OUTLINE:

Sin is Likened to:
- Carcass scum in a boiling pot (Ez 24:10-12)
- The blood and pollution of a newborn child (Ez 16:4, 6)
- Putrefying sores (Is 1:5-6)
- A menstrual rag (Is 3:22; Lam 1:17)
- A dead and rotting body (Ro 7:24)

Sin is Likened to:
- The offensive stench/poisonous fumes of an open grave (Ro 3:13)
- The lusts of the devil (Jn 8:44)
- An ulcer, or gangrene (2Ti 2:17)
- The dung of filthy creatures (Php 3:8)
- The vomit of a dog/wallowing of a pig in the mire (2Pe 2:22)

Understanding Sin
Not only is sin “negative” against holiness, it is “positive” for depravity.

Sin Isn’t Ambivalent
It’s not passive, thought it’d like you to believe it is. It is quite active, energized, and encouraged. It’s fruit is borne of a seed described at the Fall. (Gen 3:15; Is 57:20-21; Mt 13:37-39; 1Jn 5:18-19)

Gal 5:16
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

How Sin Usurps Sovereignty
For sin to be most effective, it must grab hold of our affections! If it has our affections, it has our attention, our direction, our “love” even (though it’s not godly love). With our “love” comes our obedience, which essentially describes a sovereign, master-slave relationship. (cp Eph 5:6-10)

“walking”
Means to have a direction that is proof of our affections for Christ. It also establishes Who is sovereign in our lives.

The Simple Definition for Sin
Sin is any lack of conformity to God’s will, whether expressed actively or passively.