All of us also lived among them [our sins] at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Ephesians 2:3 (NIV)
Notice that sin is in the thoughts, it’s in the desires, and it’s in the cravings of the human heart. Sin pervades the mind, the will, and the heart. The thoughts, desires, and affections that we all have are corrupted by sin.
Sin corrupts the whole human personality—what we love, what we want, and what we think. They are all shot through with the impulse of sin. Jesus said, “Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light” (John 3:19). The problem of sin runs deeper and wider than we often think.
Not only are we sinners because we sin,
but we also sin because we are sinners.
Most people grasp the first statement. We all do wrong things, at least some of the time. But Ephesians 2 tells us what lies behind our sin. Why do we sin? The answer is, “We sin because we are sinners.”
We are all born with a nature that produces sin. It is a fountain of sin. Like a deep-sea oil well spurting endless gallons of black oil into the ocean, the human mind, heart, and will keep producing sinful cravings, desires, and thoughts.
So, the problem of sin is bigger than the crayon on the wall. It’s like mold in the wall—a living thing that grows and spreads and leads us to our own destruction.
Sin is in you, and it is in all of us. That is why Jesus said, “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come… greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly” (Mark 7:21-22).
Putting other people down… the endless desire for more… a sense of our own importance. Where do these things come from? The problem is not our environment—that it’s all around us—it’s in us. That’s where our sin comes from. The cravings of the sinful heart produce it.
Respond to this: “We sin because we are sinners.”
