I Need to Know the Truth About Me and It's Not Pretty

In order to live and die in the joy of my only comfort, I must come to know about my sin and misery.  

I first need to understand what is meant by the terms: sin and misery

• SIN - those acts that man commits in rebellion against God. 
• MISERY - the punishment which God inflicts upon the rebellion of man.

Spiritual misery

• The heart of man became hard, with the result that man hates God.
• The mind of man became darkened, 
• with the result that man became foolish in his thinking, 
• no longer knowing God.
• The will of man became enslaved to evil, with the result that man was inclined only and always to evil.

Physical misery 

• The body of man was subject to sickness, pain, and ultimately to death.  
• The realm of nature was also cursed, 
• resulting in natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, cyclones, droughts, and the like.  
• The animal kingdom was also cursed, 
• with the result that animals have turned in hostility against man and against each other.

I might be inclined to think that knowledge of my sin would come from my own conscience. 

• After all, even as a fallen woman I retain some notions about God, 
• and about natural things, 
• and about the difference between what is honorable and shameful.

Furthermore, there are many things in this world that should tell me about my misery. 

• All the sickness and death in the world, 
• all the violence and crimes, all the hatred and war, 
• should make my misery evident to me. 
• I would think that the media would be quite sufficient to make me know my misery.

Romans 3:20 

• Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, 
• for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Adapted Excerpt From Van Delden's Only By True Faith