August 22

Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4)

Suppose there was a law that man should not steal, but no penalty was attached to stealing, some man would have my pocketbook before the day was over. If I threatened to have him arrested, he would snap his lingers in my face. He would not fear the law, if there was no penalty. It is not the law that people are afraid of; it is the penalty for transgression.

Do not suppose God has made a law without a penalty. What an absurd thing it would be! The penalty for sin is death: “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” If I have sinned I must die, or get somebody to die for me. If the Bible doesn’t teach that, it doesn’t teach anything. And that is where the atonement of Jesus Christ comes in.