SIN(s)

I know that I tend to grieve and be troubled over specific instances of sin in my life more than I do over the fact that I am truly and fundamentally a sinNER. Of course I realize that being justified in Christ profoundly and forever changes my identity, but I'm thinking that even though it is a wonderful and beautiful thing to be granted forgiveness for individual transgressions, it is an even greater and more amazing thing to be paroled and pardoned for my entire sinful nature. It's not just that the thief is forgiven for stealing, but is also forgiven for being a thief!

"There is a tendency to think that our sins are bigger than our sin - maybe because it's that rare case of language when the plural is smaller than the singular. Sins are those individual acts of rebellion - symptoms of the bigger problem. Our sin is the bigger problem: it's our condition or state which is in hideous rebellion toward a holy and good God. When Christians feel that sins (acts) are bigger than sin (condition), they see evangelism as an effort of moral reform rather than explaining the steps that need to take place to rip our our wicked hearts and replace them with new hearts - that amazing work of God that Jesus called being born again." ~excerpted from Marks Of The Messenger by J. Mack Stiles.