Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1916-07-14

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A,sA .sr,s, eral such viola.
tons would be
called sins. When
we are studying man as a sinner be-
fore God, should we have in mind indi-
vidual sins, or something back. of them
that we may call sin?
Reform Not Sufficient.
This inquiry is quite important from
the fact that we hear a great deal
about the sins Of men, and little about
their sim The pastor or evangelist
very frequently urges men to get right
with God, and in doing so he often
cries: Quit your meanness;" Get
on the water wagon" Stay at home
of nights" stop your gossiping,
etc. The result of such exhortation is
in very many cases prompt obedience
to the exhortation of the preacher and
the life is greatly improved. What
has taken place? Practically nothing
more than reform, and there is nc
guaranty that it will be permanent.
But are these individual transgres
sions Of law all that is in the mind OF
the Spirit, speaking in the Bible? In
many places in the word Of God sin
is spoken of in such connection that
the individual transgression can hardly
be in mind. 'In sin did my mother
conceive me-" God be merciful to me
a sinner" There is sin (the par
ticle is not in the Originally not unto
DEATH" Il am sinful man, o Lord"
20 wretched man that l am! who shall
deliver me from the body Of this
DEATH" In none of these, and many
more might be cited, IS there any ref.
erence to particular sins; the clear in.
timation is that there is something
back of the individual sin: state, or
condition, or tendency that Is properly
called sin.
Shining the Law of Life.
When it is said THE soul that sin
meth it shall de- we are not to I'M
derstand that a single sin is in mind,
any more than when we consider the
words "He that is born Of God sinneth
not" In the latter case it Is not
question Of man committing some
particular sin, as may be easily learned
from an intelligent study of the
original language. In the American
Revised Version that text Is trans
lated "Doeth not sim" That is an ap.
proach to the correct idea, but bet
ter expression would be Does not
practice sim" That is, sin is not the
rule of the mans life. 1.-THE soul that
sinneth it shall die" does not mean
that a man who commits single sin,
or indeed many Of them, necessarily
dies on that account, although he will
suffer penalty, but it means that the
man whose law of life is SHINING, will
die.
Paul doubtless had sins which trou-
bled him, but he saw something back
Of those particular sins and cried out
who shall deliver me from the body
of this death?" We can hardly think
of using extravagant language in that
connection if he had only in mind re-
lief from some particular transgres-
sion; but if he saw that his whole ma
ture was changed, he could very rel
sonably cry out Il thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord"
As long as man only has his eye on
his individual transgressions and
thinks Of freeing himself from their
evil effects, he is only getting the
merest part Of the blessing of saliva
ton through Jesus Christ. His pray
er for pardon is good, but would be
much better if he could pray Create
in me a clean heart, o God" He is
then getting at the root of the matter
for he readily sees that If the fountain
is pure the stream will be pure.
A New Heart Needed.
Regeneration is fairly we'll present
ed by both ministers and evangelists,
but it needs more emphasis than it is
receiving, and If proper distinction
could be made between sin and sins,
there would be more thought Of the
need of the new heart and there would
be no satisfaction nor rest until that
is secured.
God is as able to make the fountain
of life pure as to pardon the individ-
ual sins. While a pure life is pleasing
to him, it is not that which he asks
man to give to him, rather his heart,
Son, give me thine heart" One of
the sweetest promises that we have
in the Bible, is in the Old Testament
and has an application here: "a new
heart also will l give thee and new
spirit will put within thee; and l
will take away the stony heart out Of
your flesh and I will give you heart
Of flesh" God is most honored as
we seek for the widest and the deep
est blessings that the plan Of redemn-
ton through Jesus Christ offers.