Jonathan Edwards on "The Extreme Dangers of Lust"

I think a better title for this might be "The Deceitfulness of Sin" but who am I to edit Jonathan Edwards? This is powerful and should motivate us to flee from every "sin which so easily entangles us." (Hebrews 12:1)

"Beloved, I beg you, as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." 1 Peter 2:11

Sin is deceitful because so far as it prevails and gains the inclination and will, it sways and biases our judgment. So far as any lust prevails, it biases the mind to approve of the lust. So far as any sin sways the inclination or will, so far that sin seems pleasing and prejudices us to think it is right. Thus when any lust has so overtaken a man that it becomes a sinful practice, having gained his will the lust also prejudices his understanding. The more irregularly a man walks, the more his mind probably will be blinded because sin prevails so much more.

Thus many men live in ways that aren't agreeable to the rules of God's Word yet are not aware of it. It is difficult to make them aware because the same lust that leads them into that evil way blinds them to it. Thus if a man pursues a way of malice or envy, the more malice or envy prevails, and the more it will blind his understanding to approve of it. So if a man lives in any way of lasciviousness, the more his impure lust prevails, the more sweet and pleasant will it make the sin appear, and so the more will he be disposed and prejudiced to think there is no evil in it.