Doctrine of Sin
1. Definition: When most people think of sin, they think of doing bad things, but to truly understand sin, you have to start with God, not man!
Sin is anything contrary to the essence of God or acting independently of God. Rom. 14:23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.
Another way of looking at sin is that sin is coming short of God’s glory, Rom. 3:23 to correctly understand sin, you have understand the Glory of God, & the +R of God.
2. Three categories of sin:
1. The first catag. is one that few know about, much less understand. But it is so important to our Sal.
Imputed sin: Adam sinned in the garden, & his sin is accredited or imputed to every member of h/r where every member of h/r is counted guilty when Adam sinned.
Rom. 3:23; 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:22 in Adam all die!
2. Inherent sin simply stated this is the sin nature of every human being;
a. sin is inherent to our nature.
b. When Adam sinned he acquired a sin nature.
c. The sin nature was brought into existence by Adam.
d. The h/r inherits this sin nature (therefore inherent sin) through physical birth. Psa. 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Not saying that sexual intercourse is sinful…NIV 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the0 time my mother conceived me. This is the sin nature of mankind.
e. Every member of h/r retains this sin nature after salvation.
Therefore bel.s sin! some more than others, some worst than others, but we all sin & before God all sins are against His glory.
f. Therefore Adam is a sinner with sin nature & saved through grace as any other member of h/r.
3. Personal sin is a manifestation or result of having this sin nature.
a. two classifications: known sin & unknown sin, sins that we commit in ignorance, yet they are still sin.
b. three categories of personal sin: Mental Attitude Sin; Sins of the Tongue & Overt sin.
so 3 categ. of sin: Imputed, Inherent, & Personal.
4. Singular sin & plural sins: when sin is used in singular it generally refers to the sin nature or production of sin nature, while more generally, in the plural it refers to personal sins!
3. The Sequence of sin
1. first personal sin of Adam—where he made a decision to sin against the word of God:
2. imputed sin results in spiritual death. When Adam sinned the entire h/r sinned. Therefore all members of h/r are born spiritually dead & is in need of second birth. 1 Cor. 15:22; Rom. 3:23; Rom. 5:12.
3. Inherent sin: When Adam sinned he acquired a sin nature or a natural propensity to sin & brought the sin nature into existence. Every member of h/r acquires this sin nature through birth of man & woman.
4. Personal sin /h/r sins personally because of /presence of sin nature both before & after salvation
4. The work of Jesus Christ on /cross regarding sin. or: /Solution to sin!
1. imputed sin In Adam we are all counted guilty before God. 1 Cor. 15:22; Rom. 3:23 but in Christ we are counted not guilty 1 Cor. 15:22b; 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 2:1, 5-6
2. Inherent sin JC died with ref. to everyone’s sin nature He made provision to handle sins from /sin nature. 1 Jn. 1:7 He rejected h/good which comes from /sin nature Eph. 2:8-9 Rom. 4:4; 6:10; 8:8; Isa. 64:6
3. Personal sin: JC bore /penalty of sins of everyone 1 Jn 2:2
4. The penalty of sin: spiritual death; is replaced by the provision of Spiritual life for anyone who believes in Christ Rom. 6:23;
5. Solution of sin on the cross; The sin ward side of cross – Redemption 1 Cor. 1:29-30; Col. 1:14 & Unlimited Atonement 1 Jn. 2:2 & 2 Peter 2:1
6. Problem of penalty of sin—death Rom. 6:23
Expiation Col. 2:14—He put an end to this penalty
Remember unbels are not judged on the basis of their sins, but their rejection of JC. Law of double jeopardy, if unbel. is penalized for sins then Christ did not pay the penalty on /cross
7. Therefore the unpardonable sin is rejection of Jesus Christ as savior. Rejecting what He did on the cross.
I. Definition:
Start with God: Sin is anything contrary to the essence of God or acting independently of God.
