He had still one other, a beloved son; finally he sent him to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' And they took him and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. Mark 12:6–8 (RSV)
One has to marvel at the leap of logic the tenants make as the vineyard owner's son arrives. In less time than it takes to tell, they convince themselves that if they murder the son, the heir to the vineyard, it will be theirs'. So they murder the son, throw his body out on the road, and settle into their vineyard.
Sin always believes in a lie. Just as Adam and Eve convinced themselves that the serpent's lie was true, so do we, when tempted to sin. The temptation to believe that we know more than God comes before we surrender to sin.
If we could stop ourselves for a moment, consider what we are about to do, we would be able to see the foolishness of the temptation. We could see the lie upon which the coming sin is built.
Persisting in sin, as the tenants did, is fatal. They continued to believe their lie and suffered the wrath of the owner. Likewise, we will discover that God will visit the consequences upon us if we persist in sin. The tragedy is that it will be our choice.