Skip to main contentHistorical Examples — Sin
268 illustrations
Moses' Hidden Grave Contrasts Christ's Proclaimed Resurrection
He bore the penalty of his transgression against the Lord at Kadesh, excluded from Canaan's rest.
Deuteronomy 34:5-6UniversalChrist's superiority to Mosesthe contrast between law and grace
From Idolatry to Knowledge: The Galatian Transformation
Before conversion, the Galatians possessed neither natural knowledge of God—imperfect and weak as it is—nor revealed knowledge through Christ.
Galatians 4:8Universalfalse worship versus true knowledge
Thunder Followed by Gentle Rain: Terror and Tenderness
Throughout this epistle, Paul has wielded the rod of remonstrance, irony, and indignation.
1 Corinthians 16:21-24
The World's Ignorance: Rejecting Christ Means Rejecting God
When our Lord declares, 'They know not Him that sent Me,' He establishes an axiom that reverberates through all ages: to turn away from Christ is necessarily to turn away from the Father.
John 15:21-25
The Lynx-Eyed Critics Who Cannot See Divine Power
These heresy-hunters positioned themselves apart from the crowd at Peter's house, sitting near enough to observe yet far enough to signal their superiority over the provincial peasants.
Luke 5:17-26
The Heart's True Worth Cannot Be Separated From Its Works
Yet Scripture is unambiguous: the heart (*leb* in Hebrew, the seat of will and intention) cannot be good while its practice remains evil.
Proverbs 9:20Universalinner character and outward conduct
Heaven and Earth Called as Witnesses Against Sin
"He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth" (Psalm 50:4).
Psalms 50:4
Christ's Sword: The Conflict Within Christian Discipleship
Yet Christ Himself declared He came not with peace, but with a sword.
Matthew 10:84
God Authors Action But Not the Evil Within It
Similarly, when a musician strikes an out-of-tune instrument, he produces sound but the instrument's broken strings produce the jarring discord.
Psalms 5:4
Divine Justice Recognizes Wrongs Against All People
He that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done (Philippians 4:25). I. Punishment Threatened. To Masters: Imperious masters wrong their servants by defrauding them of clothing, food, or wages; by imposing labours beyond their strength; by...
The Wild Ass Alone: Untamed Rejection of God's Yoke
Man's untamed spirit spurns the Redeemer's love, and no truer picture of the altogether intractable exists than this creature traversing the desert according to its own nature alone.
Ezekiel 8:9
Weakness of Character: The Mother of All Badness
For thirty years, under the guardianship of the High Priest Jehoiada, the king remained faithful to his conscience and duty.
2 Chronicles 24:2-17
The Lighthouse Lantern: Israel's Cyclical Apostasy and God's Unwearying Patience
These phases repeat with such regularity that he compares them to *the white and red lights and darkness reappearing in a revolving lighthouse lantern, or figures recurring in a circulating decimal fraction*.
When profit costs more than Christ's presence
A great many cannot afford to have Christ.
Mark 5:17UniversalThe cost of following Christ
God's Judgment Upon Deceivers and Their Cunning
Yet we must consider the mangled victims left in their wake—those who trafficked in cunning and deception, proving specially obnoxious to the Almighty.
Psalms 119:118
The Christian's Threefold Battle: Conflict, Victory, White Raiment
Exell identifies three distinct enemies arrayed against the believer's sanctification.
Revelation 1:5Universalspiritual warfare
The Perilous Harmfulness of Little Sins
Little sins are peculiarly offensive to God precisely because they are little—we risk offending Him for what we ourselves care very little about and expect insignificant return from.
Matthew 5:19Universalmoral law and divine authority
The Prophet's Weeping: When Foresight Reveals Future Sin
Years before, Elijah had anointed him king over Syria—a word that had festered in his ambitious heart while the decrepit Ben-hadad still nominally held the throne.
2 Kings 8:9-15
Peter's Courage Undone by Cold and Isolation
Maclaren captures the precise moment when courage evaporates: Peter had already 'repented now of, and alarmed for what might happen to him on account of, his ill-aimed blow at Malchus,' compounded by 'the nipping cold' that 'had taken all his...
John 18:15-27
The Sin of Backbiting: Guarding the Tongue Against Reproach
The abuses of the tongue are manifold, and malignity ranks foremost among them.
Psalms 15:3Universalthe power of words
The Devil's Dread: Why Evil Cries Out Against Christ
This outburst reveals the nature of evil's opposition to Christ.
Mark 5:7Universalspiritual warfare
The Inner Conflict: Midianites as Spiritual Enemies
The human mind naturally divides into two warring camps.
Judges 5:33
The Crushing Weight of Accumulated Small Sins
The accumulation of light things becomes overwhelmingly ponderous.
Proverbs 26:3Universalaccumulation of small transgressions
Peter's Trial Below While Christ's Trial Proceeds Above
The *tablinum*—the grand reception chamber with marble or alabaster benches—held the Sanhedrin's formal proceeding against Jesus.
Mark 5:66Universaldenial and accountability
Alexander Maclaren238 words
spiritual transformation through revelation
Universal
divine judgment and mercy
the nature of Christian love
Alexander Maclaren237 words
Universal
revelation of God's character
spiritual blindness
Alexander Maclaren239 words
Universal
spiritual blindness versus faith
pride versus desperate need
Alexander Maclaren248 words
the deceitfulness of the human heart
Universal
divine justice
creation's testimony
Charles H. Spurgeon190 words
Universal
spiritual conflict
moral transformation through struggle
Universal
God's nature and character
human responsibility for evil
Charles H. Spurgeon205 words
Philippians 4:25
Universal
divine retribution
impartial judgment
Universal
spiritual rebellion
consequences of independence from God
Universal
moral weakness as the root of apostasy
loss of spiritual guardianship leading to drift
Alexander Maclaren260 words
Judges 2:11-23
Universal
cyclical rebellion and restoration
God's patience amid human stubbornness
Alexander Maclaren245 words
Worldly wealth versus spiritual treasure
Universal
divine judgment
deception's consequences
Charles H. Spurgeon198 words
victory through Christ
hidden spiritual danger
Universal
God's omniscience and human responsibility
The progression of evil in the human heart
Alexander Maclaren262 words
Universal
isolation and abandonment
fear overcoming conviction
Alexander Maclaren225 words
Christian conduct
resistance to Christ
Universal
spiritual warfare
internal conflict
character formation through daily choices
spiritual trial