How We Are Delivered

Now we are taught in this chapter that by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ we are delivered from
that bondage to sin wherein we were held. This redemption from slavery is as definite as the
deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt. They were under the power of a despot in a
strange land where it was impossible for them to serve God. But the nation was first of all
preserved by blood shedding in the hour of judgment, and then rescued from slavery. Jehovah
brought them miraculously through the Red Sea, and they were able to look back and see the dead
bodies of their oppressors upon the seashore. They thus became Jehovah’s freedmen.

Now the freedmen of grace are those to whom this chapter is addressed. Sin is represented under
the figure of a tyrannical master who carries away the heart and motives in pursuit of passionate
desires, whether purely carnal or mental. Under the rule of sin these desires or delights are
characterized by an absence of regard for the will of God in the matter. The delight may be in
poetry or philosophy or pure science, but the natural heart only finds satisfaction in these things
so far as the will of God is excluded from consideration. But the apostle declares that the believer
is delivered by death from this order of things. He argues, "How shall we that are dead to sin, live
any longer therein?" (verse 2).

Death With Christ

It is important to observe that there is here no injunction to put oneself to death. The fact is
announced that the members of the family of faith have died to sin. This is a judicial
pronouncement with regard to the whole question. And we learn that the act whereby we become
dead to sin was perfected in the death of Christ.

The apprehension of this fact is a matter of faith in the declaration of the Word of God. It could
not be otherwise. Just as we learn that God laid our sins upon Jesus our Substitute, and believing,
we rejoice in the knowledge of this mercy, so it is necessary to believe in order to know that we
were associated with Christ in His death for our deliverance from sin. The apostle says, "Know
ye not that so many of us as were baptized unto Jesus Christ were baptized unto His death (verse
3).

Burial With Christ

In these terms a judicial association with Christ is predicated of all believers. We are regarded as
having gone down with Him into death, leaving thus the place of bondage to emerge into the place
of life and liberty. For this identification applies to the burial as well as to the death of Christ:
"Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death:that, like as Christ was raised up from
the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (verse 4).

An illustration of this passage of the believer through death may be found in the Old Testament.
I refer now to the crossing of the Jordan by the children of Israel. The general analogy of this

historical incident is no doubt more with the aspect of truth revealed in Colossians and Ephesians
than with that in Romans; but I make the reference now solely to the manner in which the tribes
passed the barrier to their goal.

By divine direction the ark of God was borne to the edge of the swiftly flowing river, and when
the feet of the priests touched the waters, the current stayed. The priests went forward, bearing
the ark, until they stood in the midst of the river bed. There they remained upon dry ground, and
the Israelites were enabled to make their way across the stream upon dry ground. The ark
maintained its position until the last person had crossed over, then upon its removal the waters
resumed their normal course.

Thus, the supernatural power associated with the ark prevented the floods of Jordan from
overwhelming the people of God. So we learn in the New Testament that Christ Himself went
down into death, and while we went through it with Him, He as it were held back its waters from
us, and we passed through "dry-shod" with Him. He died and rose again in the power of an
endless life, and because of our intimate association with Christ we are now called to walk in
"newness of life."

What are we to understand by these things? The facts are here stated in order that we may see how
to gain the victory and how to live and walk in communion with the Lord after a new fashion of
holiness. This result is not to be attained by any personal determination to overcome all the inward
and outward forces which oppose holiness. The divine method is not to do, but to accept what has
been done for us_not to conquer self by pure effort, but to live in the new, the Christ-life
bestowed upon each believer.

The Old Man Crucified

We find from this scripture that the believer is taught to find that in the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ there is for him not only deliverance from the guilt of sins but also deliverance from the
power of sin. We died with Christ, but are also alive again, even as He is. We have passed
through what is here regarded as the judicial extinction of ourselves as sinful persons with
irremediably sinful natures. The apostle, speaking of the child of God in his natural condition,
declares that the "old man" was crucified with Christ:"Knowing this, that our old man was
crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve
sin" (verse 6). There are many forms of death, but crucifixion is a form associated with shame
and ignominy, and under the Mosaic law with curse. And the "old man" because of its evil
propensities was, in the language of the text, worthy not only of death but of the death of the
cross. It was man’s injustice and malignity that assigned the Son of man to the death of
crucifixion, but it was the justice and grace of God that sentenced our "old man" to be crucified
with Christ. The purpose of this judicial act is declared to have been that the body of sin might
be destroyed or annulled.

