· Anthropology ·

Lecture Forty Seven:  Personal Sin II

TH330 Systematic Theology I · Moody Bible Institute · Dr. Richard M. Weber

I. The Objective Consequences of Sin:  Legal Guilt

“All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written:  ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’”  (Gal 3:10, quoting Deut 27:26; italics mine)

 “[W]hoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.  For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’  If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.”  (James 2:10-11)

If you have broken any part of the Law, then you are a law breaker, and deserving of the death that God states is the consequence.

II. The Subjective Consequences of Sin:  Relationship With God

How it affects your relationship with God: Some sins may affect it in different degrees.

“Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.  Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”  (John 19:11)

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin.  But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness…”  (Matt 23:23)

“Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven…”  (Matt 5:19)

“And he said to me, ‘Son of man, do you see what they are doing – the utterly detestable things the house of Israel is doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary?  But you will see things that are even more detestable.”  (Ezek 8:6; cf. vs. 13, 15)

! III. The Degrees of Sin:  Venial and Mortal Sins?

“[S]ins can vary in terms of degree to which they disrupt our relationship with God and incur his displeasure…”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 504)

IV. The Christian and Sin

A. What Does Not Happen When a Christian Sins

Someone’s legal standing with God does not change with God when a Christian sins.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…”  (Rom 8:1)

“…Christ Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures…”  (1 Cor 15:3)

B. What Does Happen When a Christian Sins

1. Fellowship With God is Disrupted, the Christian Life is Damaged

“…[D]o not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…”  (Eph 4:30)

“…[T]he Lord disciplines those he loves…”  (Heb 12:6; cf. vs. 9-11)

“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.  So be earnest and repent.”  (Rev 3:19)

“Although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, fall under God’s fatherly displeasure, and not have the light of His countenance restored unto them until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance.”  (Westminster Confession of Faith, 11.5)

2. Fruitfulness in Ministry is Damaged

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”  (John 15:4)

3. Heavenly Rewards Are Lost

“If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light.  It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.  If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.  If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”  (1 Cor 3:12-15)

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”  (2 Cor 5:10)

V. The Unpardonable Sin

“[E]very sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.  Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”  (Matt 12:31-32)

“But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.  He said this because they were saying, ‘He has an evil spirit.’”  (Mark 3:29-30; Cf. Luke 12:10)

“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again by subjecting him to public disgrace.”  (Heb 6:4-6)

“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have receive the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”  (Heb 10:26-27)

A. Explanation 1:  The unpardonable sin could only be committed while Christ was on earth

B. Explanation 2:  The unpardonable sin is unbelief that continues until the time of death

C. Explanation 3:  The unpardonable sin is apostasy by genuine believers  - only those who are truly born again could commit this sin

D. Explanation 4:  The unpardonable sin is willful, malicious, deliberate slander against the Spirit’s work of attesting to Christ, attributing this to Satan

“But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, ‘It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”  (Matt 12:24)

“In this case it is not that the sin itself is so horrible that it could not be covered by Christ’s redemptive work, but rather that the sinner’s hardened heart puts him or her beyond the reach of God’s ordinary means of bringing forgiveness through repentance and trusting Christ for salvation.  The sin is unpardonable because it cuts off the sinner from repentance and saving faith through belief in the truth.”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 508; italics mine)

“This sin consists in the conscious, malicious, and willful rejection and slander, against evidence and conviction, of the testimony of the Holy Spirit respecting the grace of God in Christ, attributing it out of hatred and enmity to the Prince of Darkness.  … in committing that sin man willfully, maliciously, and intentionally attributes what is clearly recognized as the work of God to the influence and operation of Satan.”  (Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 253)

“[The unpardonable sin consists] not in doubting the truth, nor in a sinful denial of it, but in a contradiction of it that goes contrary to the conviction of the mind, to the illumination of the conscience, and even to the verdict of the heart.”  (Berkhof, 253)