craigmanderson

SIN

Rom 7:14  I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself–after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. (MESS)

The prison of Sin

Why do we commit sins? Why do we do things that we later regret?

In a moment of weakness have you ever done something that you later hated yourself for?

What about infidelity?

Some researchers say there’s a 50–50 chance today that one partner will have an affair during a marriage including non-physical relationships.^[1] It is estimated that roughly 30 to 60% of all married individuals (in the United States) will engage in infidelity at some point during their marriage.^[3] Some authorities (for example, Frank Pittman in ‘Grow Up’ (Golden Guides)) observe infidelity is involved in 90% of first time divorces.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infidelity

Temptation touches every life; but sexual sin is only one way that we fall into temptation. As human beings we are constantly choosing right and wrong thoughts actions and behaviours. A jealous thought can lead to a rude comment or it can lead to murder as in the case of a man in the news this week who killed his wife’s lover.

A person might tell a lie to avoid being responsible for a problem, but that lie could turn into big troubles as in the case of a supreme court judge who lied about who was driving his car when caught by a speed camera and saw his reputation shredded in full public view.

But so often sin is not just a mistake that we regret, but it is a prison that we are held inside with no hope of escape.

Like the teenager who ties drugs once as dare and after 5 years of bad decisions has a heroine addiction that has taken their health, their friends their money and their self worth away. They are a prisoner.

What about the person who was curious about internet pornography at first but now has a raging appetite for more and more degrading porn and can’t stop viewing it. They may be one step away from downloading illegal material that could land them in jail. They may well believe that they are trapped and can’t get out of that addiction.

People are trapped by many different strongholds of sin.

Pride – manifested in constantly behaving in an arrogant manner

Lying – manifested in creating a false world around their lives to impress the people who no longer care.

Revenge – that manifests itself in unending imaginations of how to get even.

Greed – that manifests itself in hurting others to get more no matter what the cost.

Lust – that manifests it self in a constant search for gratification that once satisfied returns again so soon.

So many people are trapped in a prison of sin. They would describe their lives as a struggle. It’s not freedom. It’s bondage. They are not free to live a full, happy and prosperous life. They can’t say, “Look at my life; there are no secrets, my life is an open book and every day I am proud of who I am and what I do”

The Apostle Paul in the bible described this struggle with sin. He says it in a way that I’m sure you will identify with…

Paul’s dilemma – Rom 7:14-24

Paul goes on to describe how we can be delivered from sin in Romans Chapter eight

In this series I will be preaching and teaching about how to be set free from sin.

If you are a serious Christian you will want to hear this message. You will want more than anything to walk pleasing to God and truly represent Him as a Godly person.

You will want to be free from every kind of bondage, and more than that, you will want to conquer sin through the work of Jesus on the cross so that you can fully take the freedom and deliverance offered to all Christians.

In this series I will show you from the scriptures that Jesus work on the cross not only gives you forgiveness of sin BUT also gives you power over sin. He gives you deliverance from the power of sin to hold you in bondage.

Sin is a spiritual problem

What is sin?

1Jn 3:4  Everyone who commits (practices) sin is guilty of lawlessness; for [that is what] sin is, lawlessness (the breaking, violating of God’s law by transgression or neglect–being unrestrained and unregulated by His commands and His will).

If we say we have no sin.

1Jn 1:8  If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude and lead ourselves astray, and the Truth [which the Gospel presents] is not in us [does not dwell in our hearts].

 

Where did sin originate?

The bible is very clear that sin originated in Adam.

 

Rom 5:12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned –

(Adam and Eve were one couple.

Scientific evidence – In modern Science we have thousands of scientists who agree with the biblical account of creation; a list of just some of them can be found at

http://creation.com/creation-scientists

The so called Mitochondrial DNA – studies by Geneticists in 1986; Cann & Stoneking revealed that all humans alive descended from one single human mother, who lived about 150,000 years ago. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-chromosomal_Adam)

Adam’s sin was of course to disobey God. His wife Eve disobeyed first then Adam joined her in doing exactly what God told them not to do. Partake of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Lets see what Romans says about that…

Rom 5:12  Therefore, as sin came into the world through one man, and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men, [no one being able to stop it or to escape its power] because all men sinned.

This verse shows us that the one man, Adam, sinned by disobeying God and the result is death. Sin brings death. Death means physical death and spiritual death which is separation from God. This death had total effect on all men. That is, all of Adams descendents. Death had power over all men, because all men have sinned. All Men sin because they are born of Adam. That is they are of his kind, born of Adam means born of fallen man.

Adam was born in untested innocence. He was perfect but morally untested. He was tested by temptation and he disobeyed God and fell from perfection. This gave his tempter authority over him.

Rom 6:16  Do you not know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will, you are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness (right doing and right standing with God)?

 

The fact is that the human race is sinful in nature. This by no means refers to human nature as God made it-or makes it-but to the fact that before man commits any sin he is already a sinner because he is born of a sinner (Adam). This situation may be described in terms both of sin being passed on to all people from the first man and our identification with primal man in his sin. However depicted, the important feature is that man does not come into the world as an innocent or neutral creature but is affected by sin in all aspects of his being (As David says in Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful].  Indeed, by virtue of this fact, man is corrupted in every area of his nature-body, soul, spirit-so that he is utterly incapable himself of restoration and salvation. His only hope is in Jesus Christ.

 

Rom 5:18  Well then, as one man’s trespass [one man’s false step and falling away led] to condemnation for all men, so one Man’s act of righteousness [leads] to acquittal and right standing with God and life for all men.

This verse reminds us that Adam’s trespass may have caused death to hold sway over all men, but Jesus act of righteousness results in life being made available for all men.

Whilst Adam first sinned, thereby giving us a nature that is subject to disobedience, we can not blame Adam for our own failures. We are responsible for our own sins as they are for their own actions.

It is true that we all are sinners by choice, even though we understand that through Adam was the entrance of sin into the human race and understand that it affected Adam’s descendents. Even so man perpetrates and perpetuates sin, therefore he cannot be relieved of the responsibility for it.

The seat of sin is in man himself. Our Lord said, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19). The heart of man is the birthplace of all sinful thoughts, words and actions. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). In each of us there is sin for which each is accountable. The hidden capacities for evil are present in even the best of men.

There are no good men (or women) there are only open hearted men and hard hearted men. An open hearted man hears the gospel and responds in humility. He sees the truth of his own sin and receives correction and repentance. A hard hearted man rejects his own guilt and blames God for the state of his failures and the world’s problems.

The answer of course is death….. Dead people don’t sin. But more about that next week.

Lets not think that sin only refers to the seven deadly sins of lust, greed, anger, jealousy, pride, stealing and sloth. What about unbelief? God says that is a sin that kept the whole of Israel out of the promised land for 40 years. And what about fear, what about doubt, what about lack of love. In the new Testament Paul goes so far as to say what ever is not of faith is sin.

I hope you’re not in bondage. But if you’re like me there are still some aspects of the flesh that hold me bound and I want to be free. Totally free to live in liberty and walk in the Spirit. This message is the problem outlined. The answer is next week – please don’t miss the cure now you know you have the disease.

This is the journey we will take in the series called prison break.

Week 1 – Sin – What is it and why are we so trapped by it?

Week 2 – Overcoming sin through the Blood and the Cross

Week 3 – The modern day temptation of adultery

Week 4 – The modern day temptation of Pornography