The presence of moral evil in God’s universe is one of the great questions that has puzzled the mind of man. The Bible represents God as a being almighty in power, intrinsically good, and holy in all his works; nevertheless, we are confronted by the stupendous fact of sin in the world. Whence came it?
The Origin of Sin
The subject of the origin of moral evil and the reason for its existence naturally resolves itself into one of the three following positions, each of which has been earnestly maintained by many people: (1) that God is the direct author of sin and is alone responsible for it, man being but an irresponsible agent in carrying out His will; (2) that God has seen fit to employ sin as his method to bring about certain good results not otherwise obtainable—a view somewhat related to the first position; (3) that moral evil is in no sense according to God’s will and forms no part of his plans, his purposes, or his ways; that it originated in the finite and by apostasy from God, and that, therefore, God is not responsible for it, but all his relations to it are antagonistic and in the way of prevention, remedy, or punishment.
The first position—that God is the direct author of sin—is opposed to every revelation which God has made of himself in his Word. It is also irreconcilable with reason and the inner moral sense of mankind.
God is the author of what is termed “physical evil”; therefore we read, “I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things” (Isa. 45:7); “Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” (Amos 3:6). Such evil consists of temporal punishments or judgments that God brings upon men because of their sins (Jonah 3:10). God is not the author of moral evil, or sin; he is infinitely holy. One should not charge upon God, “that cannot lie” (Titus 1:2), all the falsehoods that have been uttered during the ages; nor state that the Holy One, who is “of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity” (Hab. 1:13), is, after all, its direct cause. The second position—that sin is God’s choice of methods for bringing about the greatest good—has had a larger number of supporters. They assume that although sin is contrary to the nature of God it is nevertheless according to his will that men should sin in order that his glorious power may be manifested in bringing into effect the plan of redemption, so that the sinner can experience the exquisite delights and enjoyments of contrast by being saved from sin. But if all this be necessary in order to insure happiness to finite beings, the angels of heaven must be very miserable: for as far as we know they have never had the privilege of experiencing this blessedness of contrast!
The Bible nowhere introduces sin as God’s work or method. Can God consistently decree that we shall sin, and at the same time prohibit us from doing it and threaten us with the direst punishments if we do?
The third position harmonizes with the moral sense in man, with the plain teachings of the Word, and with all the known facts in the case. Moral evil is contrary to God’s nature, contrary to his plans, his purposes, and his ways. All his relations to it are antagonistic. It originated in the finite and by apostasy from God.
God being holy, he could no more make a sinful being than he could lie (which is declared to be impossible): for God is a power only in the direction of his own nature and attributes. But an intelligent being much like himself he could and did make. Intelligence, however, implies real cause, that the being so endowed possesses inherently the power of acting voluntarily. Without this element of freedom, this power of choice and determination of conduct, true intelligence and moral responsibility could not exist.
With man possessing within himself the principle of cause as truly as does his Maker, so that he must act voluntarily, we see at once that it is within his sphere also to act wrongly. In other words, the possibility of sin inheres in all finite moral beings; for manifestly it is impossible to do right voluntarily without possessing the ability also to do wrong. This is the gist of the whole argument. The problem of sin is a problem of moral government. The individual with a personal will possesses a method and purpose exclusively his own. God is in no wise responsible for it. God having created man intelligent, in His own image, His responsibility in this respect ceased. The universe as a physical unit was incomplete, but when peopled with moral beings capable of rendering intelligent, voluntary service to God, the plan was perfect; therefore, man stands out as the crowning work of God’s creative effort.
Sin and Predestination
The first chapters of Genesis give an account of how sin was introduced into this part of God’s moral universe. It occurred by the willful choice of our foreparents, and by this means they apostatized from God. Ever since that time God’s relations to evil have been antagonistic, in the way of prevention, remedy, and punishment. Even those individuals who have unconsciously fulfilled some part of God’s plan in his relations to sin have at the same time acted voluntarily.
These thoughts, carefully considered, explain what is one of the most difficult texts in the Bible pertaining to this subject—Acts 2:23: “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.” Here the Apostle Peter charges the Jews with the most atrocious wickedness in crucifying the Son of God, and yet in the same verse teaches that it was according to God’s will that Christ should die. The purpose these men had in the act was evil, and they alone were responsible for it; therefore God, knowing their designs, simply delivered Christ into their hands, thus accomplishing his own purpose without violating in the least their free moral agency.
God claims no responsibility for men’s methods and action, except in his proper relations to them. (See Isa. 55:8.) Yet some would have us believe that everything that men do is in some secret and unexplainable manner according to the will of God. It is not true. Men’s methods may or may not be in accordance with the will of God. Through the exercise of an overruling Providence all things are made to “work together for good to them that love God” (Rom. 8:28), but even here the principle of free moral agency is respected, so that men’s moral actions result from their own voluntary desires.
The Nature of Sin
Two verses of Scripture give us a correct interpretation of sin. “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4). “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (Jas. 4:17). Sin is therefore either the conscious, voluntary transgression of God’s law or else the willful failure to conform to its requirements. God’s law is an infinite law; therefore its violation becomes a serious offense, involving the soul in spiritual ruin, both in time and in eternity. “Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?” (Job 22:5). The first transgression by our foreparents caused their banishment from Eden and the consequent train of sickness, pain, sorrow, and death.
