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While the names of sins may be legion, sin that lies at the root is one--it is idolatry.
At first this may be questioned. Idolatry is the setting up of self in the place of God. The
whole fabric of the Mosaic legislation rested upon the opening commandment of the
decalogue: "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" (Exod. 20: 3). This command
might be broken by the crude worship of graven images, but it could be broken just as
surely by the act of coveting, as Eph. 5: 5 and Col. 3: 5 (with Exod. 20: 17) make
plain. One man may express his idolatry by bowing down to "stocks and stones";
another by bowing down to stocks and shares.
Murder attacks the image of God, for
"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of
God made He man" (Gen. 9: 6).
False witness is "the lie" in expression, and Satan the self-worshipper is
"a murderer from the beginning . . . . . when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own,
for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8: 44).
Ethical teaching stresses the right relation of man with his neighbour, but Bible
teaching reveals that man's right relationship with his neighbour is possible only as he is
in right relationship with God.
It is common knowledge that where one finds idolatry one finds immorality, indeed
the Lord uses adultery to envisage the sin of idolatry when dealing with His people Israel.
When Moses descended from the mountain and saw the worship of the golden calf, he
did not destroy one table of stone; he destroyed both, for in breaking the first
commandment Israel, like Adam, had let "the sin entered into their world, and death by
sin".
The history of the nations is exactly the same. In Rom. 1: 18-32 we find the same
sequence:--
"For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that
they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as
God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart
was darkened, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the
glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man . . . . . dishonour
their own bodies . . . . . who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and
served the creature more than the Creator, Who is blessed for ever, Amen. For this cause
God gave them up to vile affections . . . . . reprobate mind . . . . . filled with all
unrighteousness, fornication . . . . . murder . . . . . disobedient to parents . . . . ."
As with Adam, so with the nations, they let "the sin enter into their world" and then
proceeded to break every commandment that was "written in their hearts" (Rom. 2: 15).