Words of Grace

By Rev. Mahlon Nevel

The word iniquity appears over and over again in the bible. It is there in the beginning, and is found in almost every book of scripture.

Iniquity is sin. Sin is iniquity. Psalm 51 is David’s prayer of confession. He prayed that God would have mercy upon him by washing him from his iniquity and cleansing him from his sin. (V. 2) and then he prayed that God would hide his face from his sins and blot out his iniquities. (V. 9)

David realized that at his birth he was shaped in iniquity and sin. (V. 5) Original sin was passed on to us from Adam.

Rev. Seth Joshua used to tell the story about a man who said to him that he could not swallow what the preachers called original “sin.” My good fellow, he said, “there’s no occasion for you to swallow it because it’s inside you already.”

There’s forgiveness with God. Hebrews 8:12 tells us that our sins and our iniquities he will “remember no more”

The story is told about a man who was dying in a London hospital. A friend who was a Christian visited him and asked, “is there anything that I can do for you?”

“Not a thing,” he answered. But then he asked, “is there anything that can undo?”

Thank God, there is something that can undo. The Christian gladly told him about the precious blood of Christ that cleanses us from all sin.