Old Paths In Portrait

“God is holy, without spot or blemish or any such thing, without any wrinkle or anything like it, as they also that are in Christ shall one day be (Eph 5:27). He is so holy that He cannot sin Himself, nor be the cause or author of sin in another. He does not command sin to be committed, for to do so would be to cross His nature and will. Nor does He approve of any man’s sin when it is committed, but hates it with a perfect hatred. He is without iniquity and of purer eyes than to behold (i.e. approve) iniquity (Hab 1:13).

On the contrary, as God is holy, all holy, only holy, altogether holy, and always holy, so sin is sinful, all sinful, only sinful, altogether sinful, and always sinful (Gen 6:5). “In my flesh,” that is, in my sinful, corrupt nature, “there dwelleth no good thing” (Rom 7:18). As in God there is no evil, so in sin there is no good. God is the chiefest of goods and sin is the chiefest of evils. As no good can be compared with God for goodness, so no evil can be compared with sin for evil.”

-Ralph Venning  Puritan Minister  c.1621-1673