What we Believe about...Sin

(S1) — SERIES…Why What We Believe Matters

(S2)

SCRIPTURE — Live in the word, and the WORD will come ALIVE in you!

Inspired by God, Whole Bible , Jesus, ChurchLife-Giving

SALVATION — “Grace is the source, FAITH is the condition through which we are saved”

Present — “The greatest of all Blessings”

CHRISTIAN life — ‘ALTOGETHER Christian’

Loves God, People, Faith, Witness, More Like Jesus

(S3) — SIN — How do you view sin?

Talk about it — Point out others sin — God only cares about the BIG ones — Make excuses for it — “I’m just human”

“It isn't that we aren't broken; we simply don’t like to be reminded of it.” Scott Jones (S.W.W)

Reading the apostles words, it’s hard not to talk about sin, 12 verses/13 times — Sin, something both Wesley and Paul struggled with...

I’m OK, Your Ok

I am a sinner…admitting we are not totally OK, is the first step to being made right with God and that we need Jesus.

(S4) —There is GOOD NEWS about sin

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Romans 5:6 (NLT)

PRAY

What is sin? How would you define it?

“Any offense that is in contrast to, or contradicts, God’s Nature, will, teaching, or divine creation.”

What Wesley believed about sin from his study of scripture and his own life experience

“Proper religion is an acknowledgement that we are so broken and diseased that we cannot heal ourselves.” J. Wesley

J. W. Sermon — ‘Original Sin’

“Wesley did not underestimate sin; in fact he believed that the reality of SIN and BROKENNESS was as obvious in the world.”

(S5) —His sermon’s foundation comes from the opening story…

The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. Genesis 6:5 (NLT)

The reality of our brokenness is a story told on almost every page of the Bible; Genesis to Revelation...Its origin coming for the failing of humanities first parents.

“When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Romans 5:12

Paul’s words about sin, contrast the old and the new.

— The old humanity born only under the law, tied only to the first man—The result of sin, which is death

— The new humanity, BORN AGAIN, under the gift of GRACE by the second man—Jesus

(S6) —

“But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:15

“In Wesley’s experience, the default position of the human heart is with the Adam, tied to this original sin. We come into the world not loving God, but loving self. The will of the human spirit is to do whatever brings us pleasure.”

Free Spirit — One who is not restrained, as by convention or obligation; who does not recognize any authority. Someone acting freely or even irresponsibly”

Wesley says that, “all men are “atheist in the world” — void of a destination, purpose, living only our for the day...

(S7) —

“Original sin’ is total corruption, its a disease that has affected every aspect of our lives. Apart from grace, we are even unable to discern our dire condition.”

Paul’s words, in verse 6 When we were utterly helpless Christ came at just the right time — give us both the TRUTH about ourselves...and HOPE that we are not meant to stay that way

(asthenes) — sick, weak, or limited in capacity, due to illness or some other limitation (1).

Mark 14:38 “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.””

This limitation born in us, is SIN — Our flesh, our desires, fall under our human weakness. On our own, we are prone to wander...

“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” “Robert Robinson

(S8) — In the garden there were many trees — Many choices — All they needed

Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.””

The RESULT of the first transgression, came upon the many...SIN entered not only the world, but the human heart.

Infants are cute…but they are all about who?

Because of sin, even as adults we can still act as infants — SIN is the reason we need the second Adam…Jesus

(S9) — J.W. — Because of SIN, we come into this world, with...

I. We have no KNOWLEDGE of God

Wesley believed that until God opens our eyes, we have no natural knowledge of Him. No acquaintance with God — We are, “atheists by nature”

Absence of belief in any higher power

This may be a hard concept for the those who are born into a household of faith. Sadly this is becoming less and less common

Young adults (age 18 to 29) are far more likely to have been raised without religion than are seniors (age 65 or older). Roughly one in five (22 percent) young adults report that they were not raised in any particular religion, compared to only 3 percent of seniors.

Notably, the proportion of young adults who have always been religiously unaffiliated is nearly as large as those who have left religion to become unaffiliated. American Enterprise Institute December 11, 2019

Paul tells us that Jesus came for the UNGODLY—Those with no knowledge of God, and those who have turned away from God

(S10) —

For only rarely will someone die on behalf of a righteous person (for on behalf of a good person possibly someone might even dare to die), 8 but God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while* we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:7-8(LEB)

“One might expect God’s love to be poured out on the Jews, the chosen people. One might even allow that God’s love extends to the Gentiles who struggle to obey God by the dim light of conscience.” But it is astounding to remember that the primary concern of God’s love is to the sinner.”

