Sermon Tone Analysis

“The /R/eality of /S/in”

“1 John 3:4”

 

!!! Introduction

As a result of sin, the world has warfare between nations, conflict between individuals and groups, fear and anxiety, illness and death, and all kinds of natural and man-made disasters.

* /Spurgeon/ "Sin is worse that the Devil, for sin is what made the devil the devil.

He would have been a angel if it had not been for sin."

* The fall disrupted 3 basic relationships:

(1)         Men & women were separated from God & died spiritually (Gen.3:6-13

cf.

2:17 cf.

Gen.5:1-5 /age./)

(2)         They became at odds with nature; from then on they had to cultivate & control the land (Gen.3:17-19)

(3)         People were separated from each other as sin brought envy and conflict into the world (Gen.4:3-15)

!

What is Sin?

A.     A Simple Definition

 

1.

1John 3:4 “sin is lawlessness”

/a)        //The Greek construction of this phrase makes “sin” & “lawlessness” identical./

1)        Literally: “everyone doing sin is doing lawlessness.

/(a)      /Practicing sin & living as if there were no God and no law; where the thought is not simply that of doing what is unlawful, but of flagrant defiance of the known will of God.

2.       Scripture also contains other definitions.

/a)        //There are a number of Hebrew words & Greek words for sin in the Bible./

1)        Sin is:

/(a)      /Ungodliness and unrighteousness (1John 5:17; Romans 1:18; Romans 11:26; 2 Tim.

2:16; Jude 15, 18; Application Titus 2:12).

/(b)      /The failure to do good (James 4:17)

/(c)      /Paul defines sin as a lack of faith (Rom.14:23)

/(d)      /Unbelief, the failure to believe God (Matthew 13:58; Matthew 17:20; Romans 3:3; Romans 4:20; Romans 11:20, 23; 1 Tim.

1:13; Application Hebrews 3:12, 19).

/(e)      /Missing the mark, coming short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

/(f)        /Error, making a mistake; a wandering off of the right path (Romans 1:27; James 5:20; 2 Peter 2:18; 2 Peter 3:17; Jude 11).

/(g)      /Transgression, a stepping outside the law (Romans 3:23; Romans 4:15; Romans 5:13, 20; Hebrews 2:2; Hebrews 9:15).

/(h)      /Trespassing, intruding where one should not go ( Eph.2:1).

/(i)        /Disobedience, a refusal to listen and hear and do (Eph.2:2;

Eph.5:6; App & Exhort Col. 3:6).

/(j)        /Lawlessness, rebellion, a rejection of God’s will and law (1 John 3:4).

/(k)      /Iniquity, an inward contempt that leads to the continual practice of sin (Matthew 7:23; Application Romans 6:19; 2 Thes.

2:3.

Cp.

Romans 1:21-23.)

/(l)        /Sin is Filthiness, (2 Corinthians 7:1; Application Zech.

3:3 cf.

Isa.30:22)

Conclusion of First Study.

/b)        //We May Define Sin As Follows: /

1)        /Sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature.

/

/(a)      /Sin is here defined in relation to God and his moral law.

1.         Sin includes not only individual /acts/ such as stealing or lying or committing murder, but also /attitudes/ that are contrary to the attitudes God requires of us.

a.

We see this already in the Ten Commandments, which not only prohibit sinful actions but also wrong attitudes (Exodus 20:17).

Here God specifies that a desire to steal or to commit adultery is also sin in his sight.

b.

The Sermon on the Mount also prohibits sinful attitudes such as anger (Matt.

5:22) or lust (Matt.

5:28).

Paul lists attitudes such as jealousy, anger, and selfishness (Gal.

5:20) as things that are works of the flesh opposed to the desires of the Spirit (Gal.

5:20).

2.         Therefore a life that is pleasing to God is one that has moral purity not only in its actions, but also in its desires of heart.

a.

In fact, the greatest commandment of all requires that our heart be filled with an attitude of love for God: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30).

II.

Growing In Likeness To Christ.

A.

Sin & Sanctification.

1.

Is there such thing as “sinless perfection”, “perfectionism”?/ /

Perfectionism.

/The state of totally being free from sin.

The view that sinless perfection, or freedom from conscious sin, is possible in this life for the Christian.. /

/a)        //Sanctification—Growth in Likeness To Christ./

1)        /Explanation and Scriptural Basis/

/(a)      /There are several acts of God that occur at the beginning of our Christian lives:

1.         the gospel call (which God addresses to us),

2.         regeneration (by which God imparts new life to us),

3.         justification (by which God gives us right legal standing before him), and,

4.         adoption (in which God makes us members of his family).

5.         conversion (in which we repent of sins and trust in Christ for salvation).

These events all occur at the beginning of our Christian lives.

/(b)      /But now we come to a part of the application of redemption that is a /progressive/ work that continues throughout our earthly lives.

/(c)      /It is also a work in which /God and man cooperate/ each playing distinct roles.

This part of the application of redemption is called sanctification: /Sanctification is a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives/.

2)        /The Differences Between //Justification// – //Sanctification/

1.         Legal standing -- Internal condition

2.         Once for all time -- Continuous throughout life

3.         Entirely God's work -- We cooperate

4.         Perfect in this life -- Not perfect in this life

5.

The same in all Christians -- Greater in some than in others

B.     Three Stages of Sanctification.

1.

Positional Sanctification.

/a)        //A definite moral change occurs in our lives at the point of regeneration.

/

1)        /Paul talks about the "washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5).

/Once we have been born again we cannot continue to sin as a habit or a pattern of life (1 John 3:9), because the power of new spiritual life within us keeps us from yielding to a life of sin.

/b)        //Positional Sanctification - - What Is It?/

1)        This is the believer’s position or standing before God, which is based on and achieved by the once-for-all death of Christ (Heb.10:10,

14, 29)

/(a)      /In positional sanctification the believer is accounted holy before God; he is declared a saint (Rom.1:7; 1 Cor.1:2;

Eph.1:1).

1.

Paul writing to the Corinthians says “those who are sanctified” (1 Cor.1:2)

2.         Paul looks back on a completed act when writing to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 6:11)

3.         Paul can refer Christians as “all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).

a.

The Greek expression is /tois hegiasmenois/ a substantival perfect passive participle that expresses both a completed past activity (they were sanctified) and a continuing result (they continue to experience the sanctifying influence of that past action).

/(b)      /The Word /Salvation/ is used in Scripture 3 different ways:

1.

The /once-for-all experience/ of salvation (Luke 7:50 cf.

Eph.2:8; 2Tim1:9).