The Reality of Sin

The Problem: We don’t take our sin problem seriously

Notice that Paul says that whatever is not from faith is sin. The source of our sin is our faithlessness. But what is sin, and why do we struggle with it.

The reason is we don’t take sin seriously because we don’t see the depth of our problem.

For many sin is just bad things we do, but sin is much deeper that this. Sin at it’s root is a lack of faith in the goodness of God.

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

The Struggle: You were dead

Notice first what Paul says here: You were dead in your trespasses and sin. Now notice what he is not saying, he is not saying that we are sick.

He’s not saying that we are dying as if we’re on life support.

He’s saying we were dead. Dead means dead. Dead things do what dead things do.

Death is actually quite easy if you think about it. It takes no effort to die.

Recently I was talking to a friend about the death of a loved one. They talked about how hard that loved one fought until their last family member was able to arrive and tell them they loved them and it was ok for them to die. This person who had for weeks struggled for life just simply quit, and within hours they were gone.

It’s a story I’ve heard often.

Our lives before Christ are like this. They are easy. They are without struggle.

Several years ago I went water rafting on the Occoe River. For most of the trip we were going with the flow. Going with the river, until we got into a vortex and the raft almost was sucked under. For the next 10 minutes we had to struggle against the river for survival.

Survival is hard.

Our lives before Christ were like a leaf on a river, there is no effort in floating down a river, you simply just are...

In the same way, before Christ, life is easy. We don’t struggle with sin because it’s the air we breathe. All we know is death, but once Christ comes into our hearts, life is different. Now there is a struggle, and it’s a three pronged struggle:

The Depth of Our Sin: The World, The Devil, and The Flesh

The first tension in our lives is the world.

The World

The world can mean: The world. Just all of our experiences. It’s the place we live.

The world can mean those forces opposed to God, and this is the sense that Paul is using. The world is the press of humanity, that natural state of rebellion against God. Before Christ, we lived this. It was our natural state. Rebellion against God is the inheritance we received from Adam.

All around us we feel the press of the world. The world calls us to accept life the way it sees things. It always has. Sometimes it is blatant.

Sometimes it’s not.

The Devil

Next is the reality of a spiritual realm. For many of us, we can accept and live with the reality of the world, but we struggle with the idea that there is a real malevolent force outside of this reality.

The Devil seeks to cause us to sin:

1 John 3:8 ESV

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

The devil entices people to sin, making evil seem appealing so that people choose evil over obedience to God

James 1:14 ESV

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

Physically, the devil can inflict disease, and he seeks to use physical trials to cause people to curse God.

Job 2:4–5 ESV

Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.”

Intellectually, the devil seduces people into error, teaching false doctrines (1 Timothy 4:1).

1 Timothy 4:1 ESV

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

He casts doubt and keeps unbelievers intellectually blinded to spiritual truth and the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:3–4).

2 Corinthians 4:3–4 ESV

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

We cannot forget that we have an enemy who seeks to destroy us.

The Flesh

Galatians 5:16–21 ESV

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

So not only is the world working against us. Not only is the devil working against us, but our flesh seeks to lead us astray from God.

Our Only Hope: We need The Common Means of Grace.

So what is our hope? Wej find it in v.4-7

Ephesians 2:4–7 ESV

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

I need grace. I need the grace of Christ. I need the presence of Christ in my life.

Some separate themselves, thinking they can do it on their own, but we need Christ, and the grace he gives us.

And what is that grace? Well, it’s the common means of grace he gives us through his church and through his word.

The Word, prayer, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and, necessarily joined to these, the church's discipline and care of souls, these are what I need to fight against sin.

Paul, in context in Romans is speaking of living together in the body. He points it out to us in chapter 15

Romans 15:1–2 ESV

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

We need the body.

So let this be a reminder this Holiday Season, what your soul needs and what you should press into are the common means of grace that Christ has given you: The discipline of the Word, the necessity of Pray, the example of the sacraments, and the discipline and fellowship of believers. We need this for our good, and God’s glory.