"Reasons To Reason!"

"I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah." (Psalms 32:5) Here another stanza of that hymnal, which is sure to cause one to ponder, and it goes: "Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done." To be perfectly clear about something, iniquity and sin are really not the same thing: although both are at odds with God, and both require the same forgiveness, sin is the result of a fall, or falling short; it is missing the mark of holiness and righteousness: iniquity on the other hand is all together a different animal; for iniquity sets out to sin, and is the intent or desire for sin, or the guilt associated with the sin that was committed. It could be compared to a wound: whereas, sin is the scare tissue, but iniquity is that which caused the wound to happen, and it is the bacteria that is festering beneath it, hindering the wound to be healed. For example, we could look at Eve to demonstrate this process; whereas, Eve had iniquity within her heart prior to taking a bite of the fruit, then sin was the result of her eating it; afterwards, iniquity continued after the sin, in the form of guilt and shame for the sin which had been committed. There are actually two separate issues at play and that must be dealt with; besides the actual sin that was done, there is the iniquity that sought out to sin in the first place! Okay; let's say that your sin is that of pornography, and you know that after you partake in that vile act, that you have definitely committed sin; but what is it that brings you to committing the act in the first place? In other words; to just confess the sin, and to just leave it at that, is not going to prevent you from sinning again, unless you also deal with the things that caused you to sin in the first place! "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9) It really comes down to the condition of our hearts, because that is where iniquity is hidden, and is engraved deep within; sometimes masked as guilt and shame, it is the hidden source of our secret desires; regurgitating into something of a rebellious spirit, that for the most part, is actually beyond our ability to control. I know that might sound like some kind of a cop-out to some degree, but it's really the nature of the beast, and it is a beast that must be reasoned with... "I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool. A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake Thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of Living Waters. Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for Thou art my praise." (Jeremiah 17:10-14)