SERMON: OVERCOMING SIN

14 February 2016

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 5:22-24

1 Thessalonians 5:22-24 (NIV)

22 Avoid every kind of evil.

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

            -- hold your place right there and either turn with me or listen as I read Jude 24 -- Jude is the little book right before the Book of Revelation -- Jude 24

Jude 1:24-25 (NIV)

24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--

25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

            -- not many people today are familiar with the name of Amy Carmichael -- in fact when people mention ministries and outreach to the poor in India, her name is not the one that pops into our minds -- we think of Mother Theresa -- but it was Amy Carmichael who paved the way for Christian evangelism and ministry in India and whose legacy and faith inspired Mother Theresa to devote her life to the mission field

            -- Amy Carmichael was born in Ireland in 1867 and was called by God to be a missionary at the age of 25 -- at first she was led to Japan, but her ministry there was short-lived -- God called again and Amy found herself alone in India in 1895, where she remained until her death 56 years later -- never once taking a furlough -- never once returning home to her beloved Ireland -- the work was too great, she said, the need never-ending

            -- Amy spent her career reaching out to the children who were being sold into prostitution in the temples in India, beginning first with girls, later with boys, and eventually opening an orphanage for both children and infants -- the children there called her "Amma" -- "mother" in Tamil -- and she fought tirelessly to rescue them from the bonds of forced prostitution and to protect them from those who sought to gain from their servitude

            -- how was this ordinary girl from Ireland -- without any formal seminary or Bible college training -- able to survive in a hostile country and make a significant difference in the lives of thousands of boys and girls while influencing untold others to devote their lives to Christ?

            -- in Amy's own words, it occurred when she was ushered into a life of faith -- for Amy this life of faith came after conversion -- it occurred when she finally trusted God for all -- when her fledgling faith became real and she truly believed in a God who could do all

            -- in September 1886, Amy had been struggling with the problem of how to live a holy life, and she found the answer at a series of evangelical meetings in Glasgow -- it was not the message of the speakers that God used to reach her, but the closing prayer of the chairman -- in his prayer he paraphrased Jude 24, which we just read together -- "To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy"

            -- when Amy heard the promise of God's faithfulness and providence in those words, she realized that God loved her and would lead her down new paths of faith and victory if she would quit trying to live her faith on her own but trust Him instead -- thus started a life of faith that touched others for eternity¹

II.  The Problem of Sin in the Life of a Believer

            -- this morning, I wanted us to use Amy Carmichael’s story as a basis for a discussion on living the victorious life in Christ -- a couple of weeks ago, we talked about original sin and how we are all born with this sin nature within us that does two things

            -- first, it makes us all sinners in need of a Savior -- we are born corrupted -- we are born into sin and need to be saved from this great infection inherited from Adam and Eve

            -- secondly, this sin nature within us is what causes us to choose sin over God -- it is this sin nature -- our flesh -- the old man, as Paul put it -- that leads us to choose to disobey God and do wrong things in our lives

            -- this is why Jesus came to earth -- He came to defeat this sin nature in our lives and to offer forgiveness for the sins that this sin nature had led us to commit -- that is the gospel message in a nutshell -- this is the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ

            -- not only that our sins have been forgiven, but that this sin nature within us has been defeated so that we no longer have to live in bondage to sin in our lives, but we have the capability to choose to say no to sin

            -- that’s what John means when he wrote in 1 John 2:1, “I write this to you so that you will not sin” -- because of Jesus’ death and resurrection and His power in us through the Holy Spirit, we can choose not to sin any longer

            -- but, for most of us, our lives are similar to that of Amy Carmichael’s early life -- when she received Jesus as her Lord and Savior and put her trust in His finished work on the cross, she was forgiven of her sins -- she became a Christian and tried to follow Jesus

            -- but she ran into problems -- she found she couldn’t live a holy life -- she found out that when she tried to live like Jesus and tried to not sin, she kept giving in to sin over and over again and just couldn’t live a holy life -- sound familiar? -- yeah, it sounds like us -- it sounds like most of the church today

            -- that’s the problem that I want to talk about this morning -- the problem of continuing sin in the life of a believer and why it happens -- I’ll confess to you -- I sin -- I sin a lot -- I know I’m not supposed to -- I know the Bible tells me I should choose not to sin, but it seems like that no matter what I do, I’m not able to turn away from temptation and not sin -- and, if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll probably admit that you’re just like that, too

            -- there are times in my life when I do pretty good -- I’ll sin and I’ll repent of my sin and then I’ll go days, weeks, even months, without sinning in that way again -- I’m really doing my best to live a holy life -- but, all of a sudden, temptation comes on me and there I go again -- before I even know it, I’ve given in again and I’m right back at the start -- does that happen to anyone else or is it just me?

