The Plan of Salvation
The Problem of Sin
The Fall and Restoration of Man
The presence of moral evil in God’s universe is one of the great questions that have puzzled the mind of man. The Bible represents God as a being almighty in power, intrinsically good, and holy in all of his works; still we are confronted by the stupendous fact of sin in the world.
The subject of the origin of moral evil and the reason for its existence naturally resolves itself into one of the three following positions, each of which has been earnestly maintained by many people:
1. That God is the direct author of sin and is alone responsible for it, man being but an irresponsible agent in carrying out His will.
2. That although sin is not according to the nature of God, he has seen fit to employ it as his method in bringing about certain good results not otherwise obtainable. This is somewhat related to the first position.
3. That moral evil is in no sense according to God’s will; that it forms no part of his plans, his purposes, or his ways; that it originated in the finite and by apostasy from God, and that therefore God is not responsible for it; that all his relations to it are antagonistic, and in the way of prevention, remedy, or punishment.
God is the author of what is termed physical evil; there we read;
“I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things: (Isa. 45:7)
“Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” (Amos 3:6)
Such evil consist of temporal punishments or judgments that God brings upon men because of their sins. God threatened the men of Nineveh with a great evil, even the entire destruction of their city; but when they turned form their wicked way, “God repented of the evil which he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not” (Jonah 3:10).
But God is not the author of moral evil, or sin; he is infinitely holy. It is blasphemy to charge upon God, “that can not lie” (Tit. 1:2), all of the falsehoods that have been uttered during the ages; to state that the Holy One, who is “of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity” (Hab. 1:13), is, after all, its direct cause.
The second position, that sin is God’s choice of methods for bringing about the great good, has received a larger number of supporters. In this it is assumed that, although sin is contrary to the nature of God, it is nevertheless according to his will that men should sin, in order that his glorious power may be manifested in bringing into effect the plan of redemption, so that the sinner can experience the exquisite delights and enjoyments of contrast by being saved from sin. But if all this be necessary in order to insure happiness, the angels of heaven must be perfectly miserable; for as far as we know they have never had the privilege of experiencing this blessedness of contrast!
The Nature of Sin
Two verses of scripture give us a correct interpretation of sin. 1John 3:4—“Whosoever committed sin transgressed the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” Jas 4:17—“Therefore to him that knows to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” Sin is therefore either the direct transgression of God’s law or else the willful failure to conform to its requirements. But God’s law is an infinite law; therefore its violation becomes a serious offense, involving the soul in spiritual ruin, both in time and in eternity. “Is not thy wickedness great? And thine iniquities infinite?” (Job 22:5). The first act of this character committed by our fore parents caused their banishment from Eden and the consequent train of sickness, pain, sorrow and death.
Sin’s Universality
The consciousness of sin is universal, all men having fallen under its dismal and blighting sway. One of the grand arguments of Paul in the Roman letter was to show that all men are sinners, in order that he might emphasize the truth of Christ’s mission as the universal Savior. He charges the Jewish nation with sin, notwithstanding their revealed law of God, and quotes their Scriptures to prove the assertion. His description of the Gentile world shows their wretched condition morally. Then he proceeds to say: “for when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things continued in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves: which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another: (Rom 2:14, 15).
The argument is plain. The Gentiles, independent of the written revealed law of God, possessed a revelation of God’s law within their own natures sufficient to fix responsibility; therefore in transgressing this law they also became sinners. He is not teaching that men are saved by their conscience, independent of revelation, but that they are by this means all condemned and lost. Listen to his conclusion: “We have before proved both Jew and Gentiles that they are all under sin” (Rom. 3:9). “There is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (verses 22, 23). In another place he says, “the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe” (Gal. 3:22). It is unnecessary to multiply text5s on this point. The uniform testimony of scripture is that all men are “by nature the children of wrath.”
Next to follow: The Redemptive Plan
