“For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.” – Romans 7:11
There are many pulpits across this nation that won’t admit that SIN IS REAL. How can we help sick people if we ignore the very thing that is making them sick?
We are born into sin (Psa. 51:5), but also sin is a choice – and that choice leads to death. Owning up to that fact should not be paralyzing; it should be liberating! We don’t wallow in shame. We yield our lives to Christ. We revel in victory.
The root-problem in our lives flow from one source: our rebellious sin-soaked hearts making selfish and foolish choices.
Sin is a matter of the heart. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” – Jer. 17:9
Adam and Eve started as gardeners, became rebels, and ended up as fugitives (Dunnam, 10). The temptation to disobedience came “from without – in the form of a serpent” (Dunnam, 11). The sin nature was “alien” (not God’s intention for us). It came from without. I think that is an important distinction.
As an answer to the Fall and consequently, Man’s total depravity – God has provided deliverance in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Ref: Maxie Dunnam and Kimberly Dunnam Reisman. The Workbook on the Seven Deadly Sins. Upper Room Books, 2017.