            -- I think that’s the experience of most of the church today -- you’ve heard the statistics -- if you look at our sins in the church compared to the sins outside the church, we’re no better than the world -- almost the same number of Christians get divorced and have affairs and cheat on our taxes and steal and lie and do all the other things that the unbelievers do -- there’s really not a difference in the way we live our lives versus the way the world lives its life -- but that’s not the way it should be

            -- remember, Christ came to destroy that sin nature and to make it possible for us to choose not to sin but to choose to live holy lives in His name -- so what’s the problem? -- why do we continue to live in sin?

            -- I think it comes down to a lack of faith and to a lack of understanding about how we are supposed to live this Christian life

            -- to get to the bottom of this, let’s back up and think first about salvation -- how are saved in the beginning? -- when someone first comes to believe in Jesus, how do they get saved? -- they get saved through faith, right? -- we tell people, “you can’t be saved through your works -- your works are like filthy rags in the eyes of God -- you can’t buy salvation -- you can’t be saved by trying to do good things -- it is only through grace that you are saved -- it is the gift of God”

            -- we point them to Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved -- through faith -- and this not of yourself -- it is the gift of God, not by works, lest any man should boast”

            -- and as it says in Romans 10:9-10 (NIV), “That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. -- For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

            -- that’s the plan of salvation, right? -- believe in Jesus -- put your trust and faith in Him and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and you will be saved -- everybody good, right?

            -- now, what happens next? -- when someone comes to God in faith and becomes a Christian, what’s the next step? -- they have to live it out -- they start living a holy life -- they start following Jesus and trying to live like He lived -- and that’s where we get in trouble -- because before we know it, we find ourselves giving in to temptation and falling back into sin just like we did before we got saved

            -- that was exactly what happened in Amy Carmichael’s life -- she didn’t understand how to live a holy life, and every time she tried to be holy and not sin, she kept finding herself falling back into sin over and over again, even though she was a believer

            -- so, what's the problem? -- why does this happen? -- it happens because we’re not told how to live this Christian life -- we’re simply told to “just say no” to sin and to be holy as Jesus is holy -- we’re told that if we sin, we should just repent of our sin and try again -- and what happens is we try to live this Christian life on our own -- in our own strength and through our own power -- and we fail

            -- it's really kind of funny, when you think about it -- we tell unbelievers that there is nothing they can do about their sin -- they can't work their way to heaven -- they can't buy their way to heaven -- only God can forgive them through His grace because of Christ's atoning death on the cross -- only God can deal with their sin

            -- but, once someone becomes a believer, we give them the idea that it is their responsibility to live holy lives -- now that they are a believer, they are supposed to repent and stop sinning and become holy all on their own -- we kind of get the idea that it is our job to deal with any sin in our life once and for all

            -- do you see what we're telling people? -- to the unbeliever we say, "Trust God to take care of your sin" -- to the believer we say, "you have to take care of your own sin -- sure, God will forgive you if you fall, but it's your responsibility to repent and not do it again"

            -- here's a truth we need to get deep in our hearts -- and this is critical when it comes to living a Christian life -- we can't do anything about our sin

            -- we couldn't do anything about it before we came to Christ, and we can't do anything about it now -- just like we need the power of the Cross to bring us to salvation, we need the power of the Cross to defeat sin in our life once and for all -- we can't do it on our own, and that's where these scriptures we opened with come into play -- look at what they say

            -- look back at 1 Thessalonians 5:22-24

1 Thessalonians 5:22-24 (NIV)

22 Avoid every kind of evil.

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

            -- in other words, Paul is saying, “don’t sin” -- that’s what we tell people when they get saved, right? -- “you’re a Christian now, so avoid evil -- don’t sin -- don’t give into temptation -- choose to not sin”

            -- and that’s all good advice -- that is what we are supposed to do -- but it brings up the question, “Yes, but how? -- I couldn’t choose not to sin before I became a Christian -- how do I do it now?”