But it may be asked how this deliverance is effected. And nothing can be added to the words of
this text. The illustration employed is a most forcible one. What can be a more complete
deliverance from slavery than death? If an Israelite died in Egypt he was thereby most effectually

delivered from bondage to Pharaoh. The whip of the taskmaster at once became unavailing. In like
manner the believer is rescued from his slavish service to sin by death. Only he has, unlike the
Israelite, died unto sin in the person of Another. He is, moreover, alive to a new order of things
entirely.

It follows therefore that the attempt to eradicate the evil principle of sin by pure self-discipline is
a virtual denial of the truth before us which asserts that the believer has already died to sin in the
death of Christ. Much confusion sometimes arises in this connection from not observing that the
Scripture does not say that sin is dead, but that we are dead to it. The two statements are totally
different. Some finding evil rampant in inward activity argue from this fact against the plain
declaration of God’s Word. But the latter can never be wrong. The Word of God is truth, and no
lie is of the truth.

A believer is bound to believe that we died with Christ, and moreover that we also "live with
Him," and that we live to God. Further, by His death we are freed from bondage to sin, for
according to Scripture this is an accomplished fact.

(Note:This subject will be continued in the next issue, Lord willing, with a discussion of our
reckoning ourselves dead unto sin and alive unto God.)

We often hear people say, "I don’t believe God would send anyone to hell, at least not forever";
or, "I believe that if people do wrong, they are punished in this life for it, and God forgives
everybody after they die"; or, "Everybody will have a second chance after they die." Now we
know from Scripture that none of these statements is true, but the history of Absalom shows us
why God cannot simply forgive everyone.

Absalom was a handsome young man and he had a beautiful sister, Tamar. Their half brother
Amnon mistreated Tamar and Absalom hated him for it. When David heard of Amnon’s sin, he
became very angry but did nothing about it; so Absalom had Amnon murdered. Absalom went
into exile for three years. David wanted to bring back Absalom even though Absalom had sinned
(2 Sam. 13:39).

Finally, David allowed Absalom to return to Jerusalem, but refused to see him. Absalom found
this situation intolerable, and after two years in Jerusalem he forced Joab to speak to David. David
then called Absalom into his presence and kissed him. Absalom was thus restored to his position
as a son of the king.

Chapters 15 through 20 of 2 Samuel record some of the saddest events in the Old Testament.
Absalom stirred up a rebellion against David, David was forced to flee Jerusalem, and Absalom
established himself there. Absalom was eventually killed, but there was more bloodshed before
the rebellion was completely put down.

David forgave Absalom even though Absalom did not repent or express any sorrow for his sin.
Absalom’s desire to see the king was not motivated by love for David but because he wanted to
be in a position to gather support for his own cause. Absalom had usurped David’s authority when
he murdered Amnon and later he wanted all of David’s power and authority for himself.

Unregenerate sinners are rebels against God (Rom. 8:7,8). Their primary motivation is to please
themselves, not God. If they are religious sinners, they may talk about serving and worshiping
God; but they are determined to do these things their own way, not God’s. How can God just
forgive unrepentant sinners? Absalom felt no love or gratitude toward David in response to
David’s forgiveness. The unsaved would likewise feel no love or gratitude toward God if He
forgave them in their unrepentant state. Their rebellion would break out in heaven itself if God
were to allow them there, just as Absalom rebelled against his father after his return to Jerusalem.

No, sinners must repent and be regenerated (born again)before God can forgive them. And they
must repent in this present life; there will be no repentance in hell, because the Holy Spirit, who
brings about repentance in the heart, will not be working there. "God . . . now commandeth all
men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30). We need more than to be forgiven (spared the penalty
of our sin); we need to be freed from the power of sin, to be loosed from our sins and to be given
a new nature which desires to love and obey God. Only then can we be fit for God’s presence and
to dwell with Him forever.

