Doomed In A Sinful Nature
The Letter to the Ephesians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Is the doctrine of Sin the most important doctrine concerning mankind? Many in the church stray away from this doctrine because it does not brighten the day of the average church goer. Some pastors believe patrons should come to church and feel encouraged when they leave.
Joel Osteen, world famous heretic and false teacher said in an interview,
“I know that I’m doing what I believe for the best of my ability that GOd’s called me to do and that is bring hope to people, to try and liven people up, and get people interested that are not necessarily churchgoers.”
When asked by the interviewer about needing to talk about sin more:
“when I talk about sin, I talk about how we can become better, how we can overcome, and I just don’t feel like I’m supposed to go and beat people down. Most people know what they are doing wrong.”
Sure, I would agree that most people do know that they are doing wrong because the Bible teaches that the law of God is written on their hearts. But to ignore talking about the holiness of God and the offense of man’s sin against our Creator is to ignore the very responsibility preachers to proclaim the whoel counsel of God.
Let me instead point you to a faithful preacher of old, Jonathan Edwards who writes this regarding sin…
The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume 1 The Author’s Preface
I look on the doctrine as of great importance; which every body will doubtless own it is, if it be true. For, if the case be such indeed, that all mankind are by nature in a state of total ruin, both with respect to the moral evil of which they are the subjects, and the afflictive evil to which they are exposed, the one as the consequence and punishment of the other; then, doubtless, the great salvation by CHRIST stands in direct relation to this ruin, as the remedy to the disease; and the whole gospel, or doctrine of salvation, must suppose it; and all real belief, or true notion of that gospel, must be built upon it
Friend, we must dwell on the great depravity of sin so we can see the greater riches in Christ’s redemptive work. To ignore speaking about sin and its grave effects leaves out the greatest part of the gospel message…man’s need for salvation.
We live in a skeptical world that believes that they really are safe from any spiritual demise. Many believe that no judgment from God is destined for them. Others think they are actually in a safe place with God because of some inward goodness in them. They have convinced themselves of such foolishness even though Scripture says otherwise.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
On top of the foolishness of unbelievers, we have churches and pastors who are not bold and brave enough to actually speak the truth about the great depth of sin in humanity and in the absence of such proclamation, the grace provided by Christ is minimized.
Paul wants the Ephesians to know the great rescue and deliverance by which they received in Christ. He concluded chapter 1 referring to the power of God that raised Christ from the dead and gave followers of Christ a hope in their calling to salvation. In chapter 2, he will elaborate on that hope brought about by God’s power in Christ so that the church can see that only by the regenerating power of Christ, can the church be saved. To teach such a truth, Paul begins with the bad news before he gets to the good news.
Today, we will focus on the bad news of sin….that we are DOOMED IN OUR SINFUL STATE. We then will move to Paul’s point by God’s power and grace alone are we saved in Jesus.
I. Dead Nature
I. Dead Nature
read Gen 3:1-8
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. 8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Notice the fellowship with God that turns to separation. They hid from God out of shame for their sin. They no longer wanted fellowship with Him because inwardly, a fear arose in them because of sin’s effects.
When God confronts them regarding their sin, they immediately begin suppressing the truth in their unrighteousness. They begin making excuses for their sin by blameshifting. Adam blames God for giving him a woman who would sell him out like that. Eve blames the serpent.
Eventully, Adam and Eve are cursed and God creates a separation from them by removing them from the garden, their place of fellowship with Him and peace.
This scenario, at the outset of the story of the Bible introduces the great doctrine of sin, in the third chapter of the book of Genesis. That sin of our first parents was passed down through their children and every child that is born into this world.
This is the NATURE OF SIN.
Sin’s effect on the world caused a natural separation between a holy God and now a stained unrighteous humanity. That spiritual separation from God because of sin is called death in the Scriptures because death is the human way to understand the end of something. Spiritual death is the end of a fellowship and relationship with God.
John Calvin writes,
Institutes of the Christian Religion Chapter 1: Through Fall of Adam, the Human Race Made Accursed
5. As Adam’s spiritual life would have consisted in remaining united and bound to his Maker, so estrangement from him was the death of his soul
Therefore death is the term that is used to the corruption of the physical man that ends his life on this earth and the termination of the spiritual as well in his relationship with God. Both physical and spiritual death are a result of the effect of fall of man and sin entering the world.
