That dirty, three-letter word…

Terry Dashner……………….Faith Fellowship Church PO Box 1586 Broken Arrow, OK 74013

Sin kills. But, grace brings life.

Which do you prefer? You who know God and live for Jesus, which nature do you prefer—the sin nature or the new nature?

As you know the sin nature is the “old man,” or the “flesh.” It is the nature within every believer that must be put down daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. If the sin nature is not dealt with by the aid of God, it will rule over the believer, causing him to appear “fleshly” or “carnal” or identical to what he was before he became a believer (The entire letter of I Corinthians).

Is it possible—for a Christian to act like a wicked sinner? Yes it is, according to the bible. The only way to continue the Christian walk of holiness, faith, and power, is to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s not something we “try” to do. It’s not something that we “work” at. It’s something we surrender to.

The Christian walk is a daily surrender to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. You see, a believer is reborn by the Holy Spirit when he calls on the name of Jesus for salvation. The Holy Spirit regenerates the sinner’s human spirit, making it come alive to God. That’s miraculous; however, the new believer must continue his walk in faith daily or he will succumb to the overlord of the old nature. Although the new birth in Christ brings a release from the power of sin, it does not deliver him from the very presence of sin. Not until the believer receives his full reward in heaven will he be removed from the very presence of sin.

Sin defined.

I want to share with you more on the topic of sin. To do this, I want to begin by defining sin. According to Walter A. Elwell’s, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Baker Book House, 1984), “In the biblical perspective, sin is not only an act of wrongdoing but a state of alienation from God…It signifies the rupture of a personal relationship with God, a betrayal of the trust he places in us.”

Elwell continues, “The biblical witness also affirms that sin is universal. ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,’ Paul declares (Rom. 3:23 RSV). ‘There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins’ (Eccles. 7:20 NIV)…In Reformed theology, the core of sin is unbelief. This has firm biblical support: in Gen. 3 where Adam and Eve trust the word of the serpent over the word of God; in the Gospels where Jesus Christ is rejected by the leaders of the Jews; in Acts 7 where Stephen is martyred at the hands of an unruly crowd; in John 20:24-25 where Thomas arrogantly dismiss the resurrection of Jesus.

“Hardness of heart, which is closely related to unbelief (Mark 16:14; Rom. 2:5), likewise belongs to the essence of sin. It means refusing to repent and believe in the promises of God (Ps. 95:8; Heb. 3:8, 15; 4:7). It connotes both stubborn unwillingness to open ourselves to the love of God (II Chr. 36:13; Eph. 4:18) and its corollary—insensitivity to the needs of our neighbor (Deut. 15:7; Eph. 4:19).”

What are the chief manifestations of sin? You guessed it. Pride, sensuality, fear, self-pity, selfishness, jealousy, greed, and so on. The Bible declares that sin can be individual or collective or social. Sin affects me personally. It affects local churches corporately. And it can affect nations and societies as a whole. The effects of sin can be moral, spiritual bondage, guilt, death and hell.

Show me the Word

Let’s look at the book of James. James 1:14-15 RSV states, “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.” Notice where sin originates and how it progresses along in the individual Christian. A wrong desire fuels a moral breakdown, which ensnares and enslaves the believer, bringing self-condemnation and guilt, which can lead to physical death.

Now let’s look at James 4:1 RSV “What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members?’ This is interesting. James is talking to believers, scattered all abroad. He tells them that battles and wars all start with human desires run-amok. Even godly men can dwell on greed, until greed controls them. The greed and an overwhelming desire to have more can spur men on to take from others. This taking of loot and property can turn into battles, which rage into full blown wars.

Show me the History

Let me turn now to the historical controversy over sin. In the fifth century, Augustine challenged the views of a monk by the name of Pelagius. Augustine appealed to the scriptures stating that sin incapacitates man from doing the good, and because we are born as sinners we lack the power to do the good. Yet because we willfully choose the bad over the good, we must be held accountable for our sin.

Augustine gave the illustration of a man who by abstaining from food necessary for health so weakened himself that he could no longer eat. Though still a human being, created to maintain his health by eating, he was no longer able to do so. Similarly, by the historical event of the fall, all humanity has become incapable of that movement toward God—the very life for which it was created. Pelagius held that one could raise oneself by one’s own efforts toward God, and therefore grace is the reward of human virtue. Augustine countered that man is helpless to do the good until grace falls upon him, and when grace is thus given he is irresistibly moved toward God and the good.

During the Reformation, Luther powerfully reaffirmed the Pauline and Augustinian doctrine of the bondage of the will against Erasmus, who maintained that man still has the capacity to do the right, though he needs the aid of grace if he is to come to salvation. Luther saw man as totally bound to the powers of darkness—sin, death, and the devil. What he most needs is to be delivered from spiritual slavery rather than inspired to heroic action. (Ibid, p. 1013).

