Third Sunday in Lent.
THE GENESIS OF SIN.
1. We will now consider the way in which Sin is engendered, and takes upon it form and guilt. As already said, the knowledge of Sin is not in itself sinful. Nor is the sensation of pleasure that arises on the occurrence of a sinful suggestion necessarily so. Sin does not spring into deadly reality till the will has given its consent.
2. Theintelligenceproposes the evil thought to the will; it counsels the will to agree to some sensible good, which it sees, to the disobedience of a divine law, the existence of which it recognizes.
That is to say, we see that a course of action lies open to us, which, as we admit is forbidden by God’s law, yet this course of action will, we feel assured, bring to us some great advantage. For instance, a manufacturer sees how that, by the adulteration of his goods in a certain manner, not liable to detection, he may be able to save himself several thousand pounds, which sum he will net as a profit. Having seen his opportunity, he either accepts it or he rejects it; he turns the suggestion of his mind into a sin, or an occasion of victory over temptation.
3. Theimaginationrepresents in lively colours to the willthe charms, the delights of some action which the Conscience recognizes as forbidden. Not only so, but the imagination exaggerates these charms, these delights, so as to form a most alluring picture which the will has a difficulty in rejecting.
4.Ignoranceconceals from the will the inherent evil of a course of action proposed. A Conscience that is not keenly alert to duty, and has not been disciplined in right, sees a course of conduct before it, and sees that it will conduce to great advantage, but is too blunt or gross to be able to distinguish any right or wrong in it. It acts in obedience to the impulse to gain a promising temporal end, without perception of the true nature of the act. This often happens. We do not have our eyes opened to what we have done till after the thing is done, and then, and then only, discover how wrongly we have acted.
5.Bad habitencourages the will to consent to evil by recalling the pleasure or advantages obtained by past yielding to temptation, and invites it to a continuance. Moreover bad habit blunts Conscience, and removes all sharpness of perception as to the right or wrong of an act. Bad habits are easily acquired, and when once they get hold of a man are eradicated with difficulty. Everyone therefore should be watchful against the beginnings of a habit that may be bad, that is not assuredly good, for what may be bad will in the long-run become actually bad. Bad habit grows through carelessness, and a constant watch against its rooting itself and ramifying must be maintained.
6. We have seen now how that the will is urged to consent to evil, either through the intelligence advising it, or the imagination alluring to it, or through ignorance, blinding to its nature,or through bad habit, which has weakened the power of resistance in the will. Now Sin only begins when the will has given consent. S. James says, “Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (S. James i. 14, 15.) First thesuggestionof Sin comes from the Intelligence, or from the imagination. Then thewill consentsto the suggestion. Sin is then in conception. Then it is carried forth intoexecution. Sin is accomplished. It has become a fatal fact. Lastly comes the judgment on sin, the result that follows sin as a shadow follows a body—Death. “The wages of sin are death.” “By sin came death.”
We must therefore keep a watchful guard over the thoughts and imaginations, and let the will be under the absolute control of the Conscience, so that it may not give consent to the evil suggestion. If it has given consent, sin has begun to live; it may, however, again be checked before it proceeds to act.
Simple Maltese Cross