A group of medical students were assigned a cadaver to study for their medical course. They gathered together in the room where the cadaver lay and discussed the problem before them.

“He looks awfully pale,” said the first student.

“And he just lies there, doing nothing,” added the second.

“I’m quite sure he’s not getting enough exercise to stay healthy,” observed the third.

“I think our first objective should be to get him up and around, to help get his circulation going,” concluded the fourth. So they began trying to convince the cadaver to start moving about, but the cadaver just stayed on the table, cold and quiet, no matter what they said or did.

Now this is a parable! You have guessed that already! But using this somewhat gruesome analogy, let’s restate thesis 10: “A cadaver lies on the table because he is dead. He is not dead because he lies on the table.” The behavior that is typical of a corpse comes as a result of being dead—it is not the cause of death.

Spiritually, we are all born dead. Paul talks in Ephesians 2:1 of being “dead in trespasses and sins.”

“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;” - Ephesians 2:1

The sinful deeds which sinful people commit are only the result of that condition, not the cause.

I’m not trying to say that sinning isn’t sinful! But I am saying that sinning isn’t what makes us sinful. If you could stop all sinful behavior right now, would that make you righteous? No, it would only make you well-behaved.

The Desire of Ages, page 21, says,

“Sin originated in self- seeking.” - The Desire of Ages, page 21

Think about that for a few minutes. Lucifer had been honored above all the angels of heaven. He was the highest of all created beings. But instead of continuing to seek after God, instead of seeking fellowship with Him, instead of seeking God’s glory and honor as the highest goal, Lucifer began seeking his own glory. Sin didn’t begin with Lucifer stealing apples off the tree of life. It began with self-seeking and glorifying the creature instead of the Creator.

It’s a law of the universe that it is impossible to seek God’s glory and our own glory at the same time. The first of the three angels in Revelation 14 comes with a message to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. “Fear God, and give glory to him.” - Verse 7.

“saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” - Revelation 14:7

The work of the gospel has no room for the glory of man. Justification by faith

“is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust, and doing for man that which is not in his power to do for himself.” - Testimonies to Ministers, p. 456.

Worshiping ourselves instead of God is the cause of all the sins that follow.

A strong-willed person may be able to control his behavior. But not even the strongest can change his sinful condition.

“It is impossible for us, of ourselves, to escape from the pit of sin in which we are sunken. Our hearts are evil, and we cannot change them.” - Steps to Christ, p. 18.

Any external change that we accomplish, apart from Christ, only results in our own glory coming to the top, and the glory of God going to the dust. And we end up farther than ever from the life in Christ that is offered through relationship and fellowship with Him.

A corpse can be washed and groomed and dressed in the finest clothes. It may not be guilty of doing even one wrong thing. It can even be taken to church. But it is still a corpse! Only new life from within, given by God, can bring about the change from death to life. That new life is received through relationship with Him.

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” - Romans 8:2