It is noticeable that, in divine wisdom, the injunctions of the early part of this chapter have a wide
application. It is right for "every soul" to "be subject to the authorities that are above him." The
believer finds himself in the sphere where divine government is set up, and he has to respect it,
but "every soul" is called upon to recognize that authority. is from God. This epistle does not
leave out of its view any of the relations that subsist between God and men, and one of those
relations is that He has set up authorities and rulers. The institution of government after the flood
(Gen. 9) was one of the greatest mercies that God has shown to men. Authority may be abused,
and often has been in the hands of man as a fallen creature, but its character is to be a terror to
what is evil and to favor what is good. The Christian is to recognize that all authority is from God.
This delivers him from the lawless spirit which despises authority. We have the personal testimony
of the Lord in this matter, as declaring that Pilate’s authority was given to him from above (John
19:11).

"For there is no authority except from God; and those that exist are set up by God" (v. 1 JND).
If one government was overturned, and another set up in its place, faith’s estimate of it would be
that it was the act of God. God’s ways in government are retributive. If governments cease to
praise what is good, or to be a terror to evil, they no longer serve the purpose for which they were
set up, and God’s retributive ways may act in setting them aside. There are moral reasons for what
God does in this way. He may scourge a nation by setting up an oppressive rule, or He may use
other nations to check wickedness or ambition. And, behind all, God ever has in view His own
work and testimony, though often His government works out in unexpected ways. For example,
Paul was imprisoned by the authorities, though he was no evildoer, but he tells us that it turned
out rather to the furtherance of the glad tidings. The Lord took a remarkable way to bring out "the
most of the brethren" in a fearless and abundant speaking of the Word of God. He put the chief
preacher in prison! I suppose the courage and confidence of Paul_even as an imprisoned
man_stirred up the brethren to be more bold than they otherwise would have been (Phil. 1:12-
14). The action of the authorities was really subservient to the designs of grace. Even persecution
has often furthered the testimony of God, so that it came to be a saying that "the blood of the
martyrs is the seed of the church." God has used the cruelties of persecution to bring about a
revulsion of feeling in the minds of men, and to secure in that way greater liberty for His people.
God has used things, severe and terrible in themselves, to further His testimony.

The authorities which exist are not viewed in Scripture as having intelligence of a spiritual order.
They are represented as "beasts" (Daniel 7); they do not generally perceive what God is doing by
their means, though Nebuchadnezzar, and particularly Cyrus, may have been personally conscious
that they were directly raised up to do certain things. Cyrus was a very remarkable person,
mentioned by name by the prophet Isaiah generations before he was raised up (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1).
God would set up a government favorable to what He had in His mind with regard to Jerusalem
and the temple. It is of much interest to note that the four empires of Daniel 7_the Babylonish,
the Medo-Persian, the Greek, and the Roman_have covered that part of the earth where God’s
people have been chiefly found, whether the Jews from the time of the captivity, or the Gentiles
as visited by grace later. All authority has to be owned as being of God, but the authorities which
have a distinct place in prophecy, as seen in Daniel 7, are those which exist in the area where

God’s people and testimony are chiefly found. The Greek empire followed the Medo-Persian, and
prepared the way by the diffusion of the Greek language over a wide area, for that extension of
the divine testimony which was intimated by Greek being the chosen language of inspiration for
the New Testament. Then God had in mind to spread His testimony westward, and He allowed
the Greek empire to be succeeded by the Roman. The special sphere of His action in government
has corresponded with the special sphere of His actings in grace. All has had in view what God
was doing, or going to do, in relation to His testimony. God has ordained these things. "So that
he that sets himself in opposition to the authority resists the ordinance of God" (v. 2 JND).

Government is God’s minister to every one of us for good if we practice what is good, but if we
practice evil it will make us suffer. So that with all right-minded persons it is not merely on
account of wrath that they are subject-that is, as being afraid of the consequences of insubjection
_but on account of conscience (verse 5). Their consciences approve of the objects which
government has in view.

