Sin "For the wages of sin is death; but the Gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ

our Lord" (Romans 6:23) God cannot abide sin in any form! If the individual persists in "Wickedness", Judgment will come. The definition of sin is, "missing the mark". That "mark" is the Word of God, and constitutes rebellion against God. Due to the Fall, man is now born in sin, which is called "original sin", which Apostle Paul personifies as a ruling principle in human life (Romans 5:12; 6:12; 14; 7:17-20; 8:2). It expresses moral and Spiritual depravity (Luke 11:39; Acts 8:22; Romans 1:29; Ephesians 6:12). It is associated with Satan, the Evil One (Matthew 13:19; 1 John 3:12). It is translated variously as "injustice" (Romans 9:14), "unrighteousness" (Luke 18:6), "falsehood" (John 7:18), "wickedness" (Romans 2:8), "iniquity" (2 Timothy 2:19). The Most characteristic feature of sin and all its aspects is that it is directed against God (Psalm 51:4; Romans 8:7). The common notion that sin is mere selfishness betrays a false assessment of its nature and gravity. Essentially, sin is directed against God, and this perspective alone accounts for rhe diversity of its form and activities. It is a violation of that which God's Glory demands and is, therefore, in its essence the contradiction of God. Sin was present in the universe before the Fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1; John 8:44; 2 Peter 2:4; 1 John 3:8; Jude 6). The Bible, however, does not deal directly with the origin of evil in the universe, being concerned rather with sin and its origin in human life (1 Timothy 2:14; James 1:13). Sin elicits God's wrath and displeasure, and necessarily so, because it is the contradiction of what He is. For God to be complacent toward sin is an impossibility, since it would be for God to cease to take Himself seriously. He cannot deny Himself. The consequences for the entirety of the human race, regarding the fall of Adam and Eve, which was in their loins, furnishes a catalog of vices (Genesis 4:8,19, 23; 6:2-3,5). The sequel of abounding iniquity results in the virtual destruction of mankind (Genesis 6:7, 13; 7:21-24). The Fall had abiding effect not only upon Adam and Eve, but upon all who descended from them, because all were in lions of Adam. As well, there is a radical solidarity in sin and evil. Sin was an event in the realm of the human spirit, but it has its repercussions in the whole of creation. Sin never consists merely in a voluntary act of transgression. Every volition proceeds from something that is more deep-seated than the volition itself. A sinful act is the expression of a sinful heart (Proverbs 4:23; 23:7; Mark 7:20-23). Sin must always include, therefore, the perversity of heart, mind, disposition and will. From whatever angle man is viewed, there is the absence of that which is well-pleasing to God. Considered more positively, all are turned aside from God's Way and become corrupted. Unregenerate man may do certain things in accord with God's Will and principle, but nevertheless, according to the wrong motive. Inability is concern with the capacity arising from the nature of depravity. If depravity is total, affecting every aspect and area of man's being, then inability for what is good

and well pleasing to God is likewise comprehensive in its reference. We are not able within ourselves, to change our character or act differently from it, which within itself, debunks humanistic psychology. In the matter of understanding, the natural man cannot know the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14). They who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:8). A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit (Matthew 7:18). The impossibility in each case is undeniable. It is our Lord Who affirms that even Faith in Him is impossible apart from the gift and drawing of the Father (John 6:44, 65). This witness on His part is to the same effect as His insistence that apart from the supernatural birth of the born-again experience, no one can have intelligent appreciation of, or entrance into, the Kingdom of God(John 1:13; 3:3, 5,8; 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18). The necessity of so radical and momentous a transformation and re-creation as regeneration is proof of the whole witness of Scripture to the bondage of sin and the hopelessness of our sinful condition. This bondage implies that it is a moral and Spiritual impossibility for the natural man to receive the things of the Spirit, to love God, and to do what is well-pleasing to Him, or to believe in Christ to the Salvation of his soul, apart from the Work of the Spirit. It is this enslavement to which is the Promise of the Gospel, and the Glory of the Gospel which lies precisely in the fact that it provides release from the bondage and slavery of sin. It is the Gospel of Grace and Power for the helpless.
(By Jimmy Swaggart; The Evangelist May 2009; www.jsm.org)