The white devil of spiritual sin is far more dangerous than the black devil of carnal sin because the wiser, the better men are without Christ, the more they are likely to ignore and oppose the Gospel.

Neither men who try to keep the Law, nor those who do not try to keep it, are justified before God, for they are all spiritually dead.

Not only are all men without exception declared to be guilty in God's sight, they are slaves to the sin that makes them guilty.

Iniquities forgiven and sins covered can be said to differ in this way, that iniquity is that by which a man is turned toward the creature because he prefers its love to the love of God, and that is evil; sin, however, is that by which a man is turned away from God, which is to transgress the commandment and law of God. According to Cassiodorus and blessed Jerome, iniquities

If all men have "free will" and yet all without exception are under God's wrath, then it follows that "free will" leads them in only one direction—"ungodliness and unrighteousness" (i.e., wickedness). So where is the power of "free will" helping them to do good? If "free will" exists, it does not seem to be able to help men to salvation because it still leaves them under the wrath of God.

It is indeed pitiful that a monk who does nothing else night and day except chastise his body achieves nothing by this diligence than to be cast into the flames of hell.

The truth is, I am all sin.

In accusing me of being a damnable sinner, you are cutting your own throat, Satan. You are reminding me of God's fatherly goodness toward me, that He so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. In calling me a sinner, Satan, you really comfort me above measure." With such heavenly cunning we are to meet the devil's craft and put from us the memory of sin.

If, therefore, you acknowledge that you have sin, if you tremble, if you are troubled by a feeling of God's wrath and by a horror of God's judgment and of hell, then have confidence. You are the one with whom God wants to speak, to whom God wants to show His mercy, and whom He wants to save.

Moses could not sing this way. He is a minister of prison, a teacher of drudgery, an originator of servitude, or, as Paul usually calls him, "A minister of death, sin, and sadness" (2 Cor. 3:9). In antithesis to him we wish to sing of a kingdom that is delightful, free, and full of joy.

So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!

Sin brought death, and death will disappear with the disappearance of sin.