived out by the Spirit-filled Christian.
SINS COLORING
God uses this as an illustration in Jeremiah 13:23, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." Jeremiah takes his illustration from the very nature of things. The Ethiopian cannot change his skin, or the leopard his spots. Why is this true? It is because it is the Ethiopian's nature to be black and it is the leopard's nature to be spotted. For either of these illustrations to be wrong, man would have to find something that will change the nature of something. Only God can do that.
When God changes one's heart, He changes one's very nature. Isaiah 1:18, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
Man's heart is black before he is saved. When he is saved, he has a changed heart. It is white. He is a new man created in Christ Jesus.
SIN TRANSMITTED
I have already mentioned this. But sin is transmitted from father to children. There is no man without sin. Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:10, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:" This is the reason for the virgin birth. This is not something that man could have a part in. God could use the woman because, though she is also a sinner in need of salvation, she does not pass the old sin nature to her children. So God used woman to cause His Son to be born without an old sin nature. Then after He was born without an old sin nature, He lived without a single sin so He could offer Himself as God's Lamb without spot or blemish of any kind to die in the place of every sinner. This is the reason for the virgin birth. Many who talk about the Virgin Birth around Christmas time do not have a clue as to why Jesus had to be born sinless, in order to live without sin, that He could offer Himself without spot as God said He would.
Pinks says of this doctrine, It is therefore a most NECESSARY doctrine, for the vast majority of our fellow men are ignorant of it. God's servants are sometimes thought to
speak too strongly and dolefully of the dreadful state of man through his apostasy from God. The fact is that it is impossible to exaggerate in human language the darkness and pollution of man's heart or to describe the misery and utter helplessness of a condition such as the Word of truth describes in these solemn passages:"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (2 Corinthians 4:34).
"Therefore they could not believe, because he hath [judicially] blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them" ( John 12:39-40). This is yet more evident when we contrast the state of soul of those in whom a miracle of grace is wrought (see Luke 1:7879). It is a SALUTARY doctrine--one which God often uses to bring men to their senses. While we imagine that our wills have power to do what is pleasing to God, we never abandon dependence on self. Not that a mere intellectual knowledge of man's fall and ruin is sufficient to deliver from pride. Only the Spirit's powerful operations can effect that. Yet He is pleased to use the faithful preaching of the Word to that end. Nothing but a real sense of our lost condition lays us in the dust before God."
"The depravity of man makes it impossible for man to attain to salvation except through Jesus Christ our Lord. May the Lord rejoice our hearts in that He has shown us this great truth, has made provision through the death of His Son to save us and keep us, until that great day of His return when we will get our new bodies and deliver us forever from the power of the old sin nature."
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
