SIN
PROBLEM
- CONFUSION sin is actually very poorly understood by both Christians and non-Christians alike as simply being “bad things people do.”
- 2 GROUPS The first plank in the Gospel is you cannot do what virtually everybody else does. You cannot divide the world into two groups, good and bad.
- HYPOCRITES when religious people call other folks sinners, shows that they feel very superior to all kinds of people, they dehumanize.
- FRUSTRATION OF SIN I’m fearful that I can’t change—that I’ll never change. Where does that leave me?”
GOD
- ALREADY, NOT YET The reason why sin will continue to threaten the believer is the “not yet” side of God’s eschatological work. (see esp. Rom. 5:2–19; 8:18–30).
- SECOND CHANCE Our sin is not the end of the story. Adam and Eve were tempted; they sinned; “and they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden (Gen. 3:8). David (2 Sam. 12:1) Peter (Matt. 26:75).
- WHAT IT IS The root of all sin and the essence of sin itself is the act of turning from God in rebellion, an uprising that continues to the present moment.
1 John 1:7–9 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
APPLICATION
- 1 RELATIONSHIP our bad behavior is not the cause of our relationship with God being alienated and dysfunctional, rather it is the confirmation that it already is.
- 2 REPENTANCE The Hebrew word we translate as repentance means “to turn.” We might imply a turning from doing bad things to doing good things.
- 3 RELATIONSHIP Repentance=reliance. is not so much a doing as a depending. It is not so much a striving for pardon as a posture of humility.
- 4 RELATIONSHIP Victory over temptation comes from our moment-by-moment trust in God and his grace to deliver us.
- EFFORT If now you want to become fluent in some other language, it takes a tremendous amount of focus and discipline.
- CRITICISM Edwards first read the note to the eight hundred men. Unloving, pre, difficult
VISION
- TOGETHER “Honey, what I really want you to figure out is that by yourself you can’t fix this.”
- MISSION light bearers in a dark world, a world of over seven billion individuals, most of whom live each day in complete spiritual darkness because of sin.
- CLOSING PRAYER 1) take a long serious look at what sin is doing to you. 2) allow yourself to imagine what it will be like with that thing gone from your life.
Additional Resources
Small Groups
Recent Sermons
Media Resources