the predicament of sin

The predicament of sin... is much bigger than the fact that we commit individual sinful acts. It is that by so doing, we corrupt our hearts and become sinful ourselves - hard-hearted, stiff-necked, dark. We no longer see clearly but, as Paul warned, 'through a glass, darkly,' which is according to Satan's plan to 'blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men.' The scriptures declare that this is a'a snare of the adversary, which he has laid to catch this people, that he might bring you into subjection unto him, that he might encircle you about with his chains, that he might chain you down in everlasting destruction, according to the power of his captivity.'

Once sinful in our hearts, acts and thoughts that were formerly reprehensible to us become desirable. We come to desire to do what we shouldn't and lose our desire to do what we should. Struggling with our own 'beams,' as we discussed before, we begin to become obsessed with others' 'motes.' In the words of Paul, we 'think ourselves something' - better than, more deserving - when 'we are in fact nothing,' and are therefore 'deceived' about our sinfulness. Paul called this 'the bondage of corruption.' Losing sight of our sinfulness, we lose sight of our need for the One who has come to heal the sinner. Like Laman and Lemuel in the Book of Mormon, being hard in our hearts, we 'do not look unto the Lord as we ought.'

This... is what is meant by 'the chains' or 'captivity' of sin: Precisely when we are most sinful and therefore most in need of repentance we least feel the desire or need to repent. This is the predicament of sin. And this is why the Lord himself declared, 'I require the hearts of the children of men,' and why the prophets have uniformly declared that what is required is not just a cessation of sinful 'acts,' but a 'mighty change in our hearts.' It is as the prophet Alma taught: Only this mighty change of heart can loose us from the chains of hell.



The Peacegiver by James L. Ferrell. 2004. p.162, 163