SIN
an
extension
of
the
area
of
sin).
For
Him
'the
law
and
the
prophets'
had
an
abiding
significance
(Mt
7'^),
but
their
regulative
values
needed
re-adjustment.
Sin,
against
which
the
Lawfwas
a
deterrent,
and
the
preaching
of
the
Prophets
a
persistently
solemn
protest,
has
its
domain
not
in
the
physical
but
in
the
spiritual
region
of
man's
life
(cf.
Lk
ll's-").
It
is
by
poisoning
the
life
at
its
roots
that
it
destroys
the
whole
upward
growth,
and
it
is
here
that
the
language
of
Jesus
assumes
its
most
formidable
prophetic
severity.
There
are
certain
classes
of
sins,
however,
against
which
He
uttered
His
most
solemn
warnings.
Their
common
characteristic
is
that
of
wilfulness
or
deliberateness.
Remarkable
amongst
these
is
that
described
as
'blasphemy
against
the
Holy
Ghost'
(cf.
Mk
S^'
=Lk
12'"
=Mt
12si'-),
which
St.
Mark
designates
'an
eternal
sin.'
Taking
into
consideration
the
circumstances
in
which
the
words
were
spoken,
it
is
clear
that
Jesus
was
pointing
to
a
condition
of
the
soul
when
it
loses
all
power
to
retrace
its
steps,
when
it
reaches
a
place
where
even
God's
forgiveness
cannot
follow.
The
sin
of
unreality
was
one
to
which
the
Pharisees
were
specially
addicted,
and
to
it,
therefore.
He
drew
their
attention
constantly
(Mt
23'-',
Mk
12>«-,
Lk
20'"-
11";
cf.
Mt
6i-i«
5™).
Every
sin
is
bound
to
exercise
influence,
not
only
on
the
life
and
character
of
those
immediately
guilty,
but
also
on
a
circle
outside.
There
is,
however,
a
species
having
for
its
special
object
the
dragging
down
of
those
who
would
otherwise
be
innocent.
The
terms
of
the
emphatic
warning
against
leading
others
astray,
either
by
positive
interference
or
by
the
force
of
example
(cf.
Mk
9«,
Mt
18»,
Lk
IT^),
remind
us
of
the
sad
presage
by
which
Jesus
foreshadowed
the
traitor's
end
(Mt
26^').
The
word
used
to
denote
this
sin
is
also
employed
in
speaking
of
sin
in
its
relation
to
the
guilty
individual.
The
fact
that
Jesus
deals
with
both
aspects
at
the
same
time
shows
how
strongly
He
felt
the
impossibility
of
any
sin
remaining,
in
its
working,
a
purely
personal
offence.
There
is
always
here
in
activity
a
force
which
may
be
described
as
centrifugal,
inevitably
bringing
harm
to
those
within
the
circle
of
its
movement
(cf.
Ro
14"-).
Nor
did
Jesus
hold
Himself
to
be
free
from
this
danger
of
contamination
('thou
art
a
stumbling-block
unto
me,'
Mt
16^'),
while
He
points
to
the
ideal
Kingdom
of
the
Son
of
Man
where
nothing
causing
men
to
stumble
shall
be
allowed
a
place
(Mt
13").
It
is
interesting
to
remem-ber
here
that
St.
Paul
uses
the
same
word
to
express
the
result
of
the
preaching
of
'
Christ
crucified
'
to
the
Jews
(1
Co
1»;
cf.
Gal
5",
Ro
93"-,
1
P
2«).
This
was,
indeed,
a
contingency
foreseen
by
Jesus
Himself,
as
will
be
seen
in
His
answer
to
the
messengers
of
the
imprisoned
Baptist
(Mt
11').
Doubtless
these
words
were
intended
to
convey
a
gentle
warning
to
the
prisoner
against
permitting
the
untoward
circumstances
of
his
life
to
overcome
his
once
firm
faith
in
the
Messiahship
of
One
whom
he
had
publicly
proclaimed
as
'the
Lamb
of
God'
(Jn
1*»).
A
direct
reference
to
an
OT
example
of
this
sin
occurs
in
Rev
2",
where
the
conduct
of
Balaam
is
held
up
to
reprobation.
In
the
parable
of
the
Pharisee
and
the
Publican,
Jesus
taught
the
necessity
for
the
realization
of
personal
guilt
on
the
part
of
the
sinner
in
order
to
forgiveness
and
justification
in
the
sight
of
God
(Lk
18").
In
the
same
way,
it
was
the
lack
of
this
sense
by
the
Pharisees,
so
far
as
they
were
themselves
personally
concerned,
that
constituted
the
great
obstacle
to
their
conversion
(Jn
9").
A
prominent
feature
of
Jesus'
teaching
has
to
do
not
so
much
with
active,
deliberate
sins
as
with
what
may
be
termed
'
sins
of
omission.'
It
seems
as
if
He
wished
to
inculcate,
by
repeated
emphasis,
the
truth
that
the
best
way
to
combat
temptation
with
success
is
to
be
active
in
the
pursuit
of
good.
The
spiritual
side
of
this
doctrine
He
enshrined
in
the
form
of
a
parable,
in
which
He
pointed
out
the
danger
to
the
soul
arising
from
neglect
to
invoke
the
active
agency
of
the
Holy
SIN
Spirit,
even
though
the
'unclean
spirit'
had
been
exorcized
and
banished
'out
of
the
man'
(see
Mt
l2«-«
=Lk
IV-").
