sin

Sin is always acting

“So then I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand” (Rom.7:21). “Sin is always acting, always conceiving, and always seducing and tempting. This battle will last more or less all our days. If sin is always acting, we are in trouble if we are not always putting it to death. He that stands still and allows his enemies to exert double blows upon him without resistance will undoubtedly be conquered in the end.”

John Owen

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The Law cannot subdue sin

“Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin…The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me” (Rom.7:7,10). “Then he took him by the hand, and led him into a very large Parlor that was full of dust, because it had never been swept…Then he called for a man to sweep it. When he swept, the dust began to fly, so much that Christian was almost choked. Then Interpreter said, ‘Bring some water and sprinkle the room.’ Christian asked, ‘What does this mean?’ And Interpreter answered, ‘This Parlor is the heart of man…the dust is original sin and inward corruption, which have defiled the whole person. The one who began to sweep is the Law of God. The one who brought the water and cleansed the room is the Gospel of God. The Law, instead of cleansing the heart, stirs up sin, revives it, gives it strength, and increases it in our souls. It can never give us the power to subdue sin. But when the Gospel comes, as in the water that washed the room, our sin is conquered and our soul is made clean.'”

John Bunyan
Pilgrim’s Progress

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Tremble

“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph.5:25). “Tremble to think that you should ever sin against Christ, who loves you so much. View your sins in the light of the Savior’s love…let this word of exhortation sink deeply into your hearts; weep, and weep tears of blood, to think that ever you should sin against Jesus Christ, who has written by his own blood this truth, that he loves you with a love passing knowledge.”

John Durant
A Discovery of Glorious Love (1655)

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