What Is Sin 10.9.22

What is Sin? October 9, 2022 Good morning and welcome to Lake Erie Church. We are so happy to see you today and thank you for being part of this community of faith. Lake Erie Church is such a special place-you truly can belong here-and if you have not decided about becoming a member of LEC, be sure you talk with one of the pastors or elders in our church who will be happy to answer your questions. I'm Bill Isaacs, the exceptionally good looking pastor of the church and according to Mrs. Jeannie Rhoten recently I'm a "hip, cool, young pastor" and for the record, I like Jeannie! We are continuing our Grow Series (Handout) as we continue to explore the foundations of our faith and prepare to share with others who ask us about matters of faith. Today, we attempt to answer the question-What Is Sin? As a disclaimer, I'm not trying this morning to "name sin" as my grandfather used to say-in fact, I don't know how much good we did when we attempted to embarrass people publicly by calling them out for what was deemed sinful behavior. I'll leave that to God. I'll preach the truth and trust the Holy Spirit to speak and you to respond. What I do hope to do is prepare you for the conversations with unbelievers and instill a personal confidence that you can share your faith, you can help people find Jesus! I think God is helping us through this series and I'm so grateful for those of you who have texted me with your questions and encouragement. Here's the number you can text your questions to today 330.212.9656. That's precisely what I wanted. Some of what I've said has provoked some of you and others have been raised very valid questions that have led to healthy exchange between us about the Scriptures. I truly believe that is what God's hope is for a community like LEC is that we are helping one another, seeking for answers and finding them. In previous weeks, we asked Who is God? Who Am I? Today, we ask What is Sin? PRAYER (Romans 6:23) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. What Is Sin? * Sin is our intentional and personal choice to live apart from God. o You and I could put together an exhaustive list of things that we deem as sinful-at the root of every one of them is a stubborn pride that we can live without God. * Sin is the force that gives us the power to resist God's Word. o Sin is any opinion that is contrary to God's opinion. * All of those are seen in Genesis 3. o In a perfectly created world, Adam and Eve lived with only the command of God not to eat from one tree and yet the serpent (enemy) was able to convince them that God's opinion was not as important as their desire to explore the forbidden fruit. o What Satan did was provoke the pride of Adam and Eve to make their own decisions, even if they were contrary to God's command and sin entered into their world. o Sin is always present when we choose our desires over God's plans. * Sin is an offense against God....Sin sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the sin of Adam/Eve it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the desire to make our own choices. Sin is the love of ourselves over our love for God. Why Does God Hate Sin? * Bottom line--sin prevents man from fellowship with God. o As we mentioned in week 1-God wants to walk again with us and our sin prevents God from walking with us. * God gave man the right to choose (2 weeks ago-"image of God" our ability to reason and choose) o When Adam chose his way over God's way, sin changed the plans God had for Adam and Eve. o When you and I choose sin-we are choosing to live without God-that's why he hates sin. * God does not hate you if you are a sinner. o He hates the sin that is keeping you from Him. o This is why God does not regard one sin greater than another because all sin separates mankind from the Creator. * God could have just as easily made a world without a Satan or without sin. o But then we would love him out of obligation and not out of choice. * Our temptation to sin never goes away. o You will never know a time in your life that you will not experience the temptation to disregard God and choose your own way. * Our temptations are the result of our desires. (James 1:13-15) Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. What Can We Do About Our Sin? * If we say we don't sin, we just lying to ourselves! (1 John1:7-10) If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. * The problem with sin is ME... o I'm the worst sinner I know. * IT'S A PRIDE ISSUE-always present-constantly warring inside of me-I want my way-I want to do things the way I choose to do them-my surrender to God's plan is the doorway to my sin. * How did Lucifer become our enemy? o He decided he wanted to be God-wanted the glory of God and created a rebellion of angels who aligned with him-his sin was the same as mine. * My decisions to live apart from God-to be independent of God's guidance, love and direction. * Pride is ever present-even in a pastor. (smile) (Proverbs 16:18) Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling. (James 4:5-7) Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Conclusion: The problem with sin is ME... * It's not my upbringing * It's not my lack in life * It's not money, loneliness, anxiety, lust * It's not that I like pornography or stealing It's my nature to sin. WITHOUT JESUS, I will always be a sinner! * I can be rich but without Jesus I'm just a rich sinner * I can be famous but without Jesus I'm just a renowned sinner * I can be from a solid church going family but without Jesus I'm just a sinner from a good family. It's my nature to sin-I'm drawn to it. My need is to be TRANSFORMED by the power of God. Because of our many sins, we have a debt that must be paid. Before a debt can be forgiven, some provision must be made to transfer the payments. You may wonder why I love Him so much--Jesus took my debt and paid it.