Editorial November 22, 1947 Issue

"THE LORD FORBID THAT I SHOULD DO THIS"

Paul Stark Seeley

The little word sin has a wide range of meaning. Dictionaries define it as a violation of divine law, and John saw and said that "all unrighteousness is sin" (I John 5:17). Of course, one needs to know something of what is meant by divine law in order to recognize what is a violation of it, and something of what righteousness is in order to recognize unrighteousness. The First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3), the meaning of which is amplified in the succeeding nine, and the two great commandments given by Christ Jesus (Matt. 22:37-39), which summarize the earlier ten, leave no doubt as to what is sin.

Many mortals are not eager to investigate sin, for reasons that are not obscure. They usually do not wish to learn and admit the wrongness of sin, because they believe that they enjoy at least some sinful phases of material life, its habits and indulgences. Why be disturbed? evil suggests. For the time being it is a thralldom that is rather pleasant. But sin is not a halfway respectable imp to be smiled on in secret but hidden under one's cloak in public. One can go on kindling the fire that will eventually consume him if he so chooses, but it is a pastime with tragedy ahead. No one can evade the penalty for disobedience to the creator's law.

Let us not forget that the world's greatest benefactor came specifically to "save his people from their sins." Would we be so hardened as to turn our backs on the Saviour's purpose and on our part in its accomplishment? The "Daily Prayer" in the Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy petitions, "Let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin" (Art. VIII, Sect. 4). Note, "rule out of me all sin"! Let us be sure we have no mental reservations.

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