The Nature of Sin
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We’re called to a life of holiness, but to understand what that means we have to have an understanding of how human nature and sin relate.
Every human has sinned -
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What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
We all inherit a sinful nature from Adam. Sinful nature is known as the flesh, or the carnal man.
Even after the new birth, we still possess the sinful nature.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Sinful nature consists of a compulsion to commit sinful acts. It’s more than capacity (which Adam had):
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Paul teaches in that neither the law of God or law of the mind brings power over the law of sin.
Romans
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
If we rely on the flesh, we will always fail and revert to sin.
tells us Christians should not sin. tells us we cannot resist sin by our own power. tells us the law of the Spirit is the only way to overcome the sinful nature.
The spirit does not destroy the law of sin, it supresses it. Bird vs gravity analogy
We have the freedom as born again believers to follow the Spirit and not sin.
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Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Threefold approach to overcoming sin:
Know who we are and what happened. We were born again and we died to sin, so sin has no power over us.
Reckon this to be so. Act as if we died to sin and sin has no power.
Yield to God. Replace sinful habits with an active performance of God’s will as revealed by His Word and His Spirit.
At the new birth, we die to sin. We don’t lose the sinful nature, but it loses its dominion over us. Now if we sin it’s not because we’re forced to, it’s because we choose to. We’re voluntarily exercising our free will to sin against God. God gives us the Holy Ghost to enable us to choose not to sin.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
Born again believers, then, should not sin.
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What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
We cannot confuse the potential for resisting (God gives us) with the responsibility for resisting (which is ours).
Continuing to choose to live sinfully will cost you your salvation
I John 2:
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
“they are” literally translates as “remain” in the Greek
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Jesus lived a life intended for us to emulate or copy
For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Our confidence in Him stems from our obedience
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
A Christian with specific unrepented sin cannot inherit the kingdom of God and eternal life
I Corinthians 6:
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Failing in our obedience to the Word is a sin and affects salvation
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.
Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
II Peter
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
If we sin, we must repent
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Past righteousness is not enough to make up for new sin
Ezekiel
But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
God does not automatically forgive sin without the person actively repenting
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Anyone can return to God through repentance. We can be sure of our salvation and confident in our destination when we die so long as we keep following after the Spirit and abiding in Him
What is sin?
Sin is both a nature, and an act.
The bible describes sinful acts in three ways:
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
All disobedience of God’s commandments is sin, whether by commission or ommission.
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And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Anything incompatible with faith is sin. If we believe something is wrong or have doubts about it, but do it anyway, then we have gone against what we believe to be the will of God. This attitude is a willing rebellion against God, and is therefore sin. Even if it’s something that’s not sinful for someone else, it’s wrong for us because it violates our conscience and contradicts the faith principle.
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Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
Any choice between morality and immortality, or between obeying/disobeying God, is a sin if the wrong way is chosen.
Temptation is not sin - Jesus was tempted
Not every mistake, fault, or personality flaw is a moral sin, though we should still seek God’s help in improving in these areas. Rudeness, oversleeping, habitual lateness, insensitivity, etc.
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
God’s grace enables us to live an overcoming life
Phil
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Grace is why we have the ability to resist sin and choose holiness, but it does not enable us to live in sin and stay “safe”. It is still our responsibility to do what we’re supposed to do.
The Christian responsibility then can be summed up in two parts:
Do not sin.
If you do sin, confess to God and repent and live right from that point on.
His Grace enables us to both be forgiven of past sin, and enables us to live a holy life moving forward.