II. Three categories of sin:
Imputed Sin
Inherent Sin
Personal sins
III. The sequence of sin
Personal sin—inherent sin—imputed sin
IV. The work of Jesus Christ on the cross solving the sin problem
V. The Issue of Sin
1. The Issue of sin for the unbeliever
2. The issue of sin for the believer.
3. Personal sins can wreck a person’s life, be he a bel. or unbel. This is true of sins that are capital offense, & also sin’s that hang on, & bring about shame or guilt or fear, these sins can make a person’s life miserable with SAD. You must remember that you are forgiven of sins at the cross, & just get back to what you stopped doing-walking by Faith n HS.
& do not allow others to make you continue to carry /guilt or shame of sin, & many Christians will try to serve Satan by making a bel. live in shame & guilt, denying what JC did on /cross. /further you move from /cross, or from /teaching of His Word, His Word abiding in you /more you live in sin. chain sinner
4. The issue of sin for God:
1st sin offends & is opposed to the +R of God. & God hates sin, & sin stirs His wrath. His R has wrath towards sin. Ezk. 30:15 "And I will pour out My wrath on Sin, The stronghold of Egypt; I will also cut off the multitude of Thebes.
Dan. 9:16; Rom. 1:18; 2;2;
VI. The Origin of sin
1. God is not the author, nor the origin of sin or even temptation
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
(1) Many people (Calvinist) argue that since God is the efficient cause of all that is, this means He is the author of sin.
(2) If sin does not originate with God & from God, where does sin originate?
(3) On the surface this may sound reasonable, but seeming to be wise they became fools
(4) Not everything that is, has been efficiently caused by God
(5) God did not create sin, God created the creature & gave that creature free will & sin came from the creature himself.
(6) Sin came into being by the self determined revolt of the creature himself, against the will of God, His creator.
(7) It is vital to understand the origin of sin, for a failure of correctly understanding the origin of sin will lead to a false conclusion about God:
“How could He be the author of sin & then condemn mankind for doing what He caused man to do?”
(8) Calvinist have a great problem with the free will of man & the Sovereignty of God co-existing. They have no problem making God the author of sin, but they have a problem with His Sovereignty co-existing with freewill of mankind.
(9) That God is not the author of sin is seen in James 1:
In 1 Jn. 1:8-9 they denied they sinned & were instructed to not deny but to acknowledge they sinned for God is faithful, having already cleansed & already forgiven…so the first part of the solution to their problem was confession. But here in James, they did not deny sin, they acknowledged they sin, so one may argue that they are F/HS, but they are not, their problem was not denial, for they acknowledged they sinned, their problem was they blamed God. so recovery for them does not begin at confession, but at stop blaming God for their sins… James 1:8-9 & 13-15
2. From the entire essence of God, His wise & Holy counsel, He decreed to create man with free will or volition or the ability to trust Him or not, & of course this means that He decreed that He would permit man to decide against Him, therefore God decreed to permit sin to come into existence.
3. What does it mean, God permits sin?
a. He puts on hindrance in the way of sinners! Psa. 81:12-13;
Acts 14:16 "And in the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways;
See that word “permitted” this means God did not hinder them from their sins.
b. Does God ever prevent sin? The answer is Yes.
Gen. 20:6 Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.
David even prayed that God would keep him away from sins: Psa. 19:13 Also keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
How does God prevent sin? Hosea 2:6 "Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns, And I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.
d. God determines /limits of /sinful power of Satan:
1 Cor. 10:13; Job 1:12 & 2:6; Psa. 124:2; 2 Thes. 2:7; Rev. 20:2-3 What is the point here? If, since God controls or limits the activities of the super creature, Satan, how much easier would it be to determine /limits of sin of humans.
4. ok, we have put together some seemingly conflicting points: God permitted sin,
God could have prevented sin,
so why did God permit sin?
This may be difficult for some of you to grasp:
By His Grace God permitted sin, that He might save all mankind through the person & work of His Son on the cross.
5. God being Omnipotent knew all that would come out from sin, of what sin would do to the creature & even to the earth, also His creation. & God also permitted sin, knowing what it would cost Him—giving His only begotten son to the shameful death on the cross.
6. Yes, He could have created a creature: angelic &/or human without volition, free will or the ability to exercise faith or not but what love is that?
