Some will mortify themselves in many things, and so almost every thing in religion but one; unfortunately, that one is the test of their obedience, and the very thing required of them. (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).
Why is this teaching so important? Why would one talk so much on one subject? One reason is that people should see the sin of their heart in order to be convicted of sin, thoroughly and deeply humbled, and then brought to faith by the work of the Spirit in their souls. A second reason is that it is good for sanctification. We should desire to see the sin that is there in our hearts and that we are blind to in order to pursue God and walking with God. A third reason is to help people see if they are deceived or not. The knowledge of sin is important as it enables people to see that their sin is far worse than they have ever believed and it is the real state of their hearts.
It is vital to know the sin of the heart and have it uncovered so that a person may have a pure heart and so see God as Jesus preached in the Beatitudes. It is vital to pursue the knowledge of sin in the heart because one that loves God will desire to die to sin and to mortify sin as Romans 8:13 tells us: “for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” This verse tells us that it is only if by the Spirit a person is putting to death the deeds of the body will that person live. This is to say that those who live according to the flesh are unconverted people who are still in the flesh and yet those who are striving to die to sin are those who have life.
It is vital to know the sin of the heart so that a person may repent from that sin and turn more and more to Christ. If we desire to please Christ, then we cannot love the things and refuse to repent of the things which He hates and died for. We cannot love our sin and love Christ at the same time and in the same heart. The heart is very deceitful and it will try to hide from sin and deceive us about what sin is, but if we love Christ we must stand with Christ against our own sinful hearts and seek Christ to overcome the power of our own deceits.
It is vital to know our own sin that we may be growing in humility. We must be humble as a creature, humble as a sinner, but also humble as a saint. But all saints (called of God and declared holy in Christ) of God are also creatures and sinners. If we think of humility as a growing in death to self-love and self-centeredness, then we can see that a growing knowledge of the sin of the heart will drive saved sinners deeper and deeper into humility and a greater growth in grace. A growing knowledge of how sin is so intertwined in the heart and choking out the life of grace (so to speak) should drive the sinner in utter helplessness and humility to look to the hand of God in Christ to do what must be done by grace alone.
It is vital to know the sin of our hearts if we are going to grow in the understanding of grace and the life of grace. We are commanded to walk and live by grace, but the heart that does not know its own sin will be walking and living by the power of grace and deceive itself into thinking it is living by grace. If we think of grace as simply that which God does to forgive sinners, we are falling far short of understanding grace. It is grace that we live by and it is grace that upholds us each moment. It is by grace that Christ dwells in His people and it is by grace that people are enabled to grow in holiness and share in the Divine life (II Peter 1:3-5). So if we want to know grace in the sense that we live by grace and walk by grace, then we must learn the sin of our hearts and grow in that grace.
It is vital to know the sins of our hearts so that we can turn from reliance upon that sin to a total reliance upon Christ each moment. The sin and the deceptiveness of sin will turn the soul to where it relies on self in reality, though it may give the credit to grace. But the soul must in reality rely upon grace and grace alone. It is the humbled soul that Christ dwells in and it is the humbled soul that loves holiness that relies upon Christ for its humility and its love for holiness. If we love holiness in a way that is not from Christ, then we are relying upon a holiness that is from self. If we have a form of humility that comes from self and not from Christ, then we are in reality relying on self for humility and so relying on our own efforts and works to obtain what pleases Christ. Knowing the heart and the sin of the heart is not an option, but it is truly vital.
God Loves... Himself 
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