Introduction:

Coming To Grips with Sin

The Gospel Presentation

1.       Some say that salvation is only the granting of eternal life, not necessarily the liberation of a sinner from the bondage of his iniquity. 

2.       Telling people that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives is only half the truth.  God hates sin and will punish unrepentant sinners with eternal torment. 

3.       No gospel presentation is complete if it avoids or conceals those facts.  Any message that fails to define and confront the severity of personal sin is a deficient gospel. 

4.       And any “salvation” that does not alter a lifestyle of sin and transform the heart of the sinner is not the salvation that God’s Word speaks of.

Sin is the Issue

1.       Sin is not a marginal issue as far as salvation is concerned; it is the issue. 

2.       In fact, the distinctive element of the Christian message is the power of Jesus Christ to forgive and conquer our sin.

3.       No message that excludes it can claim to be the gospel according to Jesus. 

4.       To think that a person can encounter the holy God of Scripture and be saved without also coming to grips with the enormity of sin and longing to turn from it is completely wrong. 

There were those in the Bible who had an overwhelming sense of their sin when they met God. 

Peter, seeing Jesus for who he was, said, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" (Luke 5:8).

Paul wrote, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15).

Job whom God identified Himself as a righteous man (Job 1:1, 8) said after seeing, Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:6 NKJV)

Isaiah, seeing God, grasped, "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts." (Isaiah 6:5 NKJV)

Why did Jesus come into the world?

1.       Jesus came into the world to call sinner unto repentance—those who know they have a terminal disease, those who are hopeless and desperate, those who are hurting, those who are hungry and thirsty, those who are weak and weary, those who are broken, those whose lives are shattered—sinners who know they are unworthy yet long to be forgiven.

2.       Jesus’ words were aimed right at the self-righteous Pharisees, who, like many today, thought they were righteous and without any real spiritual need. 

3.       The truth is that unless people realize they have a sin problem, they will not come to Christ for a solution. 

4.       People do not come for healing unless they know they have a disease; they do not come for life unless they are conscious that they are under the penalty of death; they do not come for salvation unless they are weary of the bondage of sin. 

Thus Jesus came to expose us all as sinners.  This is why His message was so penetrating, so forceful. 

It tore self-righteousness away and exposed our evil hearts, so that we might see ourselves as sinners. 

If we say we have not sinned—1:10

God says we “all have sinned” & “there is none righteous”

1.       Romans 3:23; 3:10

We make Him a liar

1.       Romans 3:4

2.       Satan is the father of lies – John 8:44

3.       He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar – 1 John 2:4

4.       He who denies that Jesus is not the Christ is a liar – 1 John 2:22

5.       If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar – 1 John 4:20

6.       He who does not believe God has made Him a liar – 1 John 5:10

7.       Liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone– Revelation 21:8

His word is not in us.

1.       This is proof that we are still in unbelief (v.10) or that we are deceived (v.8)

Word logos – as in John 1:1, refers to the preexistent Christ who became flesh so that He could indwell us.

Word – also means “the whole teaching of Christ.” 

When Christ is in us, we love His Word, but when He is not in us, we have total disregard toward it.

2.       If we claim to be a believer but say that we have not sinned, is to never have experienced forgiveness. 

3.       Christ does not dwell in a person who has not confessed his sinfulness and believed on Him.

a.       Romans 3:23 all have sinned and

b.       Romans 10:9-13

God does not want us to sin—2:1

My little children, these things we write to you

1.       John was their pastor, spiritual father, and they were his spiritual children, under his care.

2.       “these things” refers to what he had just said, “all have sinned, & all do sin,”

“that you may not sin” – Literally “so that you may not commit any act of sin”

The Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8:1-11)

Verse 1-5

1.       They are testing Jesus (v.6) trying to put Him in conflict with the Mosaic Law (stoning Leviticus 20:10).

`The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10 NKJV)

a.       Note: where is the man?

2.       They are also trying to put Him at odds with the Roman law.

a.       Only Rome could give the death sentence.

b.       He can’t say  “stone her,” for he would be rebelling against the Roman authorities.

c.        He can’t say, “be gracious and merciful” for He would be against the Mosaic Law.

d.       But they knew Jesus was full of grace and truth (John 1:14, 17)

Verses 6-9

1.       “wrote” –  “to write” in the Greek is graphin & this is the word Kato Graphin.  Kato is “down, or to cast down” –the theory is that Jesus was writing down their sins.

2.       They were convicted by their conscience and left, beginning with the oldest.

a.       The only one who was without sin (2 Cor. 5:21) and qualified to cast stones did not.

b.       Jesus, did not condemn her.

·         John 3:17-20 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.   “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.   “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.   “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. (John 3:17-20 NKJV)

c.        They came to the light & their deeds were exposed, and they left.

Verses 10-11

1.       Jesus said to the woman, “neither do I condemn you”

·         Romans 8:1 “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”

·         Luke 9:56 “For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them.”

2.       Note: The Lord’s Council was, “Go and sin no more”  Literally “no longer go on sinning”

a.       Is not saying, “go and be absolutely perfect, without sin”

b.       Repentance is necessary

c.        John said show fruits worthy of repentance – a changed lifestyle.

Matthew 1:21 JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."

“Lest a worse thing come upon you” Jn. 5:14

a.       Lawlessness leads to more lawlessness (Romans 6:19)

b.       Jesus said, “whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” John 8:34

This woman experienced God grace.

The experience of God’s grace & forgiveness should motivate the repentant sinner to live a holy & obedient life.