Time does not permit me to speak to the debate between Karl Barth and Emil Brunner on human freedom. The issue is primarily this: can man through his reasoning ability offer up anything to garner God’s salvation. In other words, does God supply everything—grace, faith, and salvation or does man meet God somewhere in the middle?

Chosen but free

In his book entitled, Chosen But Free (Bethany House Publishers, second edition, 2001), Norman Geisler writes, “Perhaps the most difficult thing to understand is that God is in sovereign control of everything we choose, even our salvation. For ‘in him we were also chosen, having been predestinated according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will…’ (Eph. 1:11). ‘For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified’ (Rom. 8:29-30). According to Paul, ‘he chose us in him before the creation of the world’ (Eph. 1:4).”

Geisler continues, “Whatever else may be said, God’s sovereignty over the human will includes His initiating, pursuing, persuading, and saving grace without which no one would ever will to be saved. For ‘there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God’ (Rom. 3:11). ‘We love him’ only because ‘He first loved us’ (1 John 4:19 NKJV). Indeed, no one comes to the Father unless he is drawn by God (John 6:44).”

Geisler continues the rest of his book, showing the harmony between God’s sovereignty and man’s “free will.” It’s a delicate balance. No wonder Church fathers have wrestled with this concept since the days of Augustine in the fifth century AD, even to present times. We are made free. Because we are made free, evil is possible. The origin of evil is in the misuse of freedom. I cannot blame God when I sin. I cannot even blame the devil. The devil may entice me, but he cannot make me sin. Sin originates in my “old nature” born into the sin of Adam. If I live out of the “old nature,” my freedom to so do begets the evil, the sin. It is inevitable that we will sin, but it is not inevitable that we must sin. Even though we are depraved and by nature bent toward sin, nonetheless, each sin is freely chosen.

Says Geisler, “With respect to initiating or attaining their own salvation, both Luther and Calvin were right in asserting that fallen humans are not free with regard to ‘things above,’ that is, achieving their own salvation. However, contrary to strong Calvinism, in regard to the freedom of accepting God’s gift of salvation the Bible is clear: Fallen beings are free. Thus, the free choice of fallen human beings is both ‘horizontal’ (social) with respect to things in this world and ‘vertical’ (spiritual). Plainly, then, belief is our responsibility and is rooted in our ability to respond. This view has overwhelming support by virtually all the great church fathers up to the sixteenth century.”

Bringing it to a closing

Now let me conclude this lesson by noting how to overcome sin. Christian faith teaches that sin cannot be overcome through human ingenuity or effort. The solution to the problem lies in what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. The penalty for sin is death, judgment, and hell, but the gospel is that God has chosen to pay this penalty himself in the sacrificial life and death of his Son, Jesus Christ (cf. John 3:16-17; Acts 20:28; Rom. 3:21-26; 5:6-10; II Cor. 5:18,19; Col. 2:13-15).

For the believer to overcome temptation and sin, he must seek God’s filling daily. The bible declares that we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. That’s not an option. It’s mandated. Why? Because we leak. If we choose to live daily out of the strength of our human nature, we will become enslaved by the natural realm and become subjugated by sin. On the other hand, if we ask God to fill us daily with His Holy Spirit, receiving this promise by faith, then we will live in victory over the power of sin.

I want to leave you with a summation.

A believer will live out of one of two natures—either the flesh or the spirit. If he chooses to live out of the flesh, his desires may lead to lust, which leads to overt acts of sin. If he continues to live in sin, his sin can lead him to physical death (ICor.5:1; 1John 5:16-18). The believer is responsible for his sin. God does not entice a believer to sin. Satan may entice a believer, but he cannot make a believer sin. If a believer lives out of the “new nature,” he will have victory over sin. A believer receives the free gift of salvation by the help of God. Once he is born again, God is responsible to provide his sanctification, but the believer must let God sanctify him. Sanctification goes hand-in-hand with justification in the sense that once we are born again we must continue to grow in grace. We continue in the grace of God by the help of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us and continually cleanses our hearts by the “washing of water by the word.”

Are you born again? Are you being filled with the Holy Spirit daily? If not, repent and ask God to fill you. You see, we are vessels through which God pours Himself. He can fill us much faster than we can leak out. So, keep getting filled. Being filled is not something I earn or work up by my emotions. It is an act of faith, as all things of God are by faith. I ask for the Holy Spirit. He honors my request by filling me. I rest. It’s a done deal, and the evidence is the way I conduct my life by works of love toward my neighbor and my God.

Blessings… Pastor T.

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