From “How to become a Christian”: Chapter 6 – The bad news first – sin and its consequences.
We see from the above verses that God takes His own holiness and sinlessness extremely seriously. There is no alternative for Him but to do so, because He must remain true to His own nature. Now consider by contrast the following passages. These show what our sin is like and how seriously God takes it:
5The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.
Genesis 6:5-6 (NIV)
Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine The soul who sins will die.
Ezekiel 18:4 (NASB)
11Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.
Genesis 6:11-12(NIV)
I have listened attentively,
Jeremiah 8:6 (NIV)
but they do not say what is right.
No one repents of his wickedness,
saying, “What have I done?
Each pursues his own course
like a horse charging into battle.
1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good.
Psalm 53:1-3 (NIV)
2 God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
3 Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
