"Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceedingly sinful". Romans 7v12-13.
Now we see this is so important to Paul that he leaves no stone unturned, no question unanswered, in his exposition of the gospel. We should all of us "take a leaf out of his book". Essentially he is anticipating the suggestion that sometimes bad can come out of good! Since the law revealed sin, and aroused sin, is the law therefore responsible for my death? Perish the thought says Paul. Again he personifies sin and says that, on the contrary, sin used something that was good(the law) to achieve it's evil end, thus the point is not that the good law purposed evil, but that sin was so corrupt it would use even that which is holy to achieve it's unholy ends. Present day world religion is testimony to that! Sin is so deceptive, and devoid of any shame it will use holy things to keep people from the truth; read the bible, pray, go to church, give to charity, do your best, and you'll be alright with God! That is the lie being thundered from pulpits, in magazines, in rallies, in religious festivals, across the globe today, but it is the road to hell. This is nothing short of sin using something good to deceive us. 1300 years of man living under the Divine law proved that we were incurable sinners, and only Christ could save us. To reject Christ, is the greatest sin.
So it was not the law that brought death, it was sin, and sin will always lead to death. "Death by sin" is Paul's explanation of the way of things. We have already considered that sin brought death in three different ways: SPIRITUAL DEATH...separation from God; PHYSICAL DEATH....separation from the world; SECOND DEATH....eternal separation from all that's good. This is what sin has brought; it may seem attractive at times, but it ends in death, and ultimately eternal conscious separation from God.
Sin reached its height at the cross of Calvary, with the murder of the Holy Son of God. Never was sin seen as sinful as it was then. Those of us alive today were not present at that most unholy event, nor were we party to it, but to reject Christ as the only Saviour for mankind, is just as bad as if we were there. There is an unseen force, an invisible person in the world today; He is the Holy Spirit, and He is here to persuade us about Christ as Saviour. His mission is threefold as stated by Christ in the upper room just prior to His death "when He is come, He will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgement"; he goes on to explain these terms, "of sin because they believe not on Me; of righteousness because I go to my Father, of judgement because the prince of this world is judged." John 16 v 8-11 The New testament teaches that although sinful man is responsible for the brutal slaying of Jesus Christ, God's design was that He would take away the sin of the world. There is one sin above every other sin that will bring us down to hell and that is the rejection of the testimony of the Holy Spirit concerning the death of Christ for sinful human beings. Those who reject the offer of mercy in Christ are guilty of committing the greatest sin. Reject this and there is nothing God can do for you, there is nothing anyone else can do for you, and there is nothing you can do to save yourself.
WILL SIN HAVE ITS ULTIMATE END IN YOU ?....or will you hear the powerful, persuasive voice of the Spirit, telling you of another way?
Sin will bring millions down to hell, but there is no need for it to happen to any of us. Think about it, if we could get right with God by ourselves, why did Christ have to die?
Tomorrow d.v. we consider the struggles of the Christian whilst still in the world.
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