THE ACCELERATOR OF SIN
The late Ray Stedman recalled a time he was a guest at a conference and was driven around in a Lincoln Continental. He remembered thinking how quietly it rode--he couldn’t hear the engine. Yet, as they drove through mountain passages, he realized that with each push of the accelerator, there was a huge surge of power. He continued:
"That is something like what Paul is describing here. Sin lies silent within us. We do not even know it is there. We think we have hold of life in such a way that we can handle it without difficulty. We are self-confident because we have never really been exposed to the situation that puts pressure upon us--we never have had to make a decision against the pressure of the commandment, 'Thou shalt not...' But when that happens, we suddenly find ourselves filled with attitudes that almost shock us--unloving, bitter, resentful thoughts, murderous attitudes...We find ourselves awakened to these desires. As the great engine surges into life at the touch of the accelerator so this powerful, idling beast within us called sin springs into life as the law comes home to us."
The LAW OF GOD reminds us that there is sin within us which prompts our desires. It waits for the right opportunities to step on the accelerator.
(Ray Stedman, “Expository Studies in Romans 1-8 – From Guilt to Glory – Volume 1”, Word Books,1981, pg. 188)