The Universality of Sin
The consciousness of sin is universal, all men having fallen under its dismal and blighting sway. One of the main arguments of Paul in the Roman letter was to show that all men are sinners, in order that he might emphasize the truth of Christ’s mission as the universal Savior. Listen to his conclusion: “We have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin” (Rom. 3:9); “There is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (vss. 22–23).
Chapter 4
The Redemptive Plan
The fall of man wrought a radical change in his nature and condition; the primitive purity was lost, and sin and condemnation rested upon his guilty soul. As a result, the entire race was plunged into sin; therefore all men stand in need of redemption.
Self-Redemption Impossible
Redemption would imply a return to the original perfect state, in both character and condition, and this restoration man could not of his own will effect. In the first place, there was a legal difficulty that he could not surmount. As a moral being, he had been placed under moral law, and this law required his perfect obedience. Its requirements might all be summed up in the words, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matt. 22:37). Having disobeyed, man could not make reparation for his transgressions, since no surplus obedience is possible. Also, there was an insurmountable moral difficulty. Having lost purity and innocence, man could not by self-effort regain them. “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one” (Job 14:4). Yet such a restoration is indispensable to redemption. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). Self-redemption was therefore clearly impossible.
Will God Redeem?
As set forth in the previous chapter God stands acquitted of all responsibility in the Fall. Is there any evidence that he will redeem? The universal prevalence of sacrifices testifies that men have in all ages believed that God would redeem. It is highly probable that this practice was instituted by God’s appointment (Gen. 3:21 with 4:4). If so, then we have in this a clear evidence of God’s redemptive purpose.
A Divine Plan Progressively Revealed
Revelation itself, however, makes this subject clear. There existed in the divine mind a plan of restoration for fallen man. “Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord” (Gen. 4:26). A little later “Enoch walked with God” (5:24); while to Noah, God manifested himself particularly. These facts show God’s attitude toward the race.
When we come forward to the time of Abraham, we find a remarkable revelation of the plan of redemption in the special covenant that God made with the father of the Hebrew nation. This covenant consisted of two parts. The first part related to Abraham and his literal seed: God would make of him a great nation; his descendants should sojourn for a time in a strange land, after which God would bring them into the land of Canaan and give it to them for their inheritance. The second part of the covenant was of a spiritual nature, for in Abraham and his seed all the families of the earth were to be blessed (Gen. 12:1–3; 13:14–15; 15:5, 13–16; 17:1–8; 22:17–18).
This second division of the covenant so clearly depicted Christ and his universal gospel that Jesus said, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56). Paul says: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” “That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal. 3:16, 14). (See also Rom. 4:13, 16–17.)
In the fulfillment of the first part of this covenant to Abraham’s seed, God gave the Law of Moses, the ostensible object of which was to govern and benefit the Israelitish nation, but the greatest object of which was doubtless to furnish a system of types and shadows—of sacrifices and ceremonies, offerings and oblations—pointing forward to the second division of the covenant, when the spiritual and real worship of God would be established among the nations of the earth. This law, and the manner in which it was delivered, imparted a clearer revelation of God’s nature and character, as well as of his plan, and thus furnished the means of disciplining the Jews in preparation for the coming Messiah.
The later prophets were not limited to an external system of types and shadows, but the Spirit of God made known to them directly the higher standard of revelation to be brought about by Christ. Isaiah says that “God … will come and save you” (35:4) and that this salvation will be effected by His vicarious suffering and death (Chap. 53). Daniel predicted that the Messiah would come “to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness” (9:24). Joel prophesied that in the last days God would pour out his Spirit upon all flesh (2:28–29). Zechariah pointed to the fountain of cleansing for sin and uncleanness that would be “opened to the house of David” (13:1).
Jesus Christ brought the highest revelation of God and taught a proper standard of human conduct, but above all we find in him God’s perfect remedy for sin. He came “to save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21; I John 3:5–6). Thus, the moral restoration of man to the original condition of holiness and purity is accomplished (Titus 2:14).
The redemptive plan was not completely fulfilled, however, at the time of Christ’s first advent. So far as the soul is concerned, the means was provided for its moral restoration; but we have seen that the Fall affected man physically also. It was doubtless God’s original design “that mortality might be swallowed up of life”—that mortal man in the Garden of Eden should, by partaking of the tree of life, maintain his natural life indefinitely, until such time as it pleased God to translate or immortalize him. Since this purpose was frustrated through sin, it has now become a part of the redemptive plan “that mortality might be swallowed up of life” (II Cor. 5:4). And since, because of original sin, it has been “appointed unto men once to die” (Heb. 9:27), that part of the redemptory scheme relative to our immortalization has been deferred until the last great day, the day of resurrection, when “this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (I Cor. 15:53).
Paul recognizes the fact that our bodies are included in the redemptive work, for he says, “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? … For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s (I Cor. 6:19–20). (See also Eph. 1:13–14; II Cor. 5:1–5; Rom. 8:23.)
A knowledge of this progressive feature of God’s redemptive work is necessary to a correct understanding of what the Bible really teaches. God’s method of revelation was adjusted to the nature and the condition of men, and was therefore progressive, so that at times one part was made to succeed another part, but progress was always upward. The unity that we find in all parts of the Bible is a unity of purpose and plan, which God was constantly seeking to make known to man and by which man was being gradually elevated, that is, the redemptive plan.