So we pay tribute as to God’s officers. In the light of this it is not becoming for a Christian to
grumble_as other men often do_about tolls and taxes, or put off until the last minute paying what
is due. The Christian would not, surely, be among the last to render what is due to those whom
he has been taught to regard as God’s officers! Indeed he is to "render to all their dues." This is
one great feature of practical righteousness. There is, indeed, one debt which can never be so
discharged that we are free from its claim, but all other debts are to be paid as they fall due! "Owe
no one anything, unless to love one another" (verse 8 JND). This is to mark those who are in
subjection to God. God is much dishonored, and His way evil spoken of by men, when these
things are neglected. If a brother or sister has had to incur expenses of illness, or the like, and is
not able to pay, it is a fine opportunity for verse 13 of the previous chapter ("distributing to the
necessity of saints") to be acted on by the brethren! God does not exempt His people from
misfortunes, and sometimes believers may get involved, through no fault of their own, in liabilities
which they cannot meet. I have known believers who fail in business, but turn to God in real
exercise, and get His help so that they have been able to pay all their creditors in full. It is clear
from this chapter that God regards His people as competent to render all that is due, and faith
would be concerned to answer to this.

It is important to observe that there are no instructions to believers as to how they should exercise
authority in the world. Their place is to submit themselves to authorities which exist. They have
nothing to do with establishing the authorities; they recognize them as set up by God. We are
exhorted to subject ourselves to the authorities, and to pray for them (1 Timothy 2), but we have
no instructions to vote for them. To vote is to take the place of deciding what the powers shall be;
it is really to join with others in ruling the world. But the Christian is here to confess that all the
rights of rule pertain to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to wait in patience for Him to come and take
up His rights. And in the meantime we are to be in subjection to the powers that exist in the
ordering of God, and to honor them as God’s ministers.

(From An Outline of the Epistle to the Romans.)

"Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and He shall save thee" (Proverbs
20:22).

No lesson is harder for some of us to learn than that’ of confiding all our affairs to the hands of
the Lord, especially when we feel we have been wronged and ill-treated. Yet it is plain from
Scripture that the saint can make no greater mistake than to take charge of his own affairs in such
a case. Nothing could be clearer than the injunction, "Recompense to no man evil for evil. . . .
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written,
Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Rom. 12:17,19). To set about meting out evil
for evil in the face of words like these is to act in direct disobedience to God, and we need not
wonder if we make a terrible botch of it all. He who, owning that all has been allowed by the Lord
for his good, bows his head and bends before the blast, will find God ever ready to interfere at
the needed moment. To look away from the human instrument of our grief, however vindictive
he may be, and to see, behind it all, the purposes of our Father working out, gives rest and
comfort to the sorely tried soul.

It was this that sustained David when Shimei cursed and stoned him (see 2 Sam. 16:5-12). It is
doubtful if, in all David’s spiritual history, he ever reached a higher height of holy confidence in
God than at this time of deep, deep trial. Shimei’s spiteful cursing in so public a manner, and at
so sorrowful a time, must have deeply lacerated his already wounded spirit. But he bows his head
in submission; and instead of executing vengeance on Shimei, and instead of seeking self-
vindication from the charges made, in submissive confidence and taking all from the Lord
Himself, he says, "Let him curse."

Shimei was but an instrument, inspired by Satan, yet really permitted of the Lord, for David’s
chastening and discipline. As such David views Shimei, and looks not at second causes but at the
great First Cause Himself. Would that every tried saint could follow his example!

The day came that Shimei was a cringing suppliant at the feet of the man he had cursed, publicly
owning that he had acted perversely, and confessing "thy servant doth know that I have sinned"
(2 Sam. 19:16-23). David’s royal clemency was extended in forgiveness_a far greater victory
than vengeance would have been. Afterwards, in God’s righteous government, he was put to death
for the treachery that ever characterized him. "He that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong
which he hath done; and there is no respect of persons" (Col. 3:25). With judgment I have not to
interfere. Be it mine to bow in submission to all God’s ways, owning His hand in everything that
would otherwise disquiet me.

(From Notes on Proverbs.)

FRAGMENT. A traveling salesman was telling a friend the story of die treatment received in a
certain business house at the hands of the members of the establishment with whom he had come
in contact. The rudeness and injustice recited stirred the listener to protest:"And you did nothing

about it afterwards? You let it go too easily. A fellow like that deserves to be taught a lesson."
"Yes, but I am not here to avenge personal wrongs, you know; I am on business for the firm,"
answered the salesman.

