SIN. TRACTS FOR INQUIRERS. BY SAMUEL MARTIN, MINISTER OF WESTMINSTER CHAPEL, WESTMINSTER. No. I. Second Edition, enlarged. LONDON: WARD AND CO., PATERNOSTER ROW. f. 15. SIN. Tracts for Inquirers. No. I. THE subject of this paper is of supreme importance to every human being; and to all whose "hearts have been opened to attend unto the things" that relate to their spiritual welfare, to their relation with God, and to their immortal destiny, this topic must be one of extraordinary interest. Sin is the masterevil; it is, indeed, the only real evil in the universe. To man it is the occasion of death, and the source of every sorrow. And as we have all sinned, it becomes us to inquire seriously and carefully into the nature, origin, extent, and consequences of sin. Presuming that the reader is already disposed to this investigation, we proceed to direct his inquiries. This we shall do chiefly by pointing his attention to those words of God which describe sin; some of which we shall quote in full, and to others of which we shall merely refer the reader. May the Holy Spirit of God preserve from error and guide into truth! 1. WHAT IS SIN? 1. The Apostle John, in his First Epistle, iii. 4, writes, "Sin is the transgression of the law." Literally translated, the words are, "Sin is, the without law,"—by which the inspired writer means, that those actions, both spiritual and outward, which are not subject to law, are Sin. By law, we understand the will of God in every expression of it, whether by conscience, by Holy Scripture, or by any other revelation of the Divine will. When, therefore, we act without reference to the will of God-when we do as we like, or follow our fellow-creatures-having no respect to that which God requires of us, we sin. Hence it will be seen that we may sin, either by doing what God forbids, or by not doing what God demands. We sin as really by omission as by commission. One word by which a writer in the Bible represents sin, means to miss a mark. This representation of sin supposes God's will to be to His creatures as a mark to an archer. And it teaches, that as an arrow may miss a mark by flying beyond it, by passing on either side of it, or by falling short of it, so we may sin by neglect, by excess, and by the manner in which we do what in itself is right. Not to do God's will completely, and always, is to sin.-Rom. xiv. 23; Gal. iii. 10; James, ii. 8-11, with 1 John, iii. 4; James, iv. 17; 1 John, v. 17. 2. When Jesus Christ was asked, "Which is the great commandment in the law?" He answered, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."-Matt. xxii. 36-40. According to these words of the Saviour, love to God and love to man are God's chief requirements. All other are included in these. The Apostle Paul writes, Romans, xiii. 10, "Love is the fulfilling of the law." To love God, according to His law, is to think of His character and actions with pleasure, to be grateful to Him, to submit ourselves to Him, to trust Him, and this always and in the highest degree. To love our fellow-men according to God's law is to be pleased with everything in their character and circumstances which affords occasion for pure and benevolent pleasure; to be grieved with everything in their character and circumstances which affords occasion for sorrow; to desire and to seek by every possible means their welfare; and always to act towards them as we wish them to act towards us. Love thus manifested fulfils God's law. But, however right the feelings and conduct of an individual may seem to be, if he love not God according to this rule, he sins. Not to love God supremely, and not to love men as ourselves, is to sin.-Exod. xx. 1-17; Deut. vi. 4, 5, x. 12, 13; Matt. vii. 12, xxii. 36-40; Mark, xii. 28-33; Rom. iv. 15, xiii. 8-10; 1 John, iii. 4, iv. 7, 8. 3. As mankind have broken the first and great commandment, and the second, which is like to it, God has given two other commandments, which are, indeed, as much dispensations of mercy as commandments. The Apostle Paul, in preaching to the Athenians, said, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent."- Acts, xvii. 30. The Apostle John also writes, 1 Epistle, iii. 23, "And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ." So that to man, as a fallen being, there are two new commands, viz. Repent and believe the Gospel. And the man who, after he has heard these commands, neither repents nor believes in Christ, sins. To be impenitent and unbelieving is to continue in sin. |