Though the typical church person is not interested in the following questions, I must ask them in the interest of Biblical Truth: What does God say about the sinner-sin connection? Does He, like professing Christendom, separate them? When sin occurs, does He blame the sin? Does His love for the sinner nullify the sinner’s guilt? Operating on the premise that some readers believe what God wrote in His Holy Bible, I will use the sacred Scriptures to answer these questions.

Let us begin with the ultimate statement relative to the assignment of guilt when sin occurs: “The soul that sins, that soul dies” (Eze. 18:21,24). One will note that the former spiritual condition of the guilty party is irrelevant. The New Testament counterpart to that passage is Romans 3:23: “For the wages of sin is death” for the church member who continues to sin. In summary: GOD TELLS US THAT SIN RESULTS IN THE DEATH OF THE SINNER. THEREFORE THE SINNER AND HIS SIN ARE INSEPARABLE IN HIS EYES. To deny this is like saying that drinking poison and the death of the consumer have no relation to each other. It is called “cause and effect”–death occurs because of the poison. The sinner is a sinner due to his sin. Which brings up the question: What is sin?

God answers the question in 1 Jn. 3:4: “To transgress the Law is sin; for sin is the transgression of the Law.” Everything God wrote in the Holy Bible is Truth–the Word by which we will be judged (Jn. 12:48). A summation of that Truth is His moral Law which He inscribed in stone with His finger and hid so that man could not edit it. It is that Law that defines both sin and righteousness–righteousness if we obey it; sin if we break it. In order to inherit eternal life we must believe and obey that Law, which covers in a general sense every possible sin. Contrary to church opinion, GOD’S COMMANDED LIFE WALK IS THE BIBLE EXHIBITED. HIS BIBLICAL COMMANDS, PROMISES AND WARNINGS ARE TO MAN. Man is held accountable for his obedience or disobedience to God’s Word.

In Mark 10:17-22 we find a rich man asking Jesus how to receive eternal life. Upon hearing His answer, the man went away sad, knowing that, because of his sin, he would not be saved–he knew that he could not be separated from his sin. Judas also knew that his sin would remain connected to him. The five foolish virgins learned the hard way that they and their sin were inseparable. Those of other religions will also learn that they and their sins are joined at the heart. ONCE JUSTIFIED, CONTINUED SIN EARNS THE DEATH PENALTY FOR THE “SINNER SAVED BY GRACE.”

There is a door into the Lord’s sheepfold for those with ears to hear what God is saying to the churches through His Holy Scriptures. Jesus–the Word of God (Jn. 1:1-4,14) is the Good Shepherd of His sheep. It is only through obedience to His Word that we are allowed to enter His sheepfold. To be continued. L.J.