Love w/o choice is the absence of love.
He would have been but the great engineer!
God is love & chooses to love & to be loved, & if that means He permits those to choose not to love, then by His Sov. will, He so decrees & permits.
But mark it: He does not elect one to love Him & another not to love Him, He does not elect one to trust Him & another not to trust Him, what kind of God do you have?
All sins comes from volition of the soul, a refusal to stop walking by faith & when we stop walking by faith…we sin.
The flesh nature entices /bel. to stop walking by faith & sin.
7. Sin originated with Satan & his original sin was arrogance in the pre-historic world. Ezek. 28:16-18.
Angels, like Satan, sin: 2 Peter 2:4.
Whenever there is free will, there is the possibility of sin, no matter if the creature is human or supernatural angels!
But this does not bother the Sov. of God. Calvinist have a very small God, to think that the free will of man in somehow attacks the Sov. of God.
The Sov. of God & the free will of man co-exit to the Glory of God.
8. While sin started with Satan we learn a great deal about sin from mankind:
(1) God created Adam in what is called innocence; that is with out sin & with out a sin nature. Adam was a free moral agent, just as Lucifer was. Adam could only sin by refusing to continue in walking by Faith & acting independent of God.
(2) God did not create Adam with a sin nature, Adam acquired a sin nature when he made a decision to disobey God
(3) Sin is permitted by God but not necessitated by God. This is realized right from the beginning by the announcement of punishment for sin: Gen. 2:17; Ex. 34:7
9. The Sovereignty of God & free will of man is a big, major, heated problem throughout Church-history with all kinds of views & arguments about the Sov. of God vs the free will of man. We certainly do not have time to examine this in gt. detail.
But many people like to argue against free will of man because to give man free will is to make God the origin of sin, which of course is not true
10. The Sovereignty of God designed & created man with free will, specifically to resolve /A-C. How can a +R God save, or make +R that which is un R. Free will gives man the ability to choose against God or for God.
Giving man this free will does not jeopardize His Sovereignty. His Sovereignty stands un marred even when man uses his free will to go against God. God is still in control.
11. Sovereignty of God & free will of man co-exist on earth & these come together at the cross.
12. The question arises, If Adam had not sinned would he have lived forever? No, E-L comes only by F n JC.
13. Therefore God permitted sin!
VII. Victory over sin
1. Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, Since all members of h/r are under sin, therefore all members of h/r are under death. Rom. 5:12; 2 Chro. 6:36;
2. Sin, in the theological sense is against God Psa.51:4 Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, And done what is evil in Thy sight, So that Thou art justified when Thou dost speak, And blameless when Thou dost judge.
& since it is against God & only God, it is to God that we are now under penalty of death.
3. Jesus Christ died for all 2 Cor. 5:14-15 He paid the debt of sin.
Many people claim to believe this but then insist that one can lose his sal. by sin, or that sins will be mentioned at /Gt. White Throne Judgment. or that one must ask for forgiveness or even confess sins for forgiveness. Either we believe that He died for all, & in Him all died or we do not believe it.
4. Rom. 6 is a powerful chpt. on wages of sin & the payment of that sin, but lets just note a few vs: Lets start with v 7; then 18…22 now just read 7, 18, 22;
Read 6:7, 10, 16, 18, 22-23
Now lets read the entire chpt. 6.
5. Therefore it is by faith alone in Christ alone that we are made alive unto God. Rom. 3:22 & 26; 4:16; 5:1 & 21
6. Being dead to the law of sin, we are made alive in Jesus Christ Rom. 8:2
VIII. Seven sins that God is said to hate Prov. 6:16-19
Before we get to the big 7 lets note the context from vs 12
vss 12-15 which describes /troublemaker. He is arrogant, jealous, implacable with revenge motivation. His weapon is /tongue, he gossips –it is amazing how we all gossip but do not see it as gossip when we do it…he is ambitious & in competition with OA…which Paul deals with in Gal. 5:15 but if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another…
/trouble maker is a disaster in local church, in any organization, or even in a family; & troublemaker is always right & others are wrong…