William S. Plumer

Tell me what you think of sin, and I will tell you what you think of God, of Christ, of the Spirit, of the divine Law, of the blessed gospel, and of all necessary truth. He who looks upon
sin merely as a fiction, as a misfortune, or as a trifle¹ sees no necessity either for deep repentance or a great atonement.² He who sees no sin in himself will feel no need of a Savior. He who is conscious of no evil at work in his heart will desire no change of nature. He who regards sin as a slight affair will think a few tears or an outward reformation ample satisfaction. The truth is, no man ever thought himself a greater sinner before God than he really was. Nor was any man ever more distressed at his sins than he had just cause to be. He who never felt it to be an evil and a bitter thing to depart from God (Jer 2:19) is to this hour an enemy of his Maker, a rebel against his rightful and righteous Sovereign.

When God speaks of the evil of sin, it is in such language as this: “Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jer 2:12-13). God is a God of truth and would never speak thus about anything that was not atrocious and enormous³ in its very nature. Yet it should be observed that He mentions only such sins as are chargeable to all men, even the most moral and decent.

In this estimate of the evil of sin, the righteous do well agree with God. The most piteous⁴ and bitter cries that ever ascended from earth to heaven were uttered under the sting of sin or were for deliverance from its power. In doctrine, there can be no worse tendency than that which diminishes men’s abhorrence of iniquity. Nor is there a darker sign in religious experience than the slightness of the impressions some have concerning the heinous nature of all sin. It is worse than poverty, sickness, reproach. It is worse than all sufferings. The reason is because it is “exceeding sinful” (Rom 7:13). The worst thing that can be said of any thought, word, or deed is that it is wicked. It may be foolish; but if it is sinful, it is infinitely worse. It may be vulgar and, as such, should be avoided; but if it is sinful, it should be avoided, were it ever so polite. An act may offend man and yet be very praiseworthy; but if it displeases God, nothing can excuse its commission.

Some have proposed curious and unprofitable questions respecting the infinitude⁵ of the evil of sin. An answer to them would probably give rise to a host of others like them, so there would be no end of folly. Besides, men do not propose or discuss idle questions when they are anxious to know how they may be saved from sin. Then they cry, “Men and brethren, what must we do? Is there mercy, is there help, is there hope for such perishing sinners as we are? If so, where can we find salvation?” Questions that are merely curious and not practical in religion are unworthy of study and consideration. Yet it may be proper to say that anything is to us infinite, the dimensions of which we cannot gauge, the greatness of which we cannot understand. In this sense, sin is an infinite evil. We cannot set bounds to it. We cannot say, “Thus far it comes and no further” (see Job 38:11). “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (Jam 1:15). And who but God can tell all that is included in that fearful word death?

Moreover, sin is committed against an infinite God. The ill-desert⁶ of any evil deed is to be determined in part by the dignity of the person against whom it is directed. To strike a brother is wrong; to strike a parent is worse. To strike a fellow-soldier is punishable with chains; to strike a commanding officer is punishable with death. On this principle, the Bible reasons, “If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him?” (1Sa 2:25). God is our Maker, Father, Governor, and Judge. He is glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. He is the best of all friends, the greatest of all beings, the most bountiful of all benefactors. By ties stronger than death and more lasting than the sun, we are bound to love, fear, honor, and obey Him. To sin against Him is so impudent, ungrateful, and wicked that no created mind can ever adequately estimate its atrocity; and so, it is an infinite evil. If sin had its own way, it would dethrone the Almighty! All rebellion tends to the utter subversion of the government against which it is committed; and all sin is rebellion against the government of God. If men saw their sins aright, they would more highly prize divine mercy; and if they had more worthy conceptions of God’s grace, they would have more abasing views of themselves.

We may learn much of the evil nature of sin by the names that the Bible gives to it and to those who practice it. It is called disobedience, transgression, iniquity, foolishness, madness, rebellion, evil, evil fruit, uncleanness, filthiness, pollution, perverseness, frowardness,⁷ stubbornness, revolt, an abomination, an accursed thing. In like manner, deeds of wickedness are called evil works, works of darkness, dead works, works of the flesh, works of the devil. And wicked men are called sinners, unjust, unholy, unrighteous, filthy, evil men, evil doers, seducers, despisers, children of darkness, children of the devil, children of hell, corrupters, idolaters, enemies of God, enemies of all righteousness, adversaries of God and man, liars, deceivers.