            -- verse 23

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

            -- how do I avoid every kind of evil? -- how do I choose not to sin? -- through faith -- by believing that God will do it through me -- Paul says here God will sanctify you -- your whole body, soul, and spirit will be kept blameless -- how? -- Paul says, “the One who calls you is faithful and He will do it” -- not that we will do it, God will do it with us

            -- when we’re talking about living the Christian life, we are talking about becoming holy as God is holy -- about becoming sanctified -- and in the church, we talk about three types of grace, right? -- prevenient grace -- the grace that comes before -- the grace that leads us to the cross -- there’s justifying grace -- the grace of the cross -- the grace of salvation -- the grace that forgives us of our sins and overcomes our sin nature and makes it just as if I never sinned -- but, finally, there’s sanctifying grace -- the grace of God that makes us holy

            -- the problem is that we have turned sanctification from an act of faith and a reliance on God’s grace to an act of works -- when Paul tells us to avoid every kind of evil, we march off and try to do it as an act of our own will -- we forget God’s grace -- instead of living the Christian life in faith, we live it in our own power

            -- but we can’t do it -- our lives show that -- we can’t live a sinless life on our own -- it is impossible -- but Paul says here that God can do it through us -- God is the One who sanctifies us -- God is the one who keeps our body, soul, and spirit blameless -- not us, but God within us

            -- Jude said the same thing -- Jude 24 and 25 -- “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy -- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!”

            -- who keeps us from falling? -- God -- who presents us before His glorious presence without fault? -- God

            -- it is not us -- to paraphrase Ephesians 2:8-9 to reflect what should be going on in living the Christian life, “For it is by grace that you are sanctified, through faith, and this not of yourself, it is the gift of God -- not by works -- lest any man should boast”

            -- if we couldn’t save ourselves from our sins in the beginning, what makes us think we can save ourselves from our sins now? -- what makes us think we can live a holy life in our own strength and through our own will?

            -- that’s what God showed Amy Carmichael -- when she heard Jude 24 preached, the Spirit showed her that her part was to have faith -- not to do it on her own -- and when she stopped striving in her own strength and in her own power, she began to live the victorious Christian life and God used her mightily

            -- you see, that’s why we’re failing -- we’re trying to do it on our own, apart from God, and it’s not working -- when we hear the word repentance, we have this idea it means that we are to do better -- we are to work harder -- we are to try more -- but that’s not what biblical repentance means

            -- true biblical repentance isn't about us doing something about our sin -- true biblical repentance means admitting we can't do anything about our sin, and trusting God to work with us to overcome it

            -- true biblical repentance means that we put faith in God to work in us through His Holy Spirit to overcome sin in our lives rather than trying to solve sin on our own

III.  Closing

            -- so how do we stop this cycle of continuing sin in our lives? -- how do we stop this cycle of sinning and repenting and sinning again? -- how can we start living a truly victorious life in Christ?

            -- the first step is to admit you can’t do it on your own -- to admit you’re a sinner and that you need God’s grace in order to overcome this sin

            -- the second step comes from 1 John 1:9 -- confess your sins -- what does it mean to confess? -- it basically means to admit your sins to God -- to agree with Him that you have sinned -- that you have disobeyed His word

            -- confession is a surrendering of your ideals to God's ideals -- it is saying, "I was wrong in what I was thinking -- I was wrong in what I was doing -- when I compare myself and my actions and my thoughts to your Word, it doesn't line up -- I agree that I have sinned against You"

            -- now, you need to keep in mind that confession doesn't resolve your sin -- feeling sorry about what you have done doesn't make your sin go away -- admitting our sin is an important part of the process, but words do not resolve sin

            -- confession is an alignment of the mind to God to prepare the heart for the next step

            -- the third step is remembering who we are in Christ and what He did for us -- we are not the same person that we used to be -- we are new creations in Christ -- we have new strength and new power through the very presence of the Holy Spirit within us -- that’s something we didn’t have before we trusted Jesus as our Lord and Savior -- we have to remember God with us and in us and trust in His power to sustain us

            -- we have to believe that we do not have to live with sin any longer -- those chains were broken at the Cross -- as Paul wrote, we no longer live, but Christ lives in us and He has defeated our sin through His body and His blood

            -- the final step is true biblical repentance

            -- and here's where the rubber meets the road -- we have already woken up and seen our sin -- we have confessed our sin and agreed with God that we have disobeyed Him -- and we remember the work of Christ on the Cross -- we remember who we are -- we remember grace

            -- now, when we repent, we repent through that grace and not through our own power -- we don't try to manage our own sin, but we trust in what Jesus has already done

            -- when you start to realize that repentance is not something you do but something that God does, you realize a real power over sin for the first time in your life -- the work of Jesus is for every sin, not just for the forgiveness of sin, but for the healing from those sin

            -- repentance then is trusting that Jesus has already forgiven you of your sin and believing that He will work with you to give you victory over the sins that remain -- repentance is a surrendering of yourself to God and trusting in His power to help you live a holy life

