SIN IS A CHOICE

 SIN IS A CHOICE

What is it in human nature—a nature which God created—that makes it temptable, vulnerable to sin? Adam and Eve were created apart from sin, and without the need to sin, yet some characteristic in their makeup allowed sin to enter their lives (Gen. 3:6, 7). What was that characteristic? Scripture offers two answers. For Eve, the choice to believe a lie was the doorway through which sin entered her life (Gen. 3:13; 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14). For Adam, it was the choice to ignore God’s voice of authority (Gen. 3:17). These two choices—self-deception and self-will—are two sides of the same coin. Both remain as complicating realities in our own lives today, allowing sin to continue to take root and bear its deadly fruit in us, until Christ enters our lives and breaks the bonds of sin, empowering us to resist it. Temptation is sin’s call to our basic needs and desires to be satisfied in self-serving or perverted ways. It is also a call to practice self-deception, finding ways to justify doing as we please even though we know in our heart of hearts that it is wrong. For this reason, Scripture frequently speaks of blindness as a willful act in which we choose to practice rebellion and self-deception. But when Christ enters our lives, He regenerates our hearts and sets us free to choose what is true and righteous (1 Cor. 6:9–11; James 1:26, 27; 1 John 3:7–9).