After the commission of sin, or any eruption of our inbred malignity, we quickly heal ourselves again, and reinstate ourselves in our own good opinion. How much better would it be to let our nature appear in its frightful nakedness, and to consider that the cursed root of all still remains, and that, if not here destroyed, in another world it can produce nothing but essential, uninterrupted misery, when we have no longer the joys and comforts, cares and amusements of this life, to keep off the sight of ourselves! (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)
“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
This is another revealing statement that tells us many things. The first thing that it points out is that sin comes from the heart or the inner person. The external action of a person is really something that reveals what is in the person. Sin is the eruption of something in the inner person. If the action is rank and obvious sin, then it is certainly the sign of a heart that is given over to sin. If the action is of a religious nature, it can still be a sign of an inbred malignity toward the Gospel of grace and the life of grace. So regardless of whether a person is outwardly wicked or outwardly righteous, both can be eruptions of an inbred malignity of heart.
This leads us to the second point. The openly wicked life of a sinner is an eruption of inbred malignity against God. In other words, all the sin of an unregenerate person is directly against God. The openly religious life of an unregenerate sinner is also an eruption of inbred malignity against God as God saves and sanctifies by grace alone. The religious life, regardless of how committed it is, shows a heart that is opposed to the God that saves by grace alone. The Pharisees are still the best display of this. In all they did they were serving themselves which is open idolatry. They thought they could fulfill the righteous commands of God which were given to show men that they cannot be righteous in and of themselves and so drive them to Christ for righteousness. The whole life of each Pharisee (unless converted at some point) was nothing more than an eruption of inbred malignity against God.
This principle also shows us why Jesus was harder on the Pharisees than on the openly wicked. Indeed the open wickedness of a life demonstrates a malignity against God and His holiness, but the self-righteous heart is a demonstration of a malignant heart against the holiness, grace, and self-sufficiency of God. The heart of the self-righteous or the unregenerate religious person is as much against the holiness of God as the openly wicked since the self-righteous and religious person has to water down the laws of God and then in pride think that s/he can and does keep them. In other words, the unregenerate but very religious person lives in as much if not more rebellion against God as the openly wicked.
The third point in the statement by Adam above shows the wicked heart of man and how all men are liars. After the malignity of the heart is demonstrated, “we quickly heal ourselves again, and reinstate ourselves in our own good opinion.” The human heart out of self-love will move to heal itself in order to have a good opinion of itself. It will justify its own actions and its own motives by many manipulations of facts and the laws of God in order to think well of itself again. The openly wicked person will tell self that it had good reasons for what it did and try to blame others or society. The openly wicked person will also tells self and others that at least it is not as bad as others and that it has done many good things. But the very religious person will look to itself and its own works as a way of righteousness but also claim that Christ has saved it. The openly religious person will look to self as its own reason for why Christ should show grace. The openly religious person may not think that s/he is looking to works or depending on self since his or her theology may teach grace, but down deep that person is using the teaching of grace to hide a malignant heart against grace. For grace to be grace alone it cannot have the act of a human being as its motive or any merit as a cause for what it does. But the religious person will use grace to hide its malignant heart and as such it can return to having a good opinion of itself again.
The heart of humanity is born dead in sin and it will use open acts of wickedness and very religious acts as well to have a good opinion of itself and to hide itself from others and itself. The true believer, however, knows that God sees the depths of the heart and that there is no use trying to hide sin. So the true believer cries out for mercy and does so while crying out against his or her own heart. The true believer knows that it cannot be healed by anything self does, but instead only the blood of Christ alone by grace alone can heal it.
God Loves... Himself 
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