            -- when you put all these steps together, this is what your prayer will sound like:

            -- "God, here we go -- I did it again -- I made a wrong choice -- I sinned against you -- I agree with your holy Word that this was an act of disobedience

            -- God, I remember what Christ did for me on the cross -- I remember that I am a new creation because of Him and that He broke the power of sin in my life with His death and resurrection

            -- God, here is a sin I trust you to do something about -- I am convinced I cannot deal with this sin -- I trust what you did at the Cross is powerful enough, not only to bring me to heaven one day, but powerful enough that it can break this very sin's power that is now plaguing my life

            -- God, I repent of my sin and I put my trust in You and Your power to heal me of this sin -- Thank you for what you have done and what you will do through your Son in my life -- Amen"

            -- a truly victorious life in Christ is possible -- we no longer have to live in bondage to sin -- we no longer have to go through our lives bound by sin’s power -- but we can live holy lives through faith in the sanctifying grace of Christ

           

            -- let's pray

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¹Wiersbe, Warren W.  10 People Every Christian Should Know, Chapter 8: Amy Carmichael.

A Post-Christian America

Evidence that the U.S. is truly entering a post-Christian period is starting to show up in scientific journals.  You can read the article here.

"...belief in the United States is finally starting to mirror the pattern of declining religion in Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia."

Rather than reading this with discouragement, this should inspire Christians to truly commit to sharing the good news of Christ with their friends and family.

SERMON: THE GREAT INFECTION

24 January 2016

I.  Introduction

-- turn in Bibles to Romans 5:12-21

Romans 5:12-21 (NIV)

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--

13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.

14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,

21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

-- last week we talked about the hand on the table -- about the time when Jesus was sharing the last supper with His disciples in the Upper Room and He told them that someone there was going to betray Him -- when they asked, “Who?”, Jesus responded by saying, “The one who will betray Me is the same one who has His hand on the table with Me”

-- and every one of them looked down and realized they all had their hand on the table and they all asked the same question, “Is it me? Am I going to betray Jesus?” -- and even though they did not betray Jesus in the same way as Judas, every single man who was there that night betrayed Him by turning away from Him and abandoning Him in the hour of His greatest need

-- the hand on the table reminds us that all of us have betrayed Jesus through sin and it reminds us that our hearts are all prone to wander away from Him all the time through the choices we make

-- this morning I wanted to carry this thought a little deeper and talk a little bit more about sin -- have you ever thought much about sin? -- you know we use this word in the church a lot -- we sing about it and we talk about it and we worry about it and, truthfully, sometimes we ignore it

-- we know that sin is the one thing that we all share -- look at the person on your left -- they’re a sinner -- look at the person on your right -- they’re a sinner, too -- look at me -- I’m a sinner -- we are all sinners -- the Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God

-- we know that sin is what separates us from God -- it is our sin that condemns us to hell -- and it is our sin that caused Jesus to come and die on the cross in our place

-- but have you ever really stopped to think about what sin is? -- did you know that in the Bible there are two distinct words that we need to consider when we talk about this subject?

-- the first is “sins,” plural -- when the Bible speaks of sins, it is referring to our acts of disobedience -- to the times we have chosen to disobey God’s word -- whether these are the sins of commission -- our sinful acts -- the things that we do wrong -- or whether these are the sins of omission -- the times we haven’t done what we know we’re supposed to do -- sins of omission are typically the times when we choose to turn away from doing good when we know we should -- sins in the plural refers to what we do -- we’ll talk about this more in a couple of weeks

-- the second word is “sin,” in the singular -- when the Bible speaks of sin in the singular form, it is generally referring to our sin nature -- to our old flesh -- to that part of us that makes us a sinner -- this internal nature that lives inside of us and that causes us to disobey God -- it is this sin nature inside of us that we refer to as original sin -- and that is what I want to talk about today

II.   Original Sin

-- the doctrine of original sin is one of the foundational doctrines of the church -- this doctrine teaches that when Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden, sin entered the world and, as a result, all of us are born with this sin nature inside of us that causes us to sin

-- it all goes back to Genesis 2:16-17 when God told Adam that he could eat from any tree in the garden, but that he must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because if he ate of it, he would die

-- that always bothered me -- it seemed like God was setting them up for failure -- I mean, knowledge is good, right? -- it seemed like God was trying to keep Adam and Eve from getting something good by telling them they had to avoid the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

-- but I was listening to a message from Jefferson Bethke the other day, and he pointed something I hadn’t realized before -- if Adam and Eve were not supposed to get knowledge from the tree, where were they supposed to get their knowledge? -- from God! -- so the command to not eat from the fruit of that tree was really a call to intimacy with God -- it was not a “stay away” command, but a “come to Me” command -- God wanted them to turn to Him in all things and to lean on Him for their understanding and knowledge

-- but we know what happened, right? -- they were seduced by the serpent who convinced them to seek knowledge on their own apart from God, in direct violation of what God had told them to do -- in essence by taking the fruit and eating of it, they were turning their backs on God and choosing their own path

-- and, as a result, sin and death came into the world, all because of the trespass of one man

-- look back at verse 12-13a

Romans 5:12-13a (NIV)

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--

13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world.

