The Downward Spiral of Sin
by Jimmy Humphrey
For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools... Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity (Romans 1:21-22, 24)
There is an old saying that goes, "Sin will take you further than you ever wanted to go, and keep you longer than you ever intended to stay." Though I don't know the historical origins of this insightful saying, I would not be surprised to discover if it had its origins from the context of Romans 1. For in this chapter, we see the destructive and degrading nature of sin. One sin will lead you to another sin, which will lead you to another sin, which will lead you to yet more sin. And before you know it, you will find yourself swimming in a sea of sin, going wherever its mighty current chooses to bring you, and all without mercy.
For example, all of us know what it is to tell a lie. No sooner than we tell one lie, we have to repeat that same lie to somebody else. Then if confronted about it, we'll create another lie to defend the lie we told, instead of simply coming clean with the truth. When we are really in a pickle over our lie, we'll even attempt to manipulate people into believing our lie by resorting to passionate and colorful language used to further disguise our lie, and make it believable. Eventually, and many of us have come to such a place where we have told a lie often enough, that we have either deceived ourselves into believing our lie is the truth, or remembering what the truth was to begin with becomes impossible.
Sin is a terribly destructive thing. It always takes you further than you ever wanted to go. Often when we lie, we only intend on telling the lie once in order to alleviate us from whatever circumstance we feel is forcing us to hide the truth. You never intended on telling the second lie, but sooner than you know it, a second lie was told. And while you are probably not aware of it at the time, your sin is finding further inroads into your heart. And when this happens and it has a firm hold on your life, it keeps you longer than you ever intended to stay. How? The sin has become part of who you are as a person. It becomes part of your very character and nature. It now rules from the throne of your heart. You are now a liar.
In the passage cited at the beginning of this essay, we see Paul talk about this destructive nature of sin and its relationship to how we think and what we know. He talks of men knowing God. But in their refusal to give God thanks and to worship Him, man entered into thought patterns that were not in keeping with the knowledge of God. Man, eating from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, starts to see and interpret the world around him differently. His thoughts begin to be made apart from God, and he begins to value things in a whole new light. As a result, his desires become perverted from God's original design. Such a man becomes wise in his own eyes, but in doing so, becomes a fool.
As a result of refusal to worship God with his life, and living a life that is altogether independent of the Lord, God in His judgment lets man have his way. When men enter into sin, God lets them have the full of their ways, and gives them over to the sin to which they have turned. And until man turns from his sin and unto the Lord, and allows the Lord to renew his mind, the Lord will allow him to continually pursue the futility of his mind, and the perverted desires of his darkened and deceived heart. This in part is God's judgment on your life. So long as you pursue sin instead of God, God will allow you to have all the sin you want, and then some, until it consumes you.
Such my friends, is why it is important as Christians that we "give no opportunity to the devil." (Ephesians 4:27) Indeed, we must purpose in our hearts to be of a sober spirit and to always be on alert, for "your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8) We must put on the "helmet of salvation," (Ephesians 6:17) and "take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5) We must always recognize that "sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you." (Genesis 4:7)
Instead of thinking like the world thinks, we need to be "transformed by the renewing of [our] mind." (Romans 12:2) This is no accidental thing that naturally comes to somebody. It's a process that we enter into as disciples of Jesus Christ. It's a deliberate action whereby we as disciples learn to think like Jesus. We have to put on the mind of Christ, and think Jesus' thoughts.
How do we do that? We must lose ourselves in the study of the word of God, saturate ourselves in prayer, and seek to apply daily what we learn there by the daily guidance from the Holy Spirit. He is the "Spirit of Truth," that leads us into all truth, and we know that truth will make us free. Free from what? The power of sin, and the downward spiraling effect that it has on our lives. And unless we deliberately do this very thing, we will never experience the renewal of our minds that we read about in Romans 12:2. And if we don't experience this renewal of our minds, and learn to think like Jesus thinks, then we can never be transformed in our lives. Transformation, as the verse says, only comes by the renewing of the mind, and training it to think like Jesus thinks.