Our Sin Problem
Notes
Transcript
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
We don’t like talk about sin (church names)
Moralistic therapeutic deism is a term that was first introduced in the 2005 book Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by the sociologist Christian Smith
Transition from God’s point of view of our salvation to our own.
Sin Leads to Death
Sin Leads to Death
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live […]
Some people think we are fundamentally good
Our environment causes our problems
Relationships
Trauma
Disease
Poverty
Most of us realize we have a problem but we underestimate it
Brokenness
Illness
The dominant biblical metaphor is death
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
The nature of our death
“in your transgressions and sins” – both cause and consequence
This is a unique kind of death – a living death
Dead in transgressions and sins in which you used to live.
Our death is not passive. We are still actively walking in death as we continue in sin
The gravest earthly consequence of our sin is to be allowed to walk in it
Sin begets sin
The self-destructive sinful behaviors that we engage in accelerate and magnify. Ensnaring us tighter and tighter
Quicksand
There is a time when it is too late to repent
Sometimes this happens because the consequences have come and there is not turning back
Sometimes this happens because God has just allowed us to continue in our rebellion
The fact that you are hearing this morning about your need for a life-giving savior means that you have an opportunity in front of you.
Today is the day of repentance.
God is patient and he calls to you.
It is a complete death
We can compensate for injuries, but death is total
Alex Zanardi
Our Experience of Death
Our Experience of Death
This theme of death makes clear the seriousness of our problem
Because we are dead, we are completely hopeless unless the giver of life intervenes
If we were sick we would need a doctor. If we were broken, we would need a repairman. What we actually need is a dramatic, miraculous resurrection.
The gospel isn’t a message of improvement, repair, or healing; it’s a message of resurrection.
We cannot save ourselves. We need the giver of life to save us.
Sin Leads to Slavery
Sin Leads to Slavery
2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. […]
Sin not only leads to death, it enslaves us to three different enemies
Ways of the world
Ways of the ruler of the kingdom of the air
Cravings of the flesh
The world
The world
2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world
The system around us
We should not be surprised to find that the world is uninterested in aiding us in our obedience to God
The world system is in rebellion against God
This isn’t limited to scandalous sin, but includes everything.
One of the problems with our modern time is the scandalous sexual ethic of the world tempts us to think that those who aren’t flagrantly living in anti-God sexual sin are on our side.
The world offers many distractions and expectation contrary to God’s will – not just the big ones.
Pride
Comfort
Greed
Selfishness
Self-righteousness
This system enslaves us and continues or life of death
The Devil
The Devil
and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
The next enemy that ensnares the dying world is the devil
Though the Bible doesn’t give us a lot of details about how Satan and his demons function in ordinary life.
Our experience is quite different from the near miraculous demonic activity of Jesus’s life
Nonetheless, there is no indication that his intervention in the affairs of the world has ceased
How is Satan active today?
He is a tempter
He is a deceiver
He is a blasphemer
Listening to Satan is part of the effect of and reason for our continued bondage to death.
The Flesh
The Flesh
Lest we think all the reasons we continue in sin are outside of us, Paul lists a third enemy
3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
Our problem also lies within us
Flesh refers to our fallen human nature
We all have natural human desires, the flesh calls us to sacrifice what is good and right to fulfill those desires
This is discouraging because our desire for sin is inside of us.
We have all experienced want not to want to sin and being frustrated that we won’t stop wanting
This is because our corruption goes to the very heart of who we are.
Sin Leads to Wrath
Sin Leads to Wrath
3 […]Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
In light of our radical corruption, Paul makes a brief concluding claim – we are subject to wrath
This is the only result of sin that we must actually say is good – but we do not experience it as good.
Literally this text says that we are “children of wrath” and communicates that we have become objects of his wrath
Our sin and trespass is ultimately an offence not against our fellow man or our human purpose – though it is both of those – it is a crime against the holy creator God.
Our struggle with sin is “by nature” – because of original sin, we are born into this situation
EFCA statement – by nature and by choice
The idea is of wrath is prone to misunderstanding
Our experience of our own wrath confuses us about God’s wrath
Uncontrolled
“Flying off the handle”
“Losing it”
Destructive
Moody and unpredictable
God’s wrath
(John Stott) It is God’s personal, righteous, constant hostility to evil, his settled refusal to compromise with it, and his resolve instead to condemn it.
(James Montgomery Boyce) The doctrine of wrath does not mean that God merely gets angry from time to time, lashes out in anger, and then forgets about it. It is rather that his wrath is an inevitable and growing opposition to all that is opposed to his righteousness.
It is a manifestation of his holiness
Wrestling with wrath
Justice and wrath from God are often hard for us to accept – when that justice is directed at us or someone we think of as a “good person.”
On the other hand, God’s justice is something that brings comfort when it is directed at someone we consider a “bad person.”
This is an indication that we miss out on just how serious sin is
The Letter to the Ephesians 1. Dead in Transgressions and Sins, 2:1–3
Only the person who understands something of the greatness of his wrath will be mastered by the greatness of his mercy. (Peter O’Brien)
Conclusion
Conclusion
Our situation is dire. We are living in death. Enslaved by sin. Assaulted by the world the flesh and the devil. Utterly hopeless in ourselves – but we are not by ourselves.
Hope for the Dead
Hope for the Dead
You are not alone
3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
Paul has already told us that God has a solution for death
19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
This section is presented in the past tense
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
The first word of the next verse is “but”
Motivation for the Living
Motivation for the Living
If you are a believer in Jesus this should not be new or surprising information.
The starting point of your belief in the good news of Jesus was belief in bad news
In such case, reminding yourselves of this ought to stir in you a heart of praise and obedience.