-- because of Adam's disobedience, sin and death -- both physical and spiritual death -- came into the world

-- Paul tells us the same thing throughout this passage

-- verse 15 -- "if the many died by the trespass of the one man"

-- verse 16 -- "the result of the one's man sin -- the judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation"

-- verse 17 -- by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man"

-- when Adam disobeyed God and chose to seek knowledge on his own by eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin and death came into the world -- and sin and death changed Adam and Eve -- it became a part of them -- and it became a part of who we are today

-- because of Adam’s disobedience and trespass, we all became sinners -- we are all born sinners because we all come from Adam -- to use the Biblical term for it, we are “in” Adam -- that is the doctrine of original sin

-- now this concept always caused me a problem -- you see, one of the principles that we learned in biology was that physical changes to the body were not inherited -- only genetic changes are inherited

-- there was a biologist many years ago named Heckel who proposed a theory called "hopeful monsters" -- in this theory, he said that the way the different animals came about was that a physical change happened to them and that that change was inherited by their offspring

-- for instance, the evolutionists tell us that whales came from animals who used to live on land and have legs -- Heckel would say that something happened to one of these animals who lived on land -- their legs were injured or were cut off -- and then those physical changes were inherited by their offspring -- so, if an animal or person had an accident and lost a leg, then their babies would be born missing a leg -- according to this theory, over time, whales evolved because of these inherited physical changes

-- this theory of Heckel's was quickly discounted -- we all know that if a person has an accident -- if you lose a limb or have some other physical problem -- then that physical change is not passed on to our children -- physical changes do not affect our offspring

-- so this left me confused about original sin -- how did the physical act of disobedience by Adam -- how did eating the fruit in the Garden of Eden -- cause sin to be inherited by all people?

-- this bothered me for years and years -- for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how Adam eating from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil caused me to be born a sinner -- how could a physical act done by Adam be transferred to me?

-- the only way for this to work would be if the original sin actually changed who Adam and Eve were -- not only spiritually, but physically -- and that this change in them was inherited by us -- but if it wasn’t a change to their DNA that was then inherited by us, what changed in them?

-- science tells us that some diseases -- especially some viruses -- can be passed on to us from our parents -- we inherit the disease from them

-- for instance, we now know that the AIDS virus can be transmitted from infected mothers to their children -- there are many babies born every single day infected with AIDS -- who have AIDS simply because their mother had it and transferred it to them

-- we see the same thing with rabies -- rabies can be transmitted from an infected mother to her offspring -- a few years ago I read about rabies being transmitted from a mother cat to her litter of kittens -- the kittens were not bitten by a rabid animal, but they were all infected with rabies because their mother was infected -- and it resulted in their new owners being at risk for rabies

-- this scientific principle holds the key to understanding how we have inherited our sin nature from Adam -- this explains how sin and death came into the world through him and lives on in us

-- when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the fruit, sin came into their bodies like a virus -- now understand I’m not saying sin is a virus -- I’m just saying it acted like a virus -- it infected Adam and Eve with its poison, and this sin nature became a part of who they were -- it was passed on from them to their children and then to their grandchildren and their great grandchildren until it finally passed on to us

-- it was through their infected blood that sin and death entered the world and entered each of us

-- God tells us in Leviticus 17:11 that the life of a creature is in its blood -- and, I think it follows, that the death of a creature is in its blood as well -- we are all sinners because we have within our veins the infected blood of Adam

-- Ted Dekker picked up this theme in his Christian fiction trilogy -- Black, Red, and White -- in these books, the entire world becomes infected with an airborne virus -- everyone on earth is destined to die because a virus has entered the world through the actions of one man -- this is exactly what happened in the Garden of Eden

-- everyone on earth is destined to die because of the actions of one man brought the sin virus into the world -- we are all sinners because we have inherited this great infection -- this sin nature -- from Adam

-- we are sinners -- not because of what we do -- but because of who we are -- as Watchman Nee wrote, "the trouble is in our heredity and not our behavior"

