Quicksand is common and found most often where freshwater meets saltwater. It is a fluid made of sand mixed with water or air. It changes its viscosity in response to stress or vibration, making it easier to sink but harder to escape. The ground looks solid, but if we walk on it, the sand begins to lose and cave in.

Likewise, in our daily walk with Jesus, some paths may look like normal roads that might suddenly cave in to trap us and hold us from guarding our salvation. Fortunately, researchers claim that in ninety percent of the cases, people sink into the quicksand only up to the hip without getting in further. Similarly, concerning sinking in sin, Jesus disarmed the devil on the cross, and now there is scope for us to escape from the devil till we invite him through our emotions.

“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

Ephesians 4:26-27

Failing To Figure Out Sin

“To err is human” is a famous idiom that encourages us not to lose hope when we fail in our missions. We all are prone to commit errors. Errors are the outcome of imperfections, and constant practice improves our ability toward perfection. Identifying or realizing our mistakes itself is a step forward toward success. Based on this concept, we consider sin in line with the error and adopt religious practices to improve our ability to reduce sinning and satisfy ourselves by comparing with the one who sins more than us. Is it right to consider sin as same as an error? If our answer is yes to this question, this prevents us from understanding the gravity of our transgressions, and we fail to figure out the inequities in our lives.

There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Romans 3:22-23

There is a lot of difference between error and sin. Committing an error deals with breaking social laws and has different penal codes as punishments for correction. In other words, errors happen when not adhering to the parameter to meet our goal. In society, crimes are the elements that harm people. Various kinds of positive penalties came into existence to curb these crimes. However, capital punishment like life and death sentences are also in vogue. All these punishments deal with the physical body of the offenders and not with their souls. Given this, we cannot view sin as an error or crime, as sin affects our soul directly.

The Strength Of Sin, Law

The definition of ‘Sin’ is anything that goes against God. No one will bother about the judicial law if they are unaware of it. On the contrary, every human instinctively fears the law of God irrespective of their awareness. The Holy Spirit awakens the consciousness of people and makes them feel guilty (2 Corinthians 7:10). In response, either they confess to being pardoned by God or justify their deeds to defend themselves. It is written in the scripture that the law of God is not a mere letter but written in every human heart by His Spirit.

Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.

Romans 2:14-15

In the Old Testament, we could find many laws framed by Moses apart from the commandments given by God to maintain the conduct of the people. As the laws increased, it affected the tenet of the laws of God, and people could not distinguish the difference between the law of God and the law of the land. Offenders of both the laws offered the same kinds of offerings to God. Laws made offenders feel guilty about their acts, and they killed their household animals as a sacrifice to God to clear their guilt.

These offerings were the punishments to the offenders as they had to sacrifice an animal from their household or spend their earnings to buy an animal for sacrifice. With a heavy heart of repentance, people offered their animals, realizing that the innocent animals had lost their lives because of their inequities. But in the long run, people loved to observe the laws of guilt offerings than hate their sinful acts.

They hardened their hearts and killed their animals because they loved sinning more than their beloved household animals. Thus, the law imposed to deter sinning has become the strength of sin. Today, people love to lose even their salvation freely given to them, as they love sinning.

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

1 Corinthians 15:56

Sin, Death, And Eternal Life

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

Unlike erring, sinning is a blunder committed against God. It is surprising to understand that all sins, whether small or big, deserve death if not pardoned by the merciful God. Under the law of the land, the punishment levied for an offender could not be deliberately conferred on others to spare the offender. There are provisions to allow law experts and criminal lawyers to prove the convicted victim innocent. Some people bore the blame on them to acquit an offender because of the love they had or threat to their lives, or material benefits like cash or its kind.

The Maker of heaven and earth was furious over the inequities of people and should have carried out the punishment of eternal death on His people. But merciful and loving God displayed His love by giving us His only Son as an atonement for our sin. With His sovereign authority, He did not manipulate His law but fulfilled it by conferring the sins of the whole world on His Son and allowing Him to die on behalf of us.

and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood —to be received by faith.

Romans 3:24-25

Even after knowing the truth that God offered His Son as a sin offering, are we still treating the act of staying away from evil as something to be boastful about? We are the fortunate people delivered from evil two thousand years ago. God does not expect us to ask Him but sent His Son to free us even without us asking Him. We should believe that God saved us while we are sinking in our sins.

I had a picture in my mind of Jesus rescuing us by standing beside the quicksand and stretching His hand toward us. But it took a long time for me to understand that Jesus was not standing beside the quicksand but instead walking on it, as He rescued us from sinking. As Jesus has pulled all of us from sinking into sin, we are the conquerors. For errors, we are told that perfection comes through works, and for sin, that righteousness comes through Jesus.

…..in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Romans 8:37

Understanding this profound truth, we have to shed all our burdens to soar up to the heights of heaven.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.

Hebrews 12:1