Flattering Yourself

Three thousand years ago this poem was written:

An oracle is within my heart
Concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:
There is no fear for God before his eyes.
For in his own eyes he flatters himself
Too much to detest or hate his sin.
(Psalm 36:1-2)

This is true. Of all the wickedness in the world today (Iran, Syria, North Korea), how many detest or hate their own sin? How about inner city gangs in this country? How many detest or hate their own sin? Closer to home, here in Moscow, how many drug addicts, drunks, and fornicators detest or hate their own sin? Or closer still, how many of you with fits of rage, jealousy, bitterness, or shoplifting detest or hate your own sin?

If you are innocent, you will not be able to detest your sin because it isn't there. If you are not innocent, you will not be able to detest it because you flatter yourself too much.

The world has adjusted to its own sin. It accepts it as a given. People can see sin in others but not in themselves. If, for some reason, they wake up, see it, and hate it, they have no idea that there is a solution to this great evil.

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