25 yr old pizza delivery man runs into house on fire man driving by stops to run in and save whoever is inside without regard to who they are...

Without Jesus, we would have no knowledge of God, who took the first step in our salvation.

(S11) — Because of Original Sin, we come into this world...

II. We are SPIRITUALLY deceased

Until our human spirit (old self), collides with the Holy Spirit, until our human heart comes to the saving knowledge of Jesus through grace, we are — Spiritually dead — Like walking Zombies — destined to the grave

12 When Adam sinned…it brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned

Two things we can’t avoid—DEATH, and taxes

“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.” Colossians 2:13

Adam’s act of disobedience, brings spiritual death — Christ act of obedience restores us in spiritual life...

“That in Adam all died, spiritually died, lost the life and image of God; that fallen, sinful man then begat a son in his own likeness…Jesus” J.W.

Without Jesus our diagnoses looks hopeless, but because of Jesus’ spirit alive in us, we become restored in our relationaship —

(S12) —

“10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.”

With the first man one destiny — The second man another — Which do you prefer

(S13) — Because of Original Sin, we come into this world, we are born...

III. Susceptible to our human DESIRES

“The love of God is far above, out of our sight. We cannot naturally attain it.’ No man loves God by nature, no more than he does a stone, or the earth he treads on.” J.W

In our old self, under the law of the first man, we love the world as our selves. Without the saving grace of Jesus in us, our self love, or human nature is like an infectious disease

For an infectious disease to spread: Source — Susceptible Person — Way of Transmission

1. The SOURCE of our sin is satan — In the garden...

1 Peter 5:8 “8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

2. It takes a SUSCEPTIBLE person — The first step of the christian life is admitting we are not immune to sin

Even the most right in loving God are susceptible to sin — David a man after God’s own heart traded his heart for his own desires — Saul, lost his authority by his own jealousy — Peter lost his faith because of his fear — Judas a follower of Jesus sold his soul for greed

Me…you…even the most faithful have fallen — Don’t put me on a pedestal, I am only a sinner saved by grace...

(S14) —

“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

3. The WAY of TRANSMISSION is sin itself. The Bible warns us to take sin seriously, like Wesley and Paul.

Romans 6:1-2 “ Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?”

How is sin transmitted? Our PRIDE — GREED — DESIRE...

The prodigal son — Our Story?

The origin of SIN may not our doing, but it is our BURDEN to bear.

John 8:7 “let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”

Jesus died to change our destiny. So we could live, not only eternally, but live in a RESTORED relationaship with God — So Jesus would become the DESIRE of our hearts above ourselves.

For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. Romans 5:15–16 (NLT)

(S15) — Jesus is the cure for the common disease — SIN. Through His GRACE and FORGIVENESS we come to...

KNOW God — Spiritually ALIVE — DESIRE Jesus

“Proper religion is an acknowledgement that we are so broken that we cannot heal ourselves.” To deny our brokenness is to deny our need for Jesus

This understanding is the first step in moving us from brokenness and despair, to wholeness and healing. “As God opens the eyes of our understanding…we see who we are and who we need —

“In Christ, we are given the opportunity to be restored into our true, uncorrupted human nature — to live into the life we were originally created to live. Wesley put it this way,

(S16) —

“the great end of religion is to renew our hearts in the image of God, to repair that total loss of righteousness and true holiness which we sustained by the sin of our first parent” (Original Sin, III.5).

Sin is not the problem — Jesus gives us everything we need to overcome it.

I have a sin problem — Gluttony — I like to eat

The problem is...We don’t talk about SIN enough — We point out other peoples sins — We think God only cares about the BIG ones — WE make excuses for it...

Challenge

1. SEE sin for what it is...

2. SEEK forgiveness…when you fall short

3. RestSECURE in the gift of God’s amazing love

Jesus is God’s answer to sin and in Him, The HOPE is not that we will be SINLESS, but that we will be grace-filled and when we are, we will SIN LESS!