Hosea 13:9 O Israel, you have destroyed yourself; but in me is your help. I. MAN'S RUIN IS OF HIMSELF. Many believe that God is in some way the author of evil. This is impiously false. God is not the author of man's ruin. Being the first cause of all good, and independent, He is good, and only good. Satan is not the author of man's ruin. He cannot force the will nor constrain the mind to sin without concurrence and consent on our part, and in the concurrence and consent consists the sin that causes our ruin. (1) Our personal conduct shows this truth, and evinces that our sins result from the free choice of our wills, because there can be no responsibility where there is no freedom of choice. (2) The state of our mind shows the same truth. This evidence indeed is cognisable only to our own conscience; but this is as it ought to be. What is the nature of the ruin? Loss of rectitude, or the Divine image; exposure to Divine wrath now, and in the world to come. These are the outlines of the misery we have brought on ourselves through sin. II. MAN'S RECOVERY IS OF GOD. "In Me is thine help." The doctrine here is, that the salvation of man is of the grace of God. "By grace ye are saved." He delivers us from the evils which involve our ruin. The guilt of conscience, the defilement of the heart, the disorder of the faculties, the dominion of the passions, the bondage of sin. He restores to us the blessings that involve our happiness. (D.V. Phillips.) Parallel Verses KJV: O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.WEB: You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, against your help. |
    |