"Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful."
(Romans 7:13, KJV).
Modern Christianity talks a lot about the fruit of evil almost to the exclusion of the root of evil. Sure, the Church may talk about Satan, the fall, sin, evil, etc. But it is mostly surface stuff, and like I said, most of the focus is on the fruit of evil as opposed to the root of evil. More focus needs to be put into a better understanding of the root of evil. For it is only when we gain a better understanding of the root of evil, will we begin to gain a greater understanding and awareness of how bad evil truly is. It is hard to meet and fight an enemy on the battlefield, if we are ignorant of his motives and strategy of warfare he wages against us. FIRST, God's law from His Word like an x-ray reveals to us our sinfulness. "For through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." (Rom. 3:20, NASB). SECOND, another way of gaining a better understanding of our own sinfulness is to get into the presence of God. There we will experience His holiness, which in turn, the light of His holiness will expose the sin and evil in our own hearts. For he who is intouch with the evil in his own heart will be intouch with the evil in his neighbor's heart. Peter received a revelation of his own sinfulness, when he confessed: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luke 5:8, ESV). In the Old Testament, Job also got a revelation of his own sinfulness before God and said: "therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:6, ESV). The Prophet Isaiah, when he saw the Lord of Glory, cried out: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Isa. 6:5, ESV).
A lot of people balk at the idea of God judging sin so severely, they contend what the big deal is about sin and evil, and why does God's judgement on sin have to be so harsh? Especially when the subject of hell is brought up, which reveals their lack of understanding the evil nature of sin. Such people do not understand God's holiness, justice, and judgment. Until they understand the pernicious nature of sin, only then will such a person comprehend the evil nature of sin and the harm it does, and why God must judge those who are unrepentant of their sinfulness. Of course, the exceeding sinfulness of our sin cannot be understood, let alone comprehended until God reveals it to us. This indeed, is a kindness of God, since we are dead in our trespasses and sins (see Eph. 2:1). It is only when we are awakened to face the dreadfulness of our sin will we be ready to seek for a remedy for our sin problem. This is where Christ comes in and the value of His sacrifice on the Cross for our sin.
O Lord, give us a keen sense of our sinfulness, lest we boast in our self-righteousness; give us an awareness of Your holiness, lest we lose our reverence and awe of You; give us a sense of our own emptiness apart from You, lest we be full of our sinful selves, when we should be filled with Your holy presence. In Christ Jesus name we ask, Amen.
