It may or may not be obvious to those who attend our church, but the exhortation during the corporate confession part of our Lord’s day liturgy usually connects to some thread or theme from the sermon to follow. Why plow two fields when one field plowed twice might be more fruitful? That said, I have a few ideas for smaller, separate confession “series,” and this past Sunday I started a four-parter titled “Confession 101.”

The first lesson in Confession 101 is that sin is bad. Here are four reminders why.

First, sin separates man from God and, by consequence, from one another. No relationship can survive sin unchecked. Sin relentlessly pounds a wedge between persons. We cannot be close to our spouse, our kids, other Christians, or to God if sin reinforces her fences.

Second, sin blinds men from truth. Sin suffocates men with darkness; they cannot see the light because the eyes of their hearts misbehave. Sin scars the spiritual organ intended for insight with ignorance. We cannot be free from slavery to lies if sin be the tyrant.

Third, sin deceives men about reality. Not only are men blind, sin convinces them that they can see better. They have no need for a physician’s help because they believe themselves to be in excellent shape. Sin imagines substance out of shadows. We cannot be safe if sin confines men within her distortion field.

Fourth, sin kills men. It destroys the soul, spoiling a man’s today and stealing his tomorrow. Sin drives a man to work for a paycheck of death. We cannot live, now or eternally, if sin’s poisoning of the heart isn’t cured by Christ.

As Christians, we know that in Christ, on one hand, we are already dead to sin and that, with the other hand, Christ requires us to kill sin. Sin is bad. Don’t make a sandwich for sin and sit down to enjoy a picnic together (Romans 13:14). Either we will kill it or it will kill us. Let’s begin by confessing our sin to God.