Sin is more than a list of things you’ve done wrong. If this is your notion of sin, you have not understood it from the Bible. It’s a living power, a vicious enemy, and it is at work in you and it is at work in me.

Sin runs in the blood; grace does not.

Many churches are actively erasing this truth. Confession of sin is quietly dropped from worship services. Massive tracts of Scripture that repeat this foundational truth are silently glossed over. There is an active movement today to rewrite the great hymns and erase this truth, because some believe that it is not positive enough for Sunday morning.

But I plead with you to take this truth seriously today: Sin is a vicious enemy, and it leaves us needing the intervention of God.

The Crayon and the Mold

Suppose you put fresh paint on a wall in your house, and a child marks a line of crayon over it. You can wash the wall and get rid of the crayon. If it’s really bad, you can paint over the wall—not that big a deal.

But suppose you have mold in your house. Painting over the mold won’t help.

A crayon leaves a mark that is easily dealt with. But mold is a living thing. It spreads—it will take your health. It will destroy your house.  Some folks think that sin is like the crayon. When you mess up, cover it over, clean up the mess and move on.

But sin is not like a crayon—it is like the mold. The crayon is static; the mold is on the move—it spreads. It needs to be cut out or it’ll destroy your house. Sin is more than a list of things you’ve done wrong. If this is your notion of sin, you have not understood it from the Bible. It’s a living power, a vicious enemy, and it is at work in you and it is at work in me.

Are you taking the power of sin seriously in your life?

The Intervention of God

“At that time, men began to call on the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26).

This is the first mention of prayer in the entire Bible, “At that time…” What time? What was it that caused men to pray for the first time? When the destructive effects of sin became obvious in the world—broken families, violence, murder. Men saw evil in its ugly colors, and they began to ask God for help.

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