III.  The Origins of a Sinner

-- this is a Christian concept that always gave me pause -- how can someone say that a precious little baby who has just been born is a sinner? -- that little baby has done nothing wrong -- they haven't disobeyed God -- they haven't sinned their actions -- they haven't gone out and broken any of the ten commandments

-- the answer to how a baby is born a sinner lies in the great infection that we just talked about -- you are not a sinner because you sin -- you are a sinner because you are born with this infection in your blood -- you are a sinner because you have inherited this sin nature as a virus from your parents

-- its just like a baby born with AIDS -- that baby has done nothing wrong -- it hasn't had unprotected sex -- it hasn't shared needles when it did drugs -- it was just born infected with a virus because its parents were infected before it

-- Paul tells us here in this passage that sin and death entered the world -- it entered all of us and infected all of us -- because of one man's trespass -- because of Adam's disobedience, we are born infected with a sin nature that causes us to want to sin -- that causes us to want to do things that God does not want us to do

-- now this is an important concept to grasp -- you are a sinner because of who you are -- not because of what you do -- you are a sinner because you are a child of Adam -- you are “in” Adam -- you trace your heritage back to him -- and, as a result, you are infected with this great infection -- you are born with this sin nature inside of you

-- this explains Romans 3:23 where Paul writes that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God -- this explains how that little baby who just took its first breath is a sinner -- this explains how that good ole boy you know -- the one who really doesn't do much wrong and tries to live a good moral life -- is still a sinner

-- it's not about what you do -- it's about who you are -- and you are a sinner because you are infected with sin

-- the important thing to remember is that “Sin is not so much the activity. That's just the evidence of the Sin nature. Sin is the nature of every man born of Adam” [Precept Bible Commentary, http://preceptaustin.org/romans_513-21.htm#5:13]

-- think about an alcoholic -- based on scientific studies, it appears that alcoholics are born that way -- they are not alcoholics because they drink and can't quit -- they are alcoholics because that is who they are -- it is part of their nature -- I am sure today that there are many alcoholics walking around who have never taken a drink in their life -- but if they ever do, then their disease kicks in and turns them into someone who drinks to excess most of the time

-- I have a friend in Tennessee just like that -- he comes from a line of alcoholics -- his father and his grandfather were both alcoholics -- they were both held in bondage to alcohol -- and my friend knows that he was probably born an alcoholic, too -- for that reason, he has chosen to never drink, for fear that he might follow in their footsteps

-- it's not about what you do -- it's about who you are

-- that's why you can't get to heaven on your own -- that's why you can't work your way to heaven -- that's why you can't be good enough to earn your way to heaven -- even if you never go out and disobey one of God's commandments, you are a sinner because you are born in sin -- as David wrote in Psalm 51:5, "I was sinful at birth -- sinful from the time my mother conceived me"

-- we have a disease -- this sin nature in our hearts -- and it is this sin nature that is keeping us from heaven

IV.  The Answer to Sin

-- so, what can we do about it? -- what is the answer to this raging infection in our souls? -- this sin nature that has become such a part of us that we are born sinners?

-- well, what would you do if you were sick and infected with a virus? -- you'd go to a doctor and get a shot -- you'd go get an antivirus -- something that would kill the virus within you and make you clean again

-- and that's exactly what we have to do with this sin infection in our life -- we have to receive an antivirus and make ourselves clean and whole again

-- we call this antivirus "grace" and it comes about through the blood of Jesus -- the blood of Jesus is our antivirus -- it is the only thing that can remove our sin -- our sin nature -- our great infection -- and offer forgiveness of our sins

-- in other words, this antivirus -- the blood of Christ -- not only forgives us of all of our wrongdoings -- of all of our disobedience -- but it also overcomes and destroys our sin nature -- that inherent part of us that causes us to be born sinners and give in to temptation

-- look at verse 15-17

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

-- Paul tells us here that God is offering us the gift of righteousness and life through Jesus Christ -- now that's an important thought

-- God's offer is not like the trespass of Adam -- when Adam fell in the Garden of Eden and was infected with this sin nature, we all became infected, whether we wanted to or not -- we had no choice -- it became part of who we were -- and, as a result, we were born sinners

-- but the blood of Christ that washes away our sins is a gift -- it is something that we have to accept -- it is something that we have to choose in order to receive it

-- if I am sick and go to the doctor and he offers me a shot with an antivirus in it and I say, "No thanks," then I don't get the healing and protection that that shot offers -- the only way for me to get healed is to accept his offer and receive the shot

