The compound nature of sin

How many times have you found yourself saying this line, "It's only this one little thing?" If you are anything like me, we often find ourselves trying to compromise with sin by saying that it is ONLY lying, or ONLY envy, or ONLY anger. But what if one sin was not only one, but a few others coupled inside of it? In Colossians 3, we have a list of sins, completed by greed, which Paul says, "amounts to idolatry." From here we see a concept that is prevalent in other parts of the Bible: that one sin is usually not just one sin, but a combination of other ones. Greed possesses a life; it, in essence, is an idol. Take the same with fornication. Oftentimes, fornication is not simply just the act of fornication, but rather the combination of lust, covetousness, and passion.

I'm definitely not saying that condemnation is higher from sin to sin, but rather that we need to realize the extremity of what we say and what we do. There is no sin that will condemn you any more than the others, as each sin can condemn you to Hell equally (James 2:10). Many times, however, our sin is not as "innocent" as just a single act, but rather many displeasing acts towards God. Let us keep this in mind the next time we have the temptation to think that it is "only one little sin."

Brady Cook