Hence it is plain that the subject treated of in that narrative is sin, and not that separation which takes place between the soul and the body, and which we now call death.
It is true that the apostle says, "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."[1] But it is evident that by the death which is here spoken of as the result of sinning, is not meant natural death, but the spiritual consequence of transgression; and this is not the dissolution of the body, but calamity to the soul. The decease of the body, as a natural event, is no adequate equivalent for the sin of the soul, a spiritual circumstance. Death is frequently spoken of in the Scriptures as the symbol of man's separation from God. Thus, "sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death:"[2] "To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace:"[3] "He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."[4] Hence it is certain that the death which is spoken of as the consequence of sin is condemnation—the separation of the soul from spiritual enjoyments,—its association with darkness and despair, and not the separation of the soul from its earthly tabernacle; for, surely, those who are now in heaven do not regret having been separated from their earthly bodies; nor can we reasonably suppose that they regard such separation as a calamity. We hold it to have been an orderly appointment from the commencement of our race, and not, as it is commonly believed to be, an evil resulting from the fall.
