en standing all this time. He looked at Robert very
quizzically. Here was a new type of opponent, one who spoke with the
utmost frankness and confidence, and yet without the least taint of
braggadocio. But Peter never had been beaten in debate or argument; so
he returned to the discussion with great vim and determination.

"What does this young upstart know about the Scriptures? Why, I have
been a student of the Scriptures for fifty long years, many years
before this young man was born. I have heard many great preachers in
my time, and they all said that man was born unto sin as the sparks
are to fly upward. 'He that saith he liveth and sinneth not is a liar,
and the truth is not in him.' This is what the Scriptures say. And I
have read where Solomon said that 'there is no man that sinneth not,'
and did not John say, 'If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us'? Yes, he said that in 1 John
1:8. Ah, young man, you have much to learn yet about the Scriptures.
As long as we are in this old sinful flesh we will commit sin." And
Peter sat down, with an air of triumph.

Robert Davis arose immediately. Everybody present was on the tiptoe
of expectation. What would his reply be? They had not long to wait.
Turning directly to Peter Newby, he asked him a pointblank question:

"Sir, how much sin is there in this stove?" pointing to a stove that
stood there.

"None, I suppose," answered Peter, rather feebly, as if he feared a
trap were being laid for him.

"How much sin is there in the wood or stone of this house?" Robert
asked Peter next.

"None, I suppose," he replied.

"Well, then," asked Robert, "how much sin will there be in this old
body when it is dead?"

"I suppose there will be none," Peter replied in a tone that
registered defeat.

"Well, then, will you make death the salvation from sin? You say that
as long as we are in what you call the 'old sinful flesh" we must
commit sin, and yet you admit, as you must, that there will be no
sin in the body when it is dead. Where, then, does sin reside? Jesus
answers this question once for all in Matthew 15:19, 20: 'For out of
the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, false witness, blasphemies.' It is the heart that sins; 'the
soul that sinneth, it shall die,' says the prophet Ezekiel in Ezek.
18:4. The body will die and return to dust from whence it came, but
these immortal souls of ours will live on