Romans Week 1- The Problem of Sin

Romans 

Week 1: The Problem of Sin

God has made himself known to all of humankind so that no one is without an excuse. Rather than choosing to worship and glorify Him, we have chosen lesser gods like money, fame, success, sex, and substance. This is the problem of sin, and it results in our disconnection from God. We cannot save ourselves from this fallen state. We need a savior.

Think: The first step to reconciliation with God is admitting that we are sinners. We can think back to moments in our past (distant and recent) where we have “fallen short of God’s glory.” This is crucial to understanding Christ’s love for us. 

Feel: Along with seeing our sin, we have to feel its weight. This will allow us to understand the true magnitude of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. 

Do: Invite God to point out the areas in your life that are still prone to sin. What attracts you to sin? Do you see the way out God provides you with?

Prayer: “Lord give us the courage to take a stand against sin in our lives. Thank you for sending Jesus, and thank you that we can rest in Him and on His power in our battle against sin and temptation.”

Scripture: Romans 1:18-25; Ephesians 4:27; 6:10-12

Introduction

Welcome! Today we are starting a 5-week series based on some of the core principles and teachings found in the book of Romans. If you’re not familiar with the book of Romans: 

“Romans is the most systematic and developed doctrinal book of the Apostle Paul...The probable date for the authorship of Romans is a.d. 56-58...Romans was likely written at Corinth toward the end of Paul's third missionary journey, just before he left for Jerusalem.”

This book is full of principles about living our life in response to the grace and mercy of God (given through His Son, Jesus). Specifically, we will spend the next five weeks learning about:

The Problem of Sin

The Rescue from Sin

The Pursuit of Righteousness

God Chooses Us

A Living Sacrifice

As I mentioned before, these are core principles of our faith and worthy of our study and attention. Paul is passionate about the power of the gospel, and at the very beginning of the book of Romans he says:

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” Romans 1:16

Paul knew, as we now do, that the gospel was meant for everyone. Jew, Gentile, male, female, slave, and free… there is no partiality in the grace of the gospel. And thank goodness, because there is no partiality in sin either. It does not discriminate or pick favorites, sin affects everyone. 

And to understand grace, you must also understand sin. 

Main Teaching

If you’ve got a Bible or Bible App with you today, turn with me to Romans, chapter 1. We are going to start reading in verse 18 of chapter 1. Here’s what Paul says:

[Read Romans 1:18-25

Romans 1:18–25 NKJV

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 what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

What an incredible passage from Paul, right? He just got done encouraging people and talking about the Good News, but now he has shifted to speak about a subject we don’t often like to hear about: sin. 

Sin is something we are all affected by. Back in the very first book of the Bible, God created a man and a woman. God gave them free reign over almost all of the garden they were placed in, with only one restriction: don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

But even though this rule was in place, they broke it. Because the first man and woman both sinned against God by disobeying His command, each man and woman after them are impacted by the consequences of this “original sin.” 

This is the reality that we are living in and Paul is writing in: all have sinned, no one is exempt.

But here’s what’s crazy: even amidst our sin, God has still revealed Himself. Paul talks about this in verses 19-20 of the passage we read. No one has any excuse for not knowing God because of the ways He has revealed His invisible qualities through visible ways and means. But even though God has revealed Himself, many in our world don’t want to have anything to do with Him. Many are still blind to Him. 

It amazes me that toward the end of Jesus’ life here on earth, He was brutalized and eventually put on a cross to die for sinners like you and me. And all the while, God who is all knowing, knew that there would be people who saw who God was, knew about His sacrificial love, and still turned their back and walked away from Him. Maybe some of us in this room and online have experienced this as well. We have friends in our life who we’ve tried desperately to talk with about Christ. We try to bring up Bible verses every time we see them, we pray for them constantly. But yet, they still don’t want anything to do with Him. 

Romans 1:24-25 says that God gave people over to the desires of their hearts. They traded the truth of God for a lie. They traded the invisible power of the divine creator for powerless images and idols. Created things for the Creator of all things. 

This is the trade off many of us still struggle with today. And when we willingly give ourselves into the hands of powerless idols we unknowingly give the devil opportunity to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10) 

John 10:10 NKJV

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Interestingly, the Bible actually instructs us not to allow the devil to have a foothold in our lives. 

Read Ephesians 4:27; “and do not give the devil a foothold.”

Ephesians 4:27 NKJV

27 nor give place to the devil.

Stand Your Ground

The original word translated here as foothold also means; place, ground, or opportunity and is frequently used to describe an actual place in the New Testament where people arrive or something is happening. Another way to think of this idea would be to use the term “real estate.” 

Folks in real estate know buying and selling is all about location, location, location. And this is exactly what the devil is looking for in our lives. He’s prowling around, biding his time, and patiently waiting for an opportunity to occupy space in our lives. 

In the Genesis account I referenced earlier, (where Adam and Eve sinned against God), the devil had taken up space in the garden. He then used this space to whisper lies in their ears about who God was and what He said to them. 

The strategy of the devil hasn’t changed in thousands of years. He’s looking for a similar opportunity in your life. He’s after location, location, location upon which he will build a case against the truth of the Creator. 

And this is one of the main problems of sin; Our sin alienates us from God and gives the devil opportunity in our lives.

When we worship idols. 

When we harbor unforgiveness. 

When we lie, cheat, and steal our way to success. 

When we willingly give ourselves to sin it’s as if we open the door to our lives and shout, “Hey devil! Come on in!” 

And this invitation is obviously going to end poorly… It’s not one that you want to willingly extend. Instead, the apostle Paul reminds us later in Ephesians 6 about standing our ground and wearing the armor of God:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:10-12

We must recognize the devil has evil plans for our lives. He wants to steal, kill, and destroy any and every good Godly thing you might have. So we must learn to stand our ground, while pressing into the Lord and His mighty power. We cannot give the devil a foothold, a place, an opportunity, or a location in our lives. 

And thankfully, God knew we couldn’t win this fight on our own. We couldn’t muster up an army big enough or build a missile strong enough to win the cosmic battle of salvation. 

We needed a Savior to fight on our behalf. 

We needed Jesus to come and conquer sin and death. 

If one of the main problems of sin is that it alienates and separates us from God, then it stands to reason that one of the solutions to our problem is to be reconciled, redeemed, and put back in right relationship with God. 

We needed to be rescued from sin - which we will talk more about next week.

Conclusion

Paul tells us in Romans 3:23 that, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” There isn’t a person alive today who hasn’t sinned. The scary part is that in our sin, and in our willful disobedience, we open the door for the devil.

Genesis 4:7 describes it like this; “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Sin is always crouching at our door, waiting for us, ready to pounce. Sin desires to ‘have’ you, to own you, to rule you. 

There will always be another temptation, another opportunity for evil, another dark alleyway, on and on and on… But we must stand firm on the truth of the gospel and in the power of Christ. We cannot give space to the devil in our lives. 

So my question for you today is a simple one: Where can you eradicate sin in your life? 

What can you confess? 

What can you repent of? 

What can you turn away from? 

What can you pull the plug on? 

Whose number do you need to delete? 

What relationship do you need to say goodbye to? 

What idols do you need to pull down? 

Which credit card needs to be cut up and thrown away? 

What electronic devices do you need to smash? 

What’s holding you back from taking a stand against sin in your life?