SS - What is Sin

are all sins equal?

Tie into sermon

The story of the Bible is one of God solving our problem of sin

What is sin?

Definition: “Sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature.”

Any

“small” or “big”

Act

Lying, Stealing, Adultery, Murder etc.

Attitude

Covet - Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Anger - Matthew 5:22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…”

Lust - Matthew 5:28 “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Water Bottle Illustration

Nature

Nature Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Ephesians 2:3 “among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and (we) were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

Ephesians 2:3 “among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and (we) were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

God is eternally & perfectly good in his character, which is why any deviation of it is sin

(If you don’t like something because something about it isn’t good)

God hates sin because it contradicts who he is and who he is is the fullness of what is good

Where Did Sin Come From?

Theodicy

Theo - God

dikaios - Justification

The problem of evil

The problem

There is objective evil in the world

God is unable to do anything, in which case he’s not God (or at least not omnipotent)

He is able to do something but won’t, in which case he’s a sadistic monster (or at least unloving)

It is still a question for believers to ponder

Why does God allow evil?

Why would a good angel choose sin(satan & demons)? Why would a good human choose sin (adam & eve)?

Not simply free will

Why would they be inclined to choose evil in the first place?

God is both omnipotent & good

All powerful and good

Yes or no?

We must conclude that within his omnipotence & goodness there is a place for evil

If evil exists

And if God is sovereign (total control & authority) - “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11)

Then evil can only exist in this universe by his sovereign decision

Which means this decision to allow evil to enter the universe was a good decision

I AM NOT SAYING EVIL IS GOOD OR GOOD IS EVIL OR THAT GOD IS RESPONSIBLE FOR EVIL

Even that doesn’t answer the ‘how’

We have to be comfortable with ‘mystery’

The bible tells us everything we need to know, not everything we want to know

Although we may not have an exhaustive answer, scripture is not silent on the issue, RC sproul has some helpful guidelines

Evil is not an illusion (it’s all too real)

The Bible doesn’t minimize the truth of suffering

Stoicism is not the answer

Lamentations

Crying

Mourning

Jesus himself

Isaiah 53:3 “.. a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;”

2. God is not capricious (impulsive) or arbitrary

He does not act irrationally, nor does he permit violence purposelessly

This doesn’t mean we can always know why evil is falls upon someone

John 9:1–3 “As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

Martin luther - “Let God be God”

3. This isn’t the best of all possible worlds

The world is fallen

Suffering is here only because sin has stained a good creation

This broken world ought to cause us to yearn for a renewed creation

4. Evil is not ultimate

The Bible’s final word about evil is triumph.

All of creation groans until the final and full redemption

Sin Entering the World

Sin enters in Gen 3:15 when Adam & Eve eat from the tree

Because of that sin, sin has infected the entire world & we inherit sin

Romans 7:18 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.”

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

Sin affects every part of our being

Intellect

Emotion

Desires

Hearts

Goals

Motives

Physical bodies

We are not as bas as we could be

Total depravity vs utter depravity

How sin affects us

It affects all of us

1 Kings 8:46 ““If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near,”

Psalm 14:3 “They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

1 John 1:8 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

We are all guilty of sin

The penalty for eating the fruit was death

The wages of sin is death Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Death is delayed

God provides us a way to triumph over death through the death and resurrection of Christ

As Christians, all of our sin is forgiven

1 Corinthians 15:3 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,”

No distinction on when the sin is committed

Sin doesn't affect your position but can affect your fellowship with God

God is grieved by our sin

God disciplines his children

Hebrews 12:6 “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.””

For our good

Hebrews 12:10 “For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.”

When we sin we run to God

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Inherited Sin

Inherited Guilt

Inherited Corruption

Inherited Guilt (legal)

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—”

Not daily sin

Obj - Unfair

Youre a sinner anyway

God will judge you on your life Romans 2:6 “He will render to each one according to his works:”

Some have argued you would have done what adam did anyway

Conjecture & doesnt answer question anyway

If unfair to represented by adam, then unfair to be represented by christ

Inherited Corruption

Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

David is talking about HIS sin

Ephesians 2:3 “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.”

We don’t have to teach our children to sin

We are unable to do any wpiritual good before God

Romans 8:8 “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Ephesians 2:1–2 “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—”

Free will

Voluntary, not free

Our guilt & nature do not excuse our responsiblity

Are infants guilty

Yes

God can regenrate in the womb

Luke 1:15 “for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.”

Psalm 22:9–10 “Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.”

God’s frequent pattern is to save the children of those who believe in him

Noah

Rahab

Jashua

Cornelius the roman centurion

Phillipian jailer

Crispus

Davids child with Bathsheba

2 Samuel 12:23 “But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.””

Unpardonable sin

Only while Christ was on earth

Unbeleif into death

Apostasy

Unuallly malicious willful rejection & slander against the holy spirits work attesting to Christ & attributing that work to satan

Punishment for sin