Iniquity—Sin—Transgression—Part One

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Graeme Wilson in Victory Call

“Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.”
Psalm 51:2—3

Today is one of those mornings when I wake up feeling pretty rested (as rested as one can be on 6 hours of sleep). I’m doing my morning shuffle to get the kinks out before I prepare myself for work. As I’m going from room to room opening the blinds, I come to the spot where my scale lives. You know what happens next? Yep. I pulled it out of the corner and stepped on. It wasn’t a pleasant discovery, nor was I surprised. I’m keenly aware that I have been eating more food than I need to for a few months now and well, the results are in. I’ve gained weight. Now we all know this isn’t earth shattering, stop-the-presses news. So, why am I even bringing it up? In my quiet/unquiet time this morning, I read the following words:

“Some mornings I look in the mirror and scare myself, but there’s something much less comical and much more destructive that I should be afraid of. It’s the dark condition of my heart.” *

For me it wasn’t the look in the mirror. It was the scale. After reading the above words my heart and soul were immediately on alert. I knew the Lord was once again speaking to me about the dark condition of my very own heart.

Scripture is very clear about how we really are apart from grace and no time is wasted telling us the things we want to hear because our feelings might be hurt. Nope. Not at all! God is committed to changing our character, molding and shaping us into the image of His Son — from the inside out! And lest we get it twisted, the author of the devo shares the following words:

1. INIQUITY: Iniquity is moral uncleanness…It’s only when we recognize the depth of our uncleanness that we will reach out for purifying grace from the Divine Trinity and begin to experience personal change.
2. SIN: Sin means “missing the mark.” …That’s our righteousness – on our best day, our deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). We ought to be terrified of our sin and the inability it causes. It’s only when we recognize the depth of our helplessness that we will reach out for empowering grace from the Divine Trinity and begin to experience personal change.
3. TRANSGRESSION: Transgression is trespassing. It’s parking in the “No Parking” zone, even though you tell yourself you’re going to be in the store for just three minutes. You know the law has been established, but in that moment, you couldn’t care less…We ought to be afraid of our transgression and the boundaries it enables us to cross. It’s only when we recognize the depth of our rebellion that we will reach out for rescuing grace from the Divine Trinity and begin to experience personal change. *

Dear sisters, are you with me today? I hope so, because we all need to be in this together. We need the love and care of one another. We need to be willing to speak gracefully and truthfully into each other’s lives.

The words: iniquity, sin and transgression are the reasons I have gained weight.

Tomorrow, I will share my closing thoughts on this and we can join our hearts together in prayer, crying out to God as David did, “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I k now my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.”

Stephanie D. Paul

Stephanie serves as part of the Addiction Recovery Team at America’s Keswick as Director of Women of Character. She has been married for over 30 years to Sesky Paul who is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy. They have two grown children. Her single focus in ministry at Keswick is to image Christ in grace and truth to wounded and hurting women, encouraging them to make Jesus the truest Lover of their soul and the One in whom all hope lies.

* http://www.paultripp.com/wednesdays-word

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