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change, by turning to sin. Sin is not a lesser degree of goodness, but a positive evil. This is
plainly taught in the Bible. He who does not love God is thereby characterized as evil. Scripture
knows of no position of neutrality. It urges the wicked to turn to righteousness, and sometimes
speaks of the righteous as falling into evil; but it does not contain a single indication that either
the one or the other ever lands in a neutral position. Man is either on the right side or on the
wrong side, Matt. 10:32,33; 12:30; Luke 11:23; Jas. 2:10.
3. SIN ALWAYS HAS RELATION TO GOD AND HIS WILL.
The older dogmaticians realized that it
was impossible to have a correct conception of sin without contemplating it in relation to God
and His will, and therefore emphasized this aspect and usually spoke of sin as “lack of
conformity to the law of God.” This is undoubtedly a correct formal definition of sin. But the
question arises, Just what is the material content of the law? What does it demand? If this
question is answered, it will be possible to determine what sin is in a material sense. Now there
is no doubt about it that the great central demand of the law is love to God. And if from the
material point of view moral goodness consists in love to God, then moral evil must consist in
the opposite. It is separation from God, opposition to God, hatred of God, and this manifests
itself in constant transgression of the law of God in thought, word, and deed. The following
passages clearly show that Scripture contemplates sin in relation to God and His law, either as
written on the tablets of the heart, or as given by Moses, Rom. 1:32; 2:12-14; 4:15; Jas. 2:9; I
John 3:4.
4. SIN INCLUDES BOTH GUILT AND POLLUTION.
Guilt is the state of deserving condemnation or
of being liable to punishment for the violation of a law or a moral requirement. It expresses the
relation which sin bears to justice or to the penalty of the law. But even so the word has a
twofold meaning. It may denote an inherent quality of the sinner, namely, his demerit, ill-
desert, or guiltiness, which renders him worthy of punishment. Dabney speaks of this as
“potential guilt.” It is inseparable from sin, is never found in one who is not personally a sinner,
and is permanent, so that once established, it cannot be removed by pardon. But it may also
denote the obligation to satisfy justice, to pay the penalty of sin, “actual guilt,” as Dabney calls
it.[Christ Our Penal Substitute, pp. 10 f.] It is not inherent in man, but is the penal enactment of
the lawgiver, who fixes the penalty of the guilt. It may be removed by the satisfaction of the
just demands of the law personally or vicariously. While many deny that sin includes guilt, this
does not comport with the fact that sin was threatened and is indeed visited with punishment,
and clearly contradicts the plain statements of Scripture, Matt. 6:12; Rom. 3:19; 5:18; Eph. 2:3.
By pollution we understand the inherent corruption to which every sinner is subject. This is a
reality in the life of every individual. It is not conceivable without guilt, though guilt as included
in a penal relationship, is conceivable without immediate pollution. Yet it is always followed by
pollution. Every one who is guilty in Adam is, as a result, also born with a corrupt nature. The