The Good News About Sin Part 1

The Good News About Sin Part 1

Because of the sinful actions of Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden, we all inherited a sin nature. Yet, if we add Jesus back into the equation, we see that God had a solution for our sin problem. Jesus was sent to rescue us from our grave spiritual condition which eternally separates us from God. But because God loves us, He made the ultimate sacrifice for us. You see as sinners we can't pay the debt for our sin so God devised a plan for our salvation which includes the doctrine of Substitutionary Atonement.

Substitutionary Atonement:  
Refers to the action of Jesus Christ paying the debt for our sin by substituting His life for ours.

Jesus Christ died in our place when He was crucified on the cross. We deserved to be the ones placed on that cross to die because we are the ones who are sinners living sinful lives. But Jesus took the punishment on Himself in our place. Jesus willingly substituted His life for ours. Jesus is the only one who could have paid the price for our sin.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

1 Peter 2:24 NIV

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

Isaiah 53:5-6 NIV

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray,  each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

God sent His Son to die because of His love for us, not wanting any of us to perish.

John 3:16-17 NIV

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

1 John 2:1-2 NIV

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

The Sin problem:

Sin can be viewed in many ways but essentially unsaved sinners live apart from God and habitually break His Commandments. Their thinking is futile, their hearts are darkened, they are fools, and live to fulfill their own selfish and lustful desires.

Romans 1:20-25 NIV

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Even though true followers of Jesus have been reconciled back to God and forgiven for their sin, their capacity to mess up is still a possibility. The Good News is that followers of Jesus are no longer under the bondage of sin. This means they are free from the grip of sin because they have a new desire to live in obedience to God, and His Word.

Romans 6:6 NIV

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Ephesians 4:22-24 NIV

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Followers of Jesus also have help from the Holy Spirit who gives them supernatural strength and the conviction to not act on the temptation to sin. 

1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV 
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Hebrews 2:18 NIV 
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

OK, so here is the problem, if you are a follower of Jesus and you make a deliberate choice to sin on occasion, does this mean you have not truly received God’s salvation? The Bible tells us that salvation is a gift from God and once you receive Him as Lord and Savior you are saved.

Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV 
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.

Romans 8:1 NIV
 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

Romans 10:9-13 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. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame. For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." At the same time the Bible tells us that we are all sinners:

 

Even though we are sinners, God declares us righteous through Jesus who covers our sin.  This is known as Justification. We are no longer enemies of God. We are now at peace with God.  

Romans 5:1 NIV
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

1 John 1:9 NIV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Jesus died for sinners like us:

Romans 5:8 NIV

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The Apostle Paul goes on to explain the spiritual condition of one who is set apart to God and one who is set against Him:

Romans 8:5-14 NIV

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.     You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin,

yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,  

because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

The point is this, Christians can still sin, but our lives will not be characterized by sin. If our lives are characterized by sin, then we are children of the devil and not of God. If we sin daily in word, deed and thought, then I would say our lives are characterized by sin and we have a real problem with God.  

Truth: A true believer's life will not be characterized by sin 


Part 2 coming soon



Just Sayin........................Dave