From low, meagre⁸ apprehensions of the divine nature and law flow a slight estimate of the evil of sin, spiritual pride, self-conceit, and a disesteem⁹ of the most precious righteousness of Jesus Christ. He who can go to Gethsemane and Calvary and come away with slight views of the evil nature of sin must be blind indeed. There God speaks in accents not to be misunderstood but by the willful. Yet such is the perverseness of men that they often refuse to learn even at the cross of Christ. Beveridge¹⁰ says that man’s understanding is so darkened “that he can see nothing of God in God, nothing of holiness in holiness, nothing of good in good, nothing of evil in evil, nor anything of sinfulness in sin. Nay, it is so darkened that he fancies himself to see good in evil and evil in good, happiness in sin and misery in holiness.” We all naturally belong to the generation of “the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.” In coincidence with these general views, Brooks¹¹ says, “There is no sin little because [there is] no little God to sin against.”

Bunyan¹² near death said, “No sin against God can be little because it is against the great God of heaven and earth; but if the sinner can find out a little God, it may be easy to find out little sins.”

John Owen¹³ says, “He that hath slight thoughts of sin, never had great thoughts of God.”

Luther¹⁴ said, “From the error of not knowing or understanding what sin is, there necessarily arises another error—that people cannot know or understand what grace is.”

The Westminster Assembly¹⁵ says, “Every sin, even the least, being against the sovereignty, goodness, and holiness of God and against His righteous law, deserveth His wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come, and cannot be expiated¹⁶ but by the blood of Christ.”

Paul says, “The wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).

Chrysostom¹⁷ says, “There is in human affairs nothing that is truly terrific¹⁸ but sin. In all things else, in poverty, in sickness, in disgrace, and in death (which is held to be the greatest of all evils), there is nothing that is really dreadful. With the wise man, they are all empty names. But to offend God, to do what He disapproves, this is real evil.”

Truly, every wise man will say that he has cause to cry, “Show me my sin, my lost condition; show me Thy love, Thy mercy. Show me the extent, the holiness, the spirituality of Thy commandments. Reveal Thy Son in me. Let Him be the cure of sin, both of its horrible pollution and its horrible guilt.”

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From The Grace of Christ, Sprinkle Publications

William S. Plumer (1802-1880): American Presbyterian minister and author; born in Greensburg, PA, USA.

1. trifle – matter of little importance.
2. See FGB 203, Repentance, and FGB 227, Atonement, available from CHAPEL LIBRARY.
3. atrocious and enormous – horrifyingly wicked and extremely evil.
4. piteous – mournful.
5. infinitude – quality of being infinite; having no limit.
6. ill-desert – quality of deserving blame or punishment.
7. frowardness – perversity; quality of being turned away from what is right or good.
8. meagre – inadequate; insufficient.
9. disesteem – lack of respect; low opinion.
10. William Beveridge (1637-1708) – Anglican bishop, preacher, and author.
11. Thomas Brooks (1608-1680) – Puritan Congregational preacher and author.
12 John Bunyan (1628-1688) – English preacher and one of the most influential writers of the 17th century; author of The Pilgrim’s Progress, available from CHAPEL LIBRARY.
13. John Owen (1616-1683) – English Congregational pastor, author, and theologian.
14. Martin Luther (1483-1546) – German monk, theologian, and university professor, whose ideas inspired the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western civilization.
15. Westminster Assembly of Divines – council of divines (theologians) appointed to restructure the Church of England; meeting from 1643 to 1653, it produced a new form of church government, a confession of faith, two catechisms, and the Directory for Public Worship.
16. expiated – cleansed from guilt; paid for.
17. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) – early theologian, bishop, and eloquent preacher of the Greek Church. 18 terrific – causing terror; dreadful.

Courtesy of Chapel Library