2. “Exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb 3:13). Why is sin deceitful?

4. Sin originates with Satan. “Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel” (1 Chron 21:1). “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matt 4:1). “Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them” (Lk 22:3-4).

5. Satan can only tempt us where we are willing to be tempted. “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (Js 1:14-15). “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain” (Js 4:1-2).

6. As Satan exploits our weaknesses, he deceives. “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (Jn 8:44). “Such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:13- 14).

7. Satan deceived Eve in the Garden. God told Adam neither to touch nor to taste the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve: “God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die’” (Gen 3:3). Satan twisted it: “The serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:4- 5). In the New Testament: “I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Cor 11:3). “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression” (1 Tim 2:14).

9. Satan “transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14). “The wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).

11. Sin promises great things, but leaves us with death. “The wicked are like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest, Whose waters cast up mire and dirt. ‘There is no peace,’ Says my God, ‘for the wicked’” (Is 57:20-21). “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin” (Heb 11:24-25). “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (Jn 8:34). Rom 6:16-18.

13. Sin is popular! “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matt 7:13-14).

15. “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (Jn 8:34). “If you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the L ORD ; and be sure your sin will find you out” (Num 32:23).

17. Sin brings death. “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (Js 1:14-15). “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself” (Ezek 18:20).

18. The only things sin offers is death. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23). If we turn from sin and obey Him, God will give us life. “Having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Heb 5:9). Do you need to obey God for eternal salvation?