ONE leak will sink a ship, and one sin will destroy a sinner." So said Bunyan; and he said right, for he drew his conclusions from the Word of God.
There is an idea find, held by a large number of persons, that unless a man has committed some great crime, such as murder or theft, he is not a sinner. But that is what man thinks; and God has said, “My thoughts are not your thoughts" (Isa. 45:8). ISA 45:8
Man judges of sin by the way it touches or affects his fellow-man. God judges of it by His holiness, and by the way it dishonors Him; hence He has said, “The thought of foolishness is sin" (Prov. 24:9). PRO 24:9
Suppose a man takes away the life of his fellow-man: if he is caught, and found guilty, he is hanged. But suppose another man is found guilty of having taken away the lives of several of his fellow-creatures, the law of the land can do no more and no less than hang him, the same as it did the one who only took one human life.
And ONE SIN will expose a man to the ETERNAL JUDGMENT of God as much as one million of sins! How many sins did Adam and Eve commit before God drove them out of the garden of Eden? One, and only one; and for that one act of disobedience they were, by the holiness of God, righteously excluded forever from the earthly paradise.
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18:4-20). EZE 18:4-20Mark, God does not say, the soul that sinneth a hundred or a million sins shall, die; but, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
Again, "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). ROM 6:23Observe, again, God does not say the wages of a hundred or a million sins is death, but, "The wages of SIN is death." “And be sure your SIN will find you out" (Num. 32:23). NUM 32:23
The holiness of God has weighed the world in the equal balances of the cross of Christ, and the verdict is, " Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting " (Dan. 5:27). DAN 5:27
The holiness of God has measured man by the just measure of the cross of Christ, and the sentence is, " THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE: for ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God " (Rom. 3:22, 23). ROM 3:22-23
Why has God thus weighed and measured man? In order “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become GUILTY before God" (Rom. 3:19). ROM 3:16SIN, DEATH, and JUDGMENT are the lot of men; because, as we have seen, "all have sinned," and “all the world " is guilty.
But is there no open door of escape?
Blessed be God, there is; for Christ has died, and shed His precious blood. He has borne sin, death, and judgment on the cross; and now all who trust Him get forgiveness, eternal life, divine righteousness, the Holy Ghost, and everlasting glory.
Sin must be measured by the holiness of God, and by the cross of Christ. At the cross, of Christ I learn that the holiness of God required the death and blood-shedding of Christ for one sin, just as much as for one million sins. Nothing less than the death and blood-shedding of Christ would do to put away one sin, and nothing more was necessary to put away one million sins. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7); 1JO 1:7and whether you have sinned few or many sins, forgiveness and justification are to be had only " through faith in His blood" (Rom. 3:24, 25). ROM 3:24-25