Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1880-07-15
@eadina fpr the Sabbath.
CONDUCTED By
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
(orlginal.l
oCANNOT SIN,H

(orelnal
"CANNOT SIN.o
"Whosoever is born of God !; doth not commit
sin; for his seed remaineth In him: and he can
not sin because he is born ofGod." John, 8: g.
In the Scriptures there are seeming con-
tradictions. The same is true of the works
of God, and even more so of his providence.
These seeming contradictions are easily &C
counted for. The most discerning of the hu-
man family only see through glass darkly.
Our mental vision is not only shortened by
sin; but is fearfully distorted. We discern
but little, and what little we do discern, is
very imperfectly known.
Nothing is more common than misinterpre-
tations of the providences of God, and wrong
Interpretation of Gods word are surely not
rare. In the interpretations Of Providence men
suffer themselves to be misled by their own
short.sighted plans, and in the exposition of the
Scriptures they permit their judgments to be
controlled by prejudices. Too often they 60
to the Scriptures to prove that what they be-
lieve is right, when the proper course would
be to search the Scripture that they might
know what is right. Many appeal to the
Scriptures in justification of what they do and
believe; but only few resort to the Scrip
lures for information.
The passage Of Scripture which stands at
the head of this article, is one, among many
others, which is easily Inexperienced. If
it be regarded as an independent whole, and
not, as it actually is, a part of a great whole,
then the meaning would seem to be that
every individual member of the human family
who is born of God ceases, the moment this
change takes place, to sin. From that hour
he ceases forever to transgress the law Of
God. .
TO be born of God, is to be regenerated by
the Holy Ghost When then it is said that
every one that is born of God doth not COM
NIT sin, the meaning is, that every regenerated
man doth not commit sin. 1t may be stated
thus: No regenerated man commits sin.
1t is manifest that we are not to regard this
Scripture as teaching that every regenerated
man absolutely ceases to sin. If every re.
generated person ceases entirely to sin, then
this must he the doctrine taught universally
in the Scriptures and corroborated by the ex.
perience Of all the regenerated. This must
be true, from the fact that any Interpretation
of single passage of Scripture which con-
hicts with the plain teachings of the whole,
must be wrong. In other words, one part of
the Bible cannot contradict another part, any
more than one act of Gods providence can
conflict with another act Of his providence.
Now, if this passage of Scripture teaches that
so soon as an individual is regenerated he
ceases forever to commit sin, then the scope
of the whole Bible must teach the same thing,
or there is a conflict. Not only so, but if
there are any regenerated persons in the
world, it must be true Of these persons that
they do not sin. 1t is not necessary to tell
the intelligent Bible reader that no such
teaching is found on its sacred pages, and no
.r=n viz assert tnas r neither in
thought, nor in word, nor in deed. If not
SHINING in an absolute sense Is test Of regen.
Grafton, all Adams race may we'll despair.
Any Interpretation of the Scriptures which is
a plain and pa pable contradiction of individ-
ual experience and universal observation,
must be wrong. What, then, is meant when
it is said, "Whosoever is born of God, doth
not commit sin ?" If we will examine the
context, we will not have much difficulty in
satisfactorily answering this question. In the
preceding verse it is said, "He that commit.
teth sin is of the devil" The contrast Is be-.
tween the children Of God and the children of
the devil This is stated in the tenth verse.
Now the contrast may be correctly stated thus:
"The children of the devil commit sin, but the
children of God do not commit SIM" The
children of the devil are men-all men-in
their natural state or all who are not born
of God-that is not regenerated. No one
will say that all those who are not regenera
ted do nothing, both in the letter and spirit,
but SIM Some anregenerated men are kind
hearted and accommodating, and do many
things that are not sinful in themselves, either
in the sight of God or man. David certainly
was regenerated or born of God; Joab prob
ably was not, yet on one occasion Joab seems
to have had some hesitaucy in obeying Oa.
vid's unrighteous commands. 2Samuel o. :: g.
There can be no question but the children of
the devil do sometimes, in the letter at least
perform acts that in themselves are not sin.
full; but, on the contrary, are right and
proper.
When, then, it is said that the children of
the devil commit sin, the meaning is that they
habitually sin. 1t is their nature to sin, and,
although they may occasionally do acts that
are not sinful, the bent of their inclination is
to sin. They love sin and do not love to
obey God. The children of God are con-
trasted with the children of the devil. In all
things they are unlike. The children Of the
devil, occasionally, in the letter, obey God !;
while the children of God habitually, in both
the letter and spirit obey the Most High.
The children of God, frequently in the letter,
sin, while the children of the devil habitually,
in both the letter and spirit, transgress the
law of God.
The reason why the regenerated, or those
who are born of God do not habitually sin,
is because "their seed remains in them." The
Holy Spirit implants in those whom be quick
ems into life spirit of obedience. The in
dividual who is born Of God is child Of
God. The individual who is not born of God
is the child of the devil. Neither can change