Although the Gospel is a great mystery, yet it is exceedingly simple. A few principles, easily grasped, cover every possible phase of it. Two things only need to be understood, namely, man's need, in God's ability and willingness to supply that need.
All Are Sinners
In the first place we find that all men are sinners. "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one. ... For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:10-12,23)
Sin is part of the very being of man; in fact, it may be said to be the man. Christ, who knew what was in man, said, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; All these evil things come from within, and defile the man." (Mark 7:21-23)
These evil things come from the heart, not of a few men, or of a certain class of men, but of all men, of mankind. Now we are told that: "Out of the heart are the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:22)
Therefore we know that these evil things are the very life of men. That means that the life of man by nature is sin. But sin means death. "For to be carnally minded is death." (Romans 8:6) "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Romans 5:12)
Thus we see that sin carries death with it. Death springs from sin, for "The sting of death is sin." (1 Corinthians 15:56) "Sin, when it is finished, brings forth death." (James 1:15)
From these texts we learn that in sin death is wrapped up. Through the mercy of God, sin does not immediately work the death of the individual, because the Lord is longsuffering, "Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
So He gives men an opportunity to repent. If they do so the sin will be taken away, and of course they will be delivered from death. But if they refuse to repent, and show that they love sin, it works out that which is in it, namely, death.
Many other texts might be quoted to show that sin means death, but these are sufficient for the present. Let the reader examine, if he wishes, "He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him." (John 3:36) "See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command you this day to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply: and the Lord your God shall bless you in the land whither you go to possess it. But if your heart turn away, so that you will not hear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that you shall surely perish, and that you shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither you pass over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live: That you may love the Lord your God, and that you may obey His voice, and that you may cleave unto Him: for He is your life, and the length of your days: that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." (Deuteronomy 30:15-20)
Read the above in connection with: "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if you will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known." (Deuteronomy 11:26-28) "Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:20-21) "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24)
Sin and death are therefore inseparable. Where one is found, there is the other. To save from sin is to save from death. Salvation does not mean simply deliverance from the consequences of sin, but from sin itself.
The plan of salvation is not, as some have supposed, a scheme by which people are free to sin as much as they please, in the confidence that a profession of faith will save them from the just desert of their wrong-doing. On the contrary, it is a plan for the utter freeing of the man from sin, so there will be no cause of death. As there can be no death without sin, so there can be no life without righteousness.
Righteousness Only in Christ
But where shall man get righteousness? He cannot get it from himself, for he has nothing but sin in himself. "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing; for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." (Romans 7:18) "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." (Romans 8:7-8)
Since the whole life is sin, as we have already seen, it is evident that the only way to get goodness is to get another life. That is what the Gospel offers. While man is evil, God is good. He is not only good, but He is the only one who is good. Listen to the words of the Saviour, to the young man who came running to ask Him, "Good Master, what shall I do that I may have eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why do you call me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." (Mark 10:17-18)
This is absolute. It does not exclude Christ, for Christ is God. (John 1:1) "God was in Christ." (2 Corinthians 5:19)
The life of the Father and of the Son are the same. "As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eats me, even he shall live by me." (John 6:57)
There is no goodness apart from God. Goodness is not a sentiment, but a real thing. There can be no goodness apart from actions. It is not floating around in the air like the odor of flowers. As there can be no such thing as sweetness apart from something that is sweet, and as there is no such thing as saltiness apart from salt, so there is no such thing as goodness apart from good deeds.
All of God's ways are good and right. His ways are briefly yet comprehensively described in His law. "He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel." (Psalm 103:7) "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord." (Psalm 119:1)
As the law of God describes His ways, and all His ways are right, His law is called His righteousness. Thus we read: "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto me, you that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of men, neither be afraid of their revilings." (Isaiah 51:6-7)
God's law is His righteousness, and His righteousness consists of active deeds; therefore the law of God is the life of God. His life is the standard of righteousness. That which is like His life is right, and everything that differs from His life is wrong.
We are not left in ignorance of what the life of God is, for He has lived it before men, in the person of Jesus Christ. The law of God was in His heart, (Psalm 40:8) and out of the heart are the issues of life; therefore the law of God was His life. As Isaac Watts said,
"My blest Redeemer and my Lord,
I read my duty in your word;
But in your life the law appears
Drawn out in living characters."
The Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, (Luke 4:18) and "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Corinthians 3:17)
Therefore the life of God in Christ is "the perfect law of liberty," continuance in which causes a man to be blessed in his deed. (James 1:25) No other life has ever been seen in this world, that was free from sin.
Men have exhausted themselves and worn out their very life in attempting to live righteous lives, and have invariably failed. Everybody knows himself to be a sinner. There are none who will not acknowledge that they might have done better in some things than they have done; and there are none who have not at some time in their lives said or thought that they were going to do better; and therein they show that they know that they have sinned. Every man's conscience accuses him, even if he has not been instructed in the law of God. (See Romans 2:14-15)
Christ to Live in Us
Since every man's life is sin in itself, and he has but the one life, and righteousness cannot be manufactured out of sin, it is evident that the only way any man can get righteousness is by getting another life. And since the only righteous life ever known is the life of God in Christ, it is plain that the sinner must get the life of Christ. This is nothing more nor less than living the Christian life. The Christian life is the life of Christ.
But let no one think that he can live this life himself. It is evident that we cannot live another life with our old life that we have always lived. In order to live another life, we must have another life. And no one can live the life of another. No man can live the life even of his most intimate friend; for:
1. He cannot successfully imitate the things with which he is acquainted in that friend, and
2. He cannot know that other one's inner life.
How much less, then, can one live the infinite life of Christ! People sometimes do try to pass themselves off as somebody else, but they are invariably detected in the fraud; so must it be with the one who undertakes to live Christ's life. Thousands of people are trying to live the Christian life, but the cause of their failure is that they are trying to live Christ's life with their own.
What, then, can be done? Is there no possibility of living the Christian life? Yes, there is, but Christ must be allowed to live it. Men must be content to give up their sinful and worthless lives, and count themselves dead--merely nothing. Then if they are indeed dead with Christ, they will also live with Him. Then it will be with them as it was with Paul: "For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:19-20)
When Christ is allowed to live His own life in a man, then, and then only, will that man's life be in harmony with the law of God. Then he will have righteousness, because he has the only life in which there is righteousness.
If any are in doubt as to how the life of Christ may be obtained, let them read the account of His miracles, how He healed the sick and raised the dead:
• Read how He gave new life to the poor woman whose life was daily ebbing away. (Luke 8:43-48)
• Read how He gave life to Lazarus and the ruler's daughter. (John 11:1-46; Mark 5:22-43)
• Learn that His word is a living word, with power to give life to all who receive it in faith. (John 5:24)
• Learn that the life of Christ is in His word, so that when the word is heard and believed Christ himself dwells in the heart by faith. (Ephesians 3:17)
Let these things be living realities, and you will surely have life through His name.--Present Truth, October 6, 1892.