off from partaking of the tree of life, and
he became subject to death. The divine sentence, "Dust thou art, and unto
dust shalt thou return," points to the utter extinction of life.

Immortality, promised to man on condition of obedience, had been forfeited
by transgression. Adam could not transmit to his posterity that which he
did not possess; and there could have been no hope for the fallen race had
not God, by the sacrifice of His Son, brought immortality within their
reach. While "death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned," Christ
"hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."(933) And
only through Christ can immortality be obtained. Said Jesus, "He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life."(934) Every man may come into possession of this
priceless blessing if he will comply with the conditions. All "who by
patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and
immortality," will receive "eternal life."(935)

The only one who promised Adam life in disobedience was the great
deceiver. And the declaration of the serpent to Eve in Eden,--"Ye shall not
surely die,"--was the first sermon ever preached upon the immortality of
the soul. Yet this declaration, resting solely upon the authority of
Satan, is echoed from the pulpits of Christendom, and is received by the
majority of mankind as readily as it was received by our first parents.
The divine sentence, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die,"(936) is made
to mean, The soul that sinneth, it shall not die, but live eternally. We
cannot but wonder at the strange infatuation which renders men so
credulous concerning the words of Satan, and so unbelieving in regard to
the words of God.

Had man, after his fall, been allowed free access to the tree of life, he
would have lived forever, and thus sin would have been immortalized. But
cherubim and a flaming sword kept "the way of the tree of life,"(937) and
not one of the family of Adam has been permitted to pass that barrier and
partake of the life-giving fruit. Therefore there is not an immortal
sinner.

But after the fall, Satan bade his angels make a special effort to
inculcate the belief in man's natural immortality; and having induced the
people to receive this error, they were to lead them on to conclude that
the sinner would live in eternal misery. Now the prince of darkness,
working through his agents, represents God a