Where, then, does sin reside? Jesus
answers this question once for all in Matthew 15:19, 20: 'For out of
the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, false witness, blasphemies.' It is the heart that sins; 'the
soul that sinneth, it shall die,' says the prophet Ezekiel in Ezek.
18:4. The body will die and return to dust from whence it came, but
these immortal souls of ours will live on eternally. It is the soul
that sins. When in our intentions we purpose to sin, we are guilty
of sin before God. He that searches the heart, who looks not as man
looks, who sees the secret motive, he knows when the will consents to
do evil. Not a theft was ever committed, except that there was a will
to steal; not an act of dishonesty, except that there was a will to
deceive; not a lie was ever uttered, except there was a will to lie.
It is our souls that must be saved. 'Receiving the end of your faith,
even the salvation of your souls' (1 Peter 1:9).
"Our text says, 'Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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