Is it right that a believer should be a politician? This is the question before us. And, to treat the
matter clearly, let me state some points which belong to such a character, if they are not the very
conception of it.

What I understand by a politician, is one who takes a considerable and constant interest in the civil
government of his own country, and of the world at large. He praises the rulers when he thinks
they deserve it, and condemns them when, as he believes, they govern amiss. He Hits up his voice
against injustice, fraud, deception, corruption, restraints on liberty. He will resist what is evil as
far as he may by law. He exercises every civil privilege to which he is entitled to influence the
government of his country. If opportunity were offered, he would take office and power in the
world, and exercise it for his fellow-citizens’ benefit.

I. How, then, can we tell whether this is right in a believer or not? By looking to Jesus as our
pattern. His life is recorded to this end_"Leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps"
(1 Peter 2:21). Everything He did was pleasing to His Father. "I do always those things that please
Him" (John 8:29; Matt. 17:5); and, since every perfection was found in Jesus, whatever He did
not do or sanction is not pleasing to God.

Was Jesus, then, a politician? Did He take any interest in the political government of His country?
Did He pass judgment on the persons or measures of the civil rulers of Palestine? Did He stand
up for the politically oppressed, and rebuke the political oppressor? Did He exercise authority of
any kind in civil matters?

1. His conduct is the very reverse of the politician’s. Had He been one, His political feelings must
have been peculiarly drawn out by the circumstances of the day. In His days the last shadow of
Jewish liberty departed, and His country was oppressed beneath the iron gauntlet of Rome. Such
a state of things would have greatly aroused the independent citizen, the lover of liberty. In the
gospels we only deduce the political changes of the land from the most distant hints of the
narrative.

2. John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, is slain through the desire of an adulterous princess
and by the orders of an ungodly king. How does Jesus meet the event? Does He lift up His voice
against the oppressor and the murder? No. John is imprisoned, but Jesus speaks not of the
injustice; he is murdered, but He utters no cry against the cruelty or tyranny of Herod. John’s
"disciples came and took up the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard
of it, He departed thence by ship into a desert place apart" (Matt. 14:10-13). He was silent. The
Saviour was no politician.

3. Take another incident. "There were present at that season some that told Him of the Galileans,
whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices" (Luke 13:1). A politician would have been
on fire at this national outrage. Religious antipathies met with political. Here was a field whereon
to inveigh against Roman cruelty, and to rouse the Jews against a tyranny that trampled on the true
religion. A pagan profaning with bloody hands the worship of the true God! What would the

politicians of our day have said had a party of government troops fired into a chapel while people
were at worship, and shot some dead while on their knees? Would not the politician account it
almost treason to be calm?

What is Jesus’ reply? "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." The politics of the question
are wholly passed by; the moral and spiritual view of the matter is alone regarded. This is a most
decisive case. Doubtless it made the blood of every native Jew boil with rage. But Jesus drops no
word of indignation against the governor’s crime, nor applauds the Galileans as martyrs for their
country. Jesus, then, was no politician.

4. A question is raised by His countrymen and referred for His decision_whether it was lawful
to pay tribute to the Roman emperor or not. This critical question must have drawn out the
politician. Involved in it lay the right of the Romans to rule Judea, and impose taxes at their will.
The oppressions of the governor were before His eyes. The Caesar that swayed the scepter was
profligate, cruel, a murderer. Yet Jesus bids the Jews pay tribute even to an idolater, and though
the emperor might apply the money to the support of idolatry.

Jesus, then, was not a politician. Am I a disciple of His? Then neither am I to be a politician. "It
is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master." If Jesus did not intermeddle in civil
government, it is because such conduct would not be pleasing to God. Jesus neither acted
politically Himself, nor sanctioned it in others. To be engaged in politics, therefore, either as an
actor or speaker, is no part of my duty as a Christian. His perfection is my pattern; and therefore
it becomes me to refuse, as pointedly as He did, to mingle in politics; for this is my calling, to be
not of the world, even as Jesus was not of the world (John 17:14).

II. But did not Paul plead his Roman citizenship when they were about to scourge him? Did he
not, when his life was in danger, appeal unto Caesar? True, and the Christian is permitted,
therefore, when on his trial, to plead the provisions afforded by the law to save himself from death
or injurious treatment. But neither of these points form part of the character of a politician, such
as we have described him.