That sinful nature was passed down from our first parents through every generation of human born on this earth. All humanity, regardless of race, culture and creed is born with a sinful nature. Paul makes this case in Romans 5:12
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—
Let’s be clear that this nature of sin is a total corruption, not a partial one. Some say that as human we are born in the image of God and therefore, sin damaged partially our image but we are still capable of God. But this is not what Scripture says.
Not long after Adam and Eve’s descendents spread on the earth, God judged the world with a flood because the total corruption of mankind was evident to God. He says in Gen 6:5
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Commenting on this verse, Puritan Stephen Carnock writes,
Puritan Sermons, Volume 2 Sermon XIX: The Sinfulness and Cure of Thoughts (Stephen Charnock, B.D.)
“The wickedness of man,” which “was great in the earth.” “How came it to pass that man’s wickedness should swell so high? Whence did it spring?” From the “imagination.” “Though these might be sinful imaginations, might not the superior faculty preserve itself untainted?” Alas! that was defiled; the “imagination of the thoughts was evil.” “But though running thoughts might wheel-about in his mind, yet they might leave no stamp or impression upon the will and affections.” Yes, they did: the “imagination of the thoughts of his heart was evil.” “Surely all could not be under such a blemish: were there not now and then some pure flashes of the mind?” No, not one: “Every imagination.” “But granting that they were evil, might there not be some fleeting good mixed with them, as a poisonous toad hath something useful?” No: “Only evil!” “Well, but there might be some intervals of thinking; and though there was no good thought, yet evil ones were not always rolling there.” Yes, they were “continually;” not a moment of time that man was free from them. One would scarce imagine such an inward nest of wickedness; but God hath affirmed it; and if any man should deny it, his own heart would give him the lie.
As this nature of sin is grafted to every human child born, so that corrupted nature leads to evil and wicked acts that defy the Creator and Lord of all. Sin causes men and women, boys and girls to continually move beyond temptation and into sinful acts. This is evidenced in Gen 4 when Adam and Eve’s children committed sinful acts of jealousy, anger and murder towards one another.
King David recognizes this of himself
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
Jesus taught his disciples that there are those of the earth, the unspiritual, who are living in a state of deadness. They are not focused on heavenly matters but only earthly ones.
He says in Matt 8:21-22
21 Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”
Jesus taught this doctrine when confronting the religious leaders of his day.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Jesus confronts the hypocrisy of the religious leaders with an imagery in that culture where people who clean and whitewash the tombs. Jesus states that these religious leaders were like those tombs, clean or holy in appearance but inside they were dead, or full of dead man’s bones. Jesus illustrates that person unchanged by the power of God is simply dead spiritually.
1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. 2 The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.
Notice the similarity of the the psalmist words with Paul’s words in Romans 1 where Paul’s talks about the suppressing of truth of God in unrighteousness. David says something similar regarding the state of all humanity. What we understand about all of humanity is that no one seeks after God. We are all fools because we deny our Lord and King in order to serve and worship ourselves or one another.
This verse transitions us to the second aspect of the nature of sin, dead fruit.
2. Dead Fruit
2. Dead Fruit
Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 7:17-20
17 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.
So what makes the bad fruit…. a bad or dead tree. What makes the tree dead….disease or corruption within. Jesus is teaching us that by nature, those separated from God in sin will commit acts of evil and corruption in this world. It is in there nature to do so and the result will always be bad fruit.
We may object…”but some acts from unbelievers look righteous, just, kind, and good.”
But we know that an apple can look fine in its skin because we do not see the worm that crawled its way in a infested the fruit inside.
Every act done by an unbeliever is evil regardless of its appearance from outside because it is done without the purposed intention to glorify God. Any act done without the purpose of glorifying God is a sinful act.
WOW. That seems harsh pastor, any act? Like driving my car? Like eating my dinner. Like brushing my teeth. Those tasks seem mundane, but think just how you might think evil or vain thoughts in those moments. I’ll take brushing your teeth. Yep. Brushing your teeth for the glory of God. If you think while brushing that you need your teeth pearly white because with yellow teeth, people will reject you, ridicule you and look down on you. Guess what your teeth are idols of your heart. You have fallen into vanity.