-- in the same way, if God offers us an antivirus through the blood of Jesus, the only way to be healed is to receive the treatment -- to accept God's gift and to be covered with the blood of Christ

-- there is nothing else we can do -- there is nothing else we can take -- home remedies won't work -- being extra good won't work -- living a perfect and moral life from now on won't work -- the only thing that will work to remove this infection from our lives is to receive this free gift of grace from God -- to accept the death of Jesus on the cross on our behalf

V.  Closing

-- Paul tells us here that God's gift is all sufficient and that it can lead all of us from death into life

-- God's grace is greater than our sin -- through the obedience of Christ -- through His sinless, perfect life, God's grace has overflowed to all of us and made it possible for all of us to be made righteous and clean and whole

-- the only way to erase original sin is to receive the gift of life from Christ -- we call this salvation or justification -- our bodies and our souls are made clean and we begin a new life with Christ -- we die to Adam and are born again in Christ -- we change from being people who are “in” Adam to being people who are “in” Christ -- and we inherit from Him His righteousness which cleanses us for all eternity

-- next time, I want us to talk more about the other sin word in the Bible -- sins, plural -- the things we choose to do that are not what God wants us to do and what we can do about them

-- but for now, I want to encourage you to take a moment and examine your life -- is there a moment in your life where you can remember making a personal decision to receive the gift of new life from Christ? -- a moment where you asked Him to forgive you and to be your Lord and Savior? -- a moment when you know that you were saved by Him?

-- if not, then I want to encourage you to do that right now -- to choose to receive this gift that Paul tells us about in this passage -- the gift of new life and the cleansing of our bodies and our souls and our spirits

-- let’s pray

The Symbols of Easter

So this time of the year, we see many articles and status updates on Facebook that say that the accepted symbols of Easter are nothing more than pagan elements that the Christian church has adopted into their annual worship, for instance, Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny.  So what’s the truth?

There is, without a doubt, a pagan influence in these Easter symbols.  For centuries, eggs and rabbits were associated with the worship of the pagan goddess Eostre in the spring, for the eggs represented new life and the rabbit represented fertility.  However, the traditions of painting eggs was a Christian tradition from the beginning.

According to Eastern Orthodox tradition, Mary Magdelene visited the Emperor Tiberius and showed him an egg as a way to talk about the resurrection of Jesus.  According to tradition, the egg was white to start with, and the Emperor scoffed that the resurrection was as likely as the white egg turning red.  After his words were uttered, the egg did turn red.  Another version of the story is that the egg was read to begin with, as a sign of the blood of Christ.

This tradition has been translated into Orthodox icons and historical paintings portraying Mary Magdalene holding a red egg or a flask of myrrh.  The flask of myrrh was a sign of Mary’s presence at the tomb to anoint Christ’s body for burial.  Coloring eggs red at Easter became a tradition and a symbol of the blood of Christ, and has evolved into our modern tradition of brightly coloring eggs for Easter.

The tradition of the Easter Bunny in America began with the immigration of the German people into the Pennsylvania area in the 1800s.  Their traditions, derived from the pagan worship of the goddess Eostre, included the Easter Hare, which became our Easter Bunny, an Americanized symbol tied to the Easter holiday.

The egg has continued as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ to this day.  Not only is it a symbol of new life, but many use the egg to symbolize the stone tomb and the rising of Jesus on Easter morning.  Another tradition is the rolling of eggs, which symbolizes the rolling away of the stone from Jesus’ tomb.  Dolly Madison, the wife of Pres. James Madison, introduce the most famous Easter egg roll, which still takes place annually on the White House South lawn.

So enjoy your Easter eggs and your Easter baskets this year with a guilt-free heart as you celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and His victory over sin and death and His promise of eternal life.

Things I Wish I Had Known As a New Christian

1.  It’s all about relationship.  The key to Christianity is realizing that it’s all about relationship -- relationship with God and relationship with others.  Don’t get bogged down in theological principles, searching for spiritual insights, or the latest theological fad.  Christianity is simple.  It’s about your relationship with God and about your relationship with others.  If you keep that in mind, things will go good.

2.  Read the Bible more.  Out of all the advice that I was given as a new Christian, the best advice I ever received was to read the Bible.  I wish I had read it more as a new Christian.  It was only after I became serious about Christianity and actually started reading the Bible and listening for God’s voice in his word, did my spiritual growth begin.  In the well-worn cliché, it is stated that the Bible is God’s love letter to us. But the thing about clichés is that they are often true, and it is in the Bible that we find God and God’s love, we learn about God, and we come to know God.  Read the Bible daily.  No matter what else is going on in your life, read the Bible.

