The Deceitfulness of Sin

In a recent session of the current Old Testament Survey Class--The Long Story Short-- that I am teaching, we were reminded of the deceitfulness of sin.  Sin is a peace thief.  It is a joy robber.  It is the destroyer of all good things in your life.  Sin--no matter its form--troubles, represses, torments, and enslaves.  Nothing good ever comes from sin.  Since the Garden of Eden Satan has deceived people with doubt, distortion, delay, denial, and ultimately death.  He whispers to us: "You will deny the pleasures, significance, rights, and privileges in your life if you are obedient to God.  To really experience life, you need to do your own thing."  There are three wrong assumptions about this lie:

1. Obedience to God is bad, limiting, and oppressive.
2. Disobedience will be fun, fulfilling, and accomplish my goals.
3. You have plenty of time to make amends with God. Timing is everything.

These are the assumptions that Satan must sell in order to succeed.  Think of Eve in the Garden:
She saw an evil as good.  She rejected God's truth, and accepted Satan's lie.  Satan's lie seemed logical, rational, and pleasurable.  She desired the forbidden.  She followed her own passions, and deluded reasoning, and took the fruit.  She ate it.  Death was the consequence (Rom. 5:12).  Not immediate biological death, but spiritual death and eventual biological death.  Adam also willingly and knowingly sinned too.

Satan is a cunning liar--a murderer. He looks to deceive us (1 Pet. 5:8) and then accuse us to God (Rev. 12:9-12).  The truth about sin is this: "After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when it is fully grown, it gives birth to death" (James 1:14-15).

Think about it.