It's so easy to look at my sin and try to play it off as small. I mean, I lie but at least they're small and inconsequential. I lust, but at least I'm not out committing adultery. I make coarse jokes, but they're just in fun.
As a country we've grown quite skilled at finding less offensive terms for sin. "It was a mistake." "I screwed up." "I'm a broken person." The latter sounds the most genuine but actually puts the blame on the Creator, as if our sin is due to a weak or imperfect design.
R.C. Sproul gives a more realistic view of sin:
Sin is cosmic treason. Sin is treason against a perfectly pure Sovereign. It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward the One to whom we owe everything, to the One who has given us life itself...The slightest sin is an act of defiance against cosmic authority. It is a revolutionary act, a rebellious act in which we are setting ourselves in opposition to the One to whom we owe everything. It is an insult to His holiness. We become false witnesses to God.Treason. An insult to the holiness of God.
Yet I stay bogged down in sin. I look at the pattern of Israel in the Old Testament - sin, punishment, repentance, restoration - and wonder how they could be so foolish to keep rebelling over and over again. Did I say "they"? I meant "I".
I frequently get told by women (100% of whom are old enough that I should be dating their daughters or granddaughters), "You're such a good young man. Why don't you have a girlfriend?" A good young man? I'll end this post by leaving it to Martin Lloyd Jones to describe how I feel when someone says something like this:
They see only what which is good in me; they see me only at my best. I shudder when I realize how unworthy I am and how ignorant they are of the dark and hidden recesses of my soul where all that is devilish and hideous reigns supreme, at times breaking through onto the surface and causing a turmoil that God and I alone know of.
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