3.  Don’t be scared to pray.  As a young Christian, I was scared to pray, especially out loud.  I didn’t think I knew enough.  I didn’t think I knew how to pray “right.”  I didn’t want others to judge me when I prayed.  But then I realized that prayer is just talking to God.  That’s all it is.  Just close your eyes, picture God in your mind, and talk to him as you would another person.  Don’t be afraid to pray out loud -- others are not judging you on your prayer.  They are as concerned about praying out loud as you are.  Just remember, they are not your audience.  Your audience is God.  So just pray close your eyes, blot out the world, let yourself be embraced in his presence, and just talk to him as you would another person.  Don’t pray in theological terms.  Don’t pray using King James version English.  Just pray from the heart and trust that God will hear you and will receive your prayer.  It’s not that hard.  Just do it.

4.  Don’t complain.  Don’t become a negative person who complains about everything and everyone around them.  Receive what God has given you and try to find the joy within.  No one likes a negative person, so stop complaining and learn to be content in all situations.  Complaining puts the focus on us and on our needs and our wants and our wishes.  By choosing to not complain, we shift the focus off ourselves and onto God and onto others.  It allows us to minister more to those around us.  It allows us to be more grateful for what we do have.  Don’t complain.

5.  Learn how to journal.  Learn that a journal can be as simple as a one line entry in an Excel spreadsheet.  It doesn’t have to be several paragraphs written in a hardbound leather book.  All a journal is is a record of what happened to you that day, either spiritually or physically or materially.  You need to record what is going on in your life.  By having a written record of how you interacted with God or how God spoke to you during the day, you will be able to look back years from now and see how God directed your path and brought you out of the storm, and you will be able to use this experience to further your spiritual growth with him.

6.  Talk to others about Christ.  As a new Christian, I was scared to death to talk to someone about Jesus.  I can still be scared today to talk to others about Jesus.  We often think that they will judge us, or that we will be embarrassed or ridiculed by their response.  But my experience shows that most people want to hear about Jesus.  Just share how your life has been changed.  Don’t try to quote Scripture, don’t try to convince them to become a Christian, just ask if you can tell them what God did in your life today.

7.  Don’t care what people think.  Don’t let another person hinder your walk with Christ.  If you are in a worship service and you feel like raising your hands and praising God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, then do it.  Don’t let someone else stop you from doing what God is calling you to do.  More than likely, they’re not even really paying attention to you.  Don’t let the fear of another person keep you from being who God called you to be or doing what He called you to do.

8.  Take more risks.  In the movie, “We Bought a Zoo,” Matt Damon’s character tells his son to just have 20 seconds of courage and his life will be dramatically changed.  Too often we are scared to do what God is asking us to do.  We need to summon up 20 seconds of courage to just do what God wants us to do.  You know what it is.  Just do it.  Don’t be scared, but trust that the God of all creation will enable you to do whatever it is he is calling you to do.

9.  Be nice.  Christians have a reputation for being judgmental and critical of others, especially unbelievers.  Change that.  Be nice to all.  Even to those who are different from you.  Especially to those who are different from you.  All people are the same on the inside.  They all want to love and to be loved, to know that someone else thinks they are important, that someone else wants to listen to their story and not just impose an agenda upon them.  Be that person.  Be nice.  Love them.  Listen to their story without interruption.  As we say in the Kairos movement, “listen, listen, love, love.”  Be nice to others.

10.  Give without expecting something in return.  Everything you have, everything you are -- every gift, talent, and skill you possess -- are all gifts from God.  And God did not just gift you so that you would succeed in life.  He gifted you so that you would be able to bless others in his name.  So give to others without expecting anything in return.  Give yourself to others.  Give your time and your resources and your love to others, even if you don’t receive anything back.  Give freely because grace has been given freely to you.

11.  Don’t live in the past.  Too many Christians let themselves be bogged down in the past.  Whether we’re talking about past sins that we have done, or whether we’re talking about hurts that have been received in the past, we allow the past to shape who we are at the moment.  To paraphrase what the Apostle Paul said in the New Testament, “forgetting what is behind and looking forward to the future, I press on towards the goal I have in Christ Jesus.”  We need to stop letting the past hinder our walk with Christ, and start moving forward to the new life that he has promised.  Your sins have been forgiven -- don’t let past, unforgiven sins bog you down.  If there are past wrongs in your life -- if others have hurt you -- forgive them and move on.  Christ doesn’t want us to live in the past, but to die to self, pick up our cross, and follow him to eternity.  Throw off the chains that hinder us from moving forward, set your face towards Christ, and go.