What To Do About Sin

We live in a society saturated with sin, BUT with little concern about it. People have become numb to sin. Nothing shocks us any more. Breaking the Ten Commandments has become so commonplace that we do not even give it a thought. Worse yet, all this is happening with individuals who profess to be Christians.

What we need is a sermon to help us realize what sin is and what it does. Our lesson this evening tells us that sin is walking in darkness (1 John 1:6-7) and breaks fellowship with God. And broken fellowship with God is puts us in a horrible place.

What does God say about our sin? So what is the remedy? The cure?

— Fellowship Broken —

1 John 1:5–6 NET

5 Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.6 If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth.

Light vs. Darkness — Adam in the Garden, before and after.

The Christian has been given NEW LIFE and is now a Child of LIGHT = Restored Fellowship with God.

However, when we continually do those things He has warned against, fellowship is broken and we are no longer walking in the light.

Hebrews 10:26 NET

26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us,

God desires that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. So, the solution is to confess our sin.

— Confess Your Sin —

1 John 1:9 starts off saying, “If we confess our sins...” — This is the first step.

This three letter word occurs more frequently than any other. It is a serious subject, for sin prevents or breaks fellowship with God and with each other. Sin in no laughing matter and it is not fun. Sin breaks the heart of God, frustrates His will for our life, and brings death to the sinner. Sin separates us from God. In our day we have lost the consciousness of sin. It is more than making a mistake or a social indiscretion or a malfunction of behavior. Sin is rebellion against God.

We are admonished to Confess our sin

ὁμολογεω

To say the same word = back to God

I have sinned against you in the following way...

3. Common sins for adults today is sex outside apart from marriage, which breaks the Sixth Commandment. The main idea behind this Commandment is this: “God created us to live faithfully as male and female by respecting HIS purpose for sexual activity.” Unfortunately, marriage between a man and a woman are no longer held in high regard today. What has changed? God has not.

Another common sin today is breaking the Third Commandment — You see, “God desires and invites us to rest, reflect on His Word, and receive His forgiveness in order to strengthen faith in Him.” But so many despise and neglect God’s Word by failing to gather together in worship to receive His Word and Sacrament; or by reject or disregarding God’s Word.

Luke 10:16 ESV

16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

4). To “Confess” or “Repent” is really two sides of the same coin. We say back to God where we have fallen short while “TURNING” — repenting — from the activity.

Luther’s Small Catechism — “The Christian life is one of repentance as we look at our daily responsibilities and wrongdoings...”

You see, we confess because our fellowship with God is broken because of our sin. There are no if, ands, or buts about it. We repent because this is what God would have us do.

— Receive Forgiveness —

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.” — 1 John 1:9

The basic need of humanity is to get rid of sin, that fellowship with God and with others may be restored. John tells us Christ is the propitiation of our sins. This means Christ expelled and erased sin. The stain of sin was entirely removed and we are as good as new. This was accomplished by the shed blood of the cross and is received by faith through forgiveness.

1 John 2:1–2 NET

1 (My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.) But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One,2 and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.