31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Dead fruit starts in the will and intention of the dead heart of man who is not made alive in Christ. Jesus taught in
21 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. 23 “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”
So Paul in our passage today also teaches similiarly in v2-3
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
“trespasses and sins” are synonomous words here. Trespasses are intentional rebellions against God and his law. Sin (AMARTIA) means to miss the mark of God’s holy perfections. Both sins and trespasses come from the dead spiritual state of man.
Now what I want to do with my remaining time is look at a few examples that Paul gives of the dead fruit that is manifested in an unregenerate heart.
Worldly Values
Worldly Values
From a heart that has not been made alive by Christ, comes the reality of the “walk according to the course of this world.” The word course means “age or time” and its a temporal word. An age or time of the KOSMOS is speaking of a value system in a timeframe by which a person lives. The AION of the KOSMOS is the worldly values that influence and lead unbelievers in their lives.
Clint Arnold comments
Ephesians Explanation of the Text
This could be interpreted to refer to the various non-Christian religions, ideologies, philosophies, values, and economic systems as well as to the more mundane but the equally powerful influence of peer pressure, fashion, and the media. These influences provide a script for living day-to-day life apart from God and his values.
We can all see the world around us screaming into our lives with values and ethics and systems that are devoid of God’s glorifying truth and purpose. It may be moral and culturally helpful but again it lacks the direction to praise God as Creator and Lord of all.
Paul says that in depravity and spiritual deadness, all humanity walks among these godless systems. They are everywhere and only in a regenerated state due we recognize they are godless and the church stands firm to be different from them.
John Macarthur states,
Ephesians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Salvation Is from Sin
Sinful men have many different ideas and standards, but they are in total agreement that the network of things in this world is more important than the divine perspective of God. In this most basic world outlook they are of one mind. They resolutely work to fulfill the goals and values of their system, though it defies God and always self-destructs. Sinners are persistent in their rejection, and the worse their system becomes, the more they try to justify it and condemn those who speak the Word of God against it
Now Paul states that before being made alive in Christ, a person “walks according to this system of worldly and evil values and ideologies.” We follow the lead of such God defying systems. To follow them means that we submit to them, even if our submission is resistant to some evil values, unbelievers are still surrendered to ways that abandon God and HIs truth.
This what I see in our political climate today. So many of the republican party lump Christian values in their platform so that for some, being republican is being Christian. I watched a video this week where a woman, talking to Vivek Ramaswamy referred to him as a type of Christian because he was conservative in his values. Guess what, he did not correct her. This is deception of Satan to think that a Hindu man submits himself to Christ alone.
We must understand and see the contrast of these political, ideological, and educational systems of this world as not seeking to glorify God and uphold his kingdom.
Also, as an aside, let me tell you that because sinful men follow such an order and walk among such an order, this is why the church has to be vigilant to protect our children, our most vulnerable. One such way we can protect them in their education. Now friends let me give a humble plea to you…figure out a way to educate your children from a Christian perspective at home or put them in a Christian school. I know many public school administrators who love Jesus. I know many school teachers who love Jesus. I know high school and some middle school students who love Jesus. But our public school systems do not love Jesus. They are following the course of this world. They are not using God-glorifying curriculum, they are standing upon Christ-centered values and in the end, they want your child to look and think like the world, not like Jesus.
I would agree with Voddie Bachum… view in his book family-driven faith.
“We cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come home as Romans.”
Now listen, your children are not missionaries to their schools. I used to wave that flag early on in ministry. But now that I understand the nature of sin and the agendas of our worldly education system, they are not safe. They are not missionaries because most children and pre-teens do not have a relationship with Christ. And when they do, they may get biblical training one-three times a week on top of all of the other activities of their lives.
Let me ask…how are real missionaries trained? They are educated, equipped tested and then sent out to the mission field, not the other way around. Prepare them first and the best way to do that is in a Christ centered way. I know some may say this is a radical view…thats ok. When Jesus told his disciples that the gospel would divide father from son, mother from daughter…that was radical as well. Surely if Christ-centeredness divides families, it will set certain people apart in communities.
I say this as your pastor who has seen God bless homeschooling efforts. It won’t make your kids Christians if you homeschool them. But it provides an environment where you can put them in the best possible place to learn and see Christ in all areas of life and education.
I am out of time for today but we will pick back up next week looking at the two other elements of dead fruit that exist in those who have not been changed by Christ.
Let me ask you friend, have you been changed by him or are you a dead tree bearing dead fruit.
