Our sense organs 45

God is calling everyone
The greatest catastrophe that ever befell humanity
was not the Second World War, neither was it
any of history’s mass famines, nor even one of
the great plague epidemics. It was man’s fall into
sin. Not just thousands or millions of people, but
the entire human race was struck by the deadly
torpedo of sin. Sin has one very malicious property.
It spreads like a virulent epidemic, causing
death and destruction ever since the very first
transgression. All human beings are infected by
this horrible disease. During the course of our life
we contribute in no small way to the multiplication
of sin’s effects. Sin is a law unto itself, so
that in our fallen nature, we cannot avoid it.Thus
we read in Romans 7:19: “For what I do is not
the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want
to do – this I keep on doing.”
What is sin? First and foremost, sin is our separation
from God. Our sinful acts are consequences
of this general condition. “All wrongdoing
is sin” (1 John 5:17).
The Ten Commandments, as given by God in Exodus
20:1-17, are like a mirror by which we can
judge our deeds. Jesus expounds the Commandments
in depth in the Sermon on the Mount
(Matthew chapters 5 to 7). Not only is the actual
deed sin, but also the preceding thoughts in our
heart. The slightest deviation from these
unchangeable standards of God is sin, and by
this standard, nobody is righteous. Even when we
neglect to do good, it is also sin in the eyes of
God: “Anyone, then, who knows the good he
ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (Jam 4:17).
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