In
the
discourse
descriptive
of
the
General
Judgment,
Jesus
marks
the
crucial
test
by
which
men
shall
be
tried:
'Inasmuch
as
ye
did
it
not
unto
one
of
these
least,
ye
did
it
not
unto
me'
(Mt
25«).
The
same
thought
is
conveyed
frequently
in
parabolic
form,
as
for
example
in
the
parables
of
the
Ten
Virgins
(Mt
25'-"),
the
Talents
(26"-™)
in
which
is
emphasized
the
profound
lesson,
'from
him
that
hath
not,
even
that
which
he
hath
shall
be
taken
away'
(cf.
Mt
13"),
Dives
and
Lazarus
(Lk
16"-"):
while
much
of
the
teaching
in
the
Sermon
on
the
Mount
is
based
on
the
same
principle
(cf.
Mt
5*'-").
2.
St.
Paul.
—
The
presentment
of
the
gospel
message
to
the
world
outside
the
Jewish
nation
led
St.
Paul
to
review
in
detail
the
origin,
cause,
scope,
and
result
of
sin.
Starting
from
his
own
individual
experience,
which
was
that
of
a
sinner
profoundly
conscious
of
his
position
(cf.
1
Co
159
927^
rq
T'sff-,
1
Ti
1"),
and
conscious
also
of
the
remedy
inherent
in
Christ's
gospel
(2
Co
12=),
he
insists
on
the
universality
of
the
presence
and
power
of
sin,
in
order
to
establish
the
co-ordinate
universality
of
the
presence
and
power
of
'
the
manifested
righteous-ness
of
God
through
faith
in
Jesus
Christ'
(Ro
S"^'-;
cf
.
the
expression
'
where
sin
abounded,
grace
did
abound
more
exceedingly,'
5*").
The
central
feature
of
St.
Paul's
teaching
is
the
activity
of
God's
grace
in
for-giving,
restoring,
and
justifying
the
sinner;
and
for
the
purpose
of
establishing
the
reasonableness
and
the
necessity
(cf.
1
Co
9")
of
bringing
the
gospel
before
the
world,
it
was
needful
first
to
establish
the
guilt
of
all
for
whom
it
was
intended,
and
to
create,
so
to
speak,
in
men
a
consciousness
of
moral
failure
and
helplessness.
This
he
does
in
the
opening
chapters
of
his
Epistle
to
the
Romans.
Here,
although
he
deals
separately
with
Jews
and
Gentiles,
he
maintains
the
proposition
that
all
alike
are
sinners
(Ro
5'^
cf.
Eph
2').
It
is
true
that
the
Jew
was
the
recipient
of
the
Law;
and
as
such
he
occupied
the
position
of
the
moral
teacher
of
mankind.
But
instead
of
proving
the
means
whereby
a
true
'knowledge
of
sin'
(Ro
Z^",
cf.
5")
is
gained,
it
became,
through
abuse,
a
hindrance
rather
than
a
help
to
his
spiritual
advancement
(see
2'™-).
And
just
as
the
Jews
stultified
the
Divinely
given
Law,
by
the
exalta-tion
of
its
merely
transitory
elements
at
the
expense
of
its
essential
moral
ideals,
so
the
Gentiles
defied
'
the
law
written
in
their
hearts,
testified
to
by
their
con-science'
(Ro
2'*).
This
reduction
of
all
mankind
to
the
same
level
in
the
sight
of
God
is
further
incidentally
pressed
by
the
establishment
of
a
definite
relationship
between
the
sin
of
Adam
and
racial
guilt
(5'''-
").
What
pre-cisely
were
St.
Paul's
opinions
as
to
this
connexion
it
is
impossible
to
discover.
It
is
doubtful
whether,
in
face
of
the
intensely
practical
work
in
which
he
was
engaged,
he
stopped
to
work
out
the
problem
of
'original
sin.'
It
is
enough
for
him
that
'sin
entered
into
the
world
through
one
man
'
and
that
'
through
the
one
man's
disobedience
the
many
were
made
sinners'
(see
Sanday-Headlam,
'Romans'
'
in
ICC,
p.
136
H.).
Different
interpretations
have
been
given
of
the
worda
translated
'for
that
all
sinned'
('S'^),
some
seeing
in
them
an
explicitstatement
thatthewholehuman
racewasinvolved
generically
in
the
sin
of
Adam(cf
.
Bengel,ad
loc,
and
Liddon,
Emstle
to
the
Romans,
p.
103).
Others
affirm
that
St.
Paul
IS
here
asserting
the
freedom
of
the
will,
and
is
stating
the
plam
proposition
that
all
men
have
sinned
as
a
matter
of
fact,
and
of
their
own
choice.
The
Apostle,
however,
seems
to
have
left
room
for
a
synthesis
of
these
two
ideas.
It
matters
not
whether
he
has
done
so
consciously
or
not.
As
the
result
of
Adam's
transgression
sin
obtained
an
en-trance
and
a
sphere
of
action
in
the
world,
and
not
only
so,
but
a
predisposition
to
sin
was
inherited,
giving
it
its
present
power
over
the
human
will.
At
the
same
time,
the
simple
statement
all
smned,'
explanatory
as
it
is
of
the
univer-sahty
of
death,
mcludes
the
element
of
choice
and
freedom,
liven
those
whose
consciousness
of
sin
was
weakened,
if
not
