Are You Taking the Bible’s Teaching About Sin Seriously?

“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.”

Genesis 4:7Sin is like a wild animal, a predator, crouching at the door. God said to Cain, “Its desire is for you.” Sin is a destructive power. It is an active enemy.

Suppose you paint a wall in your house, and a child draws all over it with a crayon. You can wash the wall and get rid of the crayon, and if it’s really bad, you can paint over it again.

But suppose you have mould in your house. Painting over that won’t help you. Crayon leaves a mark that is easily dealt with. Mould is a living thing. It grows. It spreads. It destroys.

Some folks think of sin like the crayon. When you mess up, cover it over, clean up the mess, and move on. But sin is not like the crayon, it is like the mould. The crayon is static. The mould is on the move. It spreads. It needs to be cut out or it will destroy your house.

Sin is more than a list of things we have done wrong. It is a living power, a vicious enemy, and it is at work within us.

Some years ago John Stott, one of the most highly respected Christian leaders around the world, was speaking at a church. This godly man said, “There is no sin that my flesh is not capable of committing within 30 minutes of leaving this church.”

Why did he say that? Because he takes the Bible’s teaching about sin seriously. Sin resides in our flesh. This power is bigger, greater, and stronger than you are. It crouches at the door of your life, waiting to attack you.

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