Replies

Quick concurrence with HarleyD:

Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

To sin is to be evil. God loved us while we were still evil. You don’t rescue a drowning man AFTER he pulls himself out of the water, right?

BTW, D, getting back to you on the other questions, but it takes me some time. Later ...

To sin is to be evil.

Amen. This is the purity of God who knows no sin. Anything that sin, no matter how small, is looked upon by God as evil or wicked. We are children of wrath. And there is good reason. Everything that God does is perfect and good. Therefore any sin goes directly against this goodness and perfection.

This is the very sorry state of mankind. But that's not the end of the story. God in His divine love redeems us while we are dead in our sins.

Eph 2:1-9 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

We who were once "children of wrath" are saved by His grace in kindness towards us. And though we still sin, we have been set apart for good works. Christ paid the penalty for our sin but less we be too boastful-we are still sinners by nature-wanting to do evil. God will chasten and hasten His believers to effect His good works. And we should welcome that chastening with open arms.