                For the love of Christ constrains us – 2 Cor. 5:14

3.       Romans 5:20-6:2 God’s grace “superabounded”

a.       Learning of God’s grace teaches us to deny ungodliness (Titus 2:11)

b.       Romans 2:5 “the goodness of God leads a man to repentance”

c.        Jesus’ goodness should lead this woman to repentance!

d.       Jesus said “unless you repent, you will perish”

Our Advocate—2:1

Our need for an Advocate – We are guilty!

Advocate – someone who is called in to stand by the side of another.

The picture is a lawyer, advocate, called in to help a defendant who needs his case pleaded.

1.       We are unable to plead our own case.

a.       Isaiah 64:6 “all are righteousness are like filthy rags”

b.       Paul in (Philippians 3:7-9) “counted all things loss”

2.       Christ pleads our case for us.

The person who has Jesus Christ to approach God for him will never be turned down, for Jesus Christ has the right to stand as the advocate before God in the courtroom of heaven.

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

a.       Zechariah 3:1-5

What is it that Jesus pleads?

Jesus does not plead:

·         The reputation of the believer.

·         The good works of the believer

·         That the believer did not ever commit sin.

·         Personal righteousness

·         That the believer is a good person

What is it that Jesus pleads?  His own righteousness

“We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

1.       Christ has sympathy and understanding of our case

Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. (Romans 8:34 NKJV)

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.   For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:14-15 NKJV)

Jesus (Hebrew – Joshua which means Jehovah or Savior) – “For He shall save His people.”

1.       The Word made flesh – John 1:14

Christ (The anointed One – The Messiah).

1.       Matthew 16:16 – “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

2.       Who do you say that Jesus is?

The Righteous.

1.       How to bring a sinner to God

a.       God’s Word must stand.

1)       Psalm 138:2 “For you have magnified your word above all your name.”

2)       Isaiah 55:11 “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

3)       Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

b.       Sin must be punished.

1)       Ezekiel 18:4, 20 the soul who sins shall die

2)       For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NKJV)

2.       In Christ, the righteousness of God was satisfied.

a.       In His body bore our sins

b.       Bore our punishment

c.        God’s wrath against sin poured out on Calvary.

3.       The righteousness of God is now fulfilled through Christ.

a.       We can now come to God through Him.

b.       We can only come to God through Him.

Our Propitiation—2:2

He Himself is the propitiation (1 John 4:9-10)

The Death of Christ on Calvary was a Propitiatory Sacrifice  

Propitiation – to sacrifice in order to apease; to satisfy; to cover; to pay the penalty for. 

The Old Testament

The word kaphar means, “to cover”; it involved a ritual covering for sin (Read Leviticus 4:27-31; 10:17)

In the Old Testament, when a man sinned, he brought a sacrifice to God.  The idea is that that God would be gracious to him and place the punishment for his sin upon the animal. 

The New Testament

The Greek verb hilaskomai, means “to propitiate,” occurring two times in the New Testament.

1.       Luke 18:13 the repentant tax collector prayed for God to be propitiated, to provide a covering for sin.

2.       Hebrews 2:17 declares that Christ has made propitiation for sin

Propitiation relates to:

1.       The wrath of God -- Because God is holy, His wrath is directed toward sin and must be satisfied to spare man from eternal destruction.

2.       God Providing the remedy -- God provides the solution to sin by sending Christ as a satisfaction for sin.

3.       Christ's death Satisfies the wrath of God -- The gift of Christ satisfied the holiness of God and averted His wrath.

Propitiation Finds its Type in the Mercy Seat, that is, the Lid of the Ark (Romans 3:24-25; Hebrews 9:5)

God said that man must approach Him through the sacrifice of an animal, through the shedding of blood.

And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. (Hebrews 9:22)

The lid or the covering of the ark was sprinkled once a year with the blood of a perfect animal.

This signified that the life of the people was being offered to God in the blood of the victim.

Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17 NKJV)

1.       Romans 3:24-26 that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

2.        Example of Judge and his son.

For our sins

The Death of Christ was Substitutionary (vicarious)

Literally “in behalf of” Christ died in behalf of or in place of sinners --

1.       Christ bears the punishment rightly due sinners.

2.       Guilt is imputed to Him in such a way that He representatively bore their punishment.

3.       The importance of this doctrine.

a.       Through Christ's death the righteous demands of God have been met. 

b.       It was a legal transaction in which Christ dealt with the sin problem for the human race. 

c.        He became the substitute for humanity's sin.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."   Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.  "For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matthew 26:26-28 NKJV)

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45 NKJV)

Not for ours only but also for the sins of the World (1 John 2:2).

1.       This event is never to be repeated (1 Peter 3:18) “Christ suffered once for sins”

2.       The Bible clearly teaches the fact Christ died for the world (Jn 1:29,3:16,2 Cor 5:19, Heb 2:9,,1 Jn 2:2)

3.       The Bible clearly teaches that Christ died for all (2 Cor 5:14,1 Tim 2:6,4:10,Titus 2:11, Rom 5:5).

a.       2 Peter 2:21 This passages says that Christ died for the false-teachers.  The passage refers to the fact they were "denying the master who bought them."

For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. (1 Timothy 4:10 NKJV)

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV)

The Cross Of Christ

1.       Demonstrated God’s love toward man – John 3:16; Romans 5:8

2.       Demonstrated God is righteous, holy, & perfect, not letting sin goes unpunished.

3.       Fully satisfied all the righteous demands of God toward sinners.

4.       Made it possible for sinful man to approach a Holy God through the death of His Son!

WILL YOU COME TO HIM TODAY?