Take the strongest case. Paul and Silas are dragged by interested men before the rulers of Philippi.
The magistrates, without any form of trial, scourge them and thrust them into prison (Acts 16:19-
24). What would a politician have done in such a case? Would he not have thought it due to his
Roman citizenship to carry the cause to Rome, and to make an example of these tyrannical
magistrates, that all throughout the empire might know that the rights of a citizen were not to be
trampled on? Does Paul do so? No. He requires, indeed, that the magistrates should not dismiss
them privately, but come themselves and set them free. But he exacts no apology; he lays no
information against them. This would have been to act the politician, and this he does not do.

III. Many of the principles put forth in the epistles decide the present question.

1. What is the Christian’s position? He is a "stranger and pilgrim upon earth" (Heb. 11:13-16;
1 Peter 2:11). Then he has no inclination, right, or title to political power. By profession he
surrenders it. Who may take part in the government of a country? Natives only, not strangers.
What has an Englishman, living in France, to do with the government of France? The Christian
is, moreover, a pilgrim, and has less reason still. If a stranger may not interfere in the policy of
a foreign country, much less one who is not even residing in it, but merely passing through it on
his way to another land. To meddle with politics, then, is to put off our character as strangers and
pilgrims.

2. To take up the politician’s character blinds the Christian as to his true place before God, and
mars the testimony which he ought to give to the world. The witness of the Holy Spirit to the
world (which, therefore, the believer is to take up and manifest by his word and life) is that the
world is sinful because it believes not on Jesus, and that it is under condemnation, together with

its prince, only spared from day to day by the patience of a longsuffering God (John 16). The
Christian is to testify that the Lord Jesus is coming to execute upon it the due vengeance for its
iniquity, and that it becomes all to flee from the midst of it to Christ. All who do thus flee to
Christ become part of His Church which is not of the world but gathered out from it.

3. But if the Christian may not rightfully use his political privileges as the private citizen, much
less may he take office in the world. But it is said, What! are not Christians the fittest persons to
hold power? No, they are of all the most unfit. For they have a Master to serve whose laws are
quite opposed in principle to those of the world. And the magistrate must execute the world’s
laws, as being the world’s servant. The law of the world, when at its highest perfection, is strict
justice. But Christ has to His disciples repealed this, and taught us mercy as our rule (Matt. 5:38-
48). Could any worldly government act out the Sermon on the Mount? When one of its citizens
had been assaulted and robbed, could it dismiss the convicted robber because the Saviour
commands us not to resist, or to avenge evil? Its principle is, "Punish according to the offense,"
and by that it abides. If so, the Christian (if he understands his place) cannot be a judge or wield
the power of the world’s law.

4. The Epistles show how the Christian is to conduct himself as a father, a master, a subject. But
no rules are given to him as a magistrate or citizen. What must we infer, then? That God does not
recognize Christians as acting for Him in either of these two conditions. The politician rebukes
the real or supposed misgovernors of his country. The Christian is to "speak evil of no man; to
be no brawler, but gentle." He is not to despise government, or speak evil of dignities, or to bring
against them railing accusations (2 Peter 2:10,11; Jude). He is to "show all meekness unto all
men."

5. To the extent that the Christian is a politician, his heart is engaged with the things of the world.
A new thorn is planted in his breast to choke the good seed and make it unfruitful. A new weight
is hung about his neck to hinder him in his race. He is a soldier of Christ, who, contrary to his
Captain’s will and pleasure, is entangling "himself with the affairs of this life" (2 Tim. 2:3,4). He
has descended to the world’s level, and has drunk into its spirit.

Let me exhort the believer, then, to surrender all interference in politics. Your concern is the
kingdom of God, your city the one to come, your citizenship in heaven. Refrain from the world’s
politics, for Jesus was no politician. Refrain, else you mar your witness to the world that it is evil
and lying under judgment. Are you not a stranger and pilgrim? Then meddle not with that world
which you have left.

The world is ripening for judgment, and all your efforts cannot improve it in God’s sight. Gather
out from its doomed streets as many as you can, but leave the city alone. Lot cannot mend Sodom,
but Sodom can, indeed, will corrupt Lot.