Our Attitude toward Sin
Introduction: What is Sin? You might name some sins or others might name synonyms of sins. But in layman’s terms: Sin is anything that transgresses God's law. Our attitude toward sin says everything about our Christian witness. Some might think that I am speaking about the sin that surrounds us. As if we are in a bubble of some kind, hating the sin in other people, but excusing it in ourselves. No. Sin is in all of us. Sin should be a reminder of how far we fall short of earning anything in heaven and it should remind us that we have a gracious and loving Savior that sacrificed it all so we can have eternal life in him.
Ill. There's an old story about a man who tried to save the city of Sodom from destruction by warning the citizens. But the people ignored him. One day someone asked, “Why bother everyone? You can't change them” “Maybe I can't” the man replied “but I still shout and scream to prevent them from changing me!”
Lot was a righteous man who should have done some screaming. The record of his life reminds us of how our sense of moral indignation can be dulled by the world - (give modern applicable examples). Lot chose to dwell in cities where there was great wickedness. When Sodom was invaded by hostile kings, he was captured. Even after Abraham rescued Lot, he was still drawn back to that wicked city. And the last chapter of his story is an account of heartache and shame. Abraham may have trusted God and prayed for the righteous, and live a moral life. But Lot was “oppressed with the filthy conduct of the wicked”
The sin of Lot's day may have bothered (oppressed) him, but apparently not enough to do or say anything about it. (adapted from Our Daily Bread: Sermonillustrations.com)
Transition: What is your attitude concerning sin? I only have two points to make today 1. What will happen if we claim we don't sin and 2. What will happen if we confess we do sin? Both are found in 1 John 1:8- I John 2:1
If we claim we don't sin
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves . . .” -I John 1:8
A. We deceive ourselves
You may be or you might know someone who thinks they are such good people they don't need Jesus. They are so innocent, they don't need him; besides that they never asked for Jesus to suffer and die for them. They think - “I don't need his sacrifice, because I am a good person.” The truth is, no matter how “good” you think you are, know this: many worse people than you went to heaven, and many better people than you are burning in Hell today.
Confused? . . . good.
The question is what is your measure of “goodness”? Usually it is measured against a preconceived standard of what “bad” is. We say “I don't steal, drink, or smoke.” “I'm not intolerant or judgmental.” “I never did drugs or killed anyone” “I never been in jail and I'm not like those hypocrites who say one thing and do another.” And because of these standards they set up as bad and they don't do them, therefore they reason to themselves that they are good. So where are they getting these standards from? The Bible or from the world? Because the worlds' standard of 'goodness' and the Bible's standard of 'goodness' are contrary.
I don't think I have to tell you that's what is happening today. The question is what spirit and by what standard of goodness will you live by? When the Bible calls homosexuality an abomination, and the world calls it an alternative lifestyle. Which standard will you agree with? When the Bible defines marriage as between a man and a woman and the world defines it as anyone who loves anyone or anything (which is coming, wait and see). Which standard will you agree with? When God calls you to fight against sin and the world calls you to fight for your right to sin. Which army will join? When God calls us to detest something that the world calls us to defend. Whose side will you choose to be on? The world will always use nonsense to portray you as bigots, homophobes, hypocrites, islamaphobes, haters etc. get used to it and get over it! Sadly Christians think “well we aren't going to win anybody by being mean, so lets follow the world's standard of goodness.” I say this because what God calls evil, the carnal world calls good and vice versa.
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” - Isaiah 5:20
Today we have a tidal wave of confusion because many Christians are tying themselves into knots trying not to offend anyone, trying not to hurt anyone, trying to accommodate everyone, making so certain that they love everyone, that they allow every wicked thing to go on right in front of their faces! We have to look into the truth to know it. We won't find the truth in the devil! We won't find the truth in the world! We certainly are not going to find it in the flesh! And if you are looking for spiritual guidance in any preacher, evangelist, missionary, or Christian family, a christian friend, or christian neighbor . . . YOU ARE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE! Men including Christian men will ALWAYS let you down. Men are fallible. Stop looking toward men and start looking to Jesus! Set your eyes upon the LORD!
We have to not only read the Bible but believe every word of it. If you believe most of it but not “that one part”, then you should throw it all away because none of it can be trusted. It is either all true or it isn't. We tend to dismiss those parts of God's word that are most contrary to our lifestyle, our loved one's lifestyle or to our own selfish reasoning. You may reason one thing while the bible says the contrary. Are you right or is the Bible? Perhaps you can manipulate the word, investigate old languages, study outlier commentaries, to make the Word of God mean what you want to believe, but the beware, and be careful not to be deceived!
I don't mean to sound so harsh, because I know from experience, that the word of God can be a cruel mirror. It reveals those things that I don't like to see. I like to see good things about myself. But we have to understand that we don't see ourselves the way God does. We see only the best of ourselves. “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” God see us in the light of truth. A good example of this is when He told the lukewarm Laodicean church they were not only blind but also wretched, pitiful, poor, and naked. All indications were that they were a wealthy and prosperous church. So they thought 'All is well!' The Laodiceans were saying “I'm rich. I'm wealthy! I don't need anything from anyone.” In reality, they were spiritually bankrupt. In the middle of their prosperity, their souls were starving to death. They deserved to be pitied.
Some people assume since all is good on the outside it must all be good on the inside as well. They can't bring themselves to look into their own souls and examine themselves to see if they are in the faith. Because if they did, they are afraid of what they might find: a wretched, poor, pitiful, blind and naked sinner.
And once we are faced with sin, if we don't deceive ourselves with denial, we deceive ourselves with excuses: “It's not a sin, Lord, I'm doing this for the good.” “It's not a sin, Lord, it is a mistake” “It's not a sin, Lord, its a sickness and I can't help it.” If we can redefine what sin is, then we can not only excuse it but also justify it before men and before God. Thus, we deceive ourselves.
We might know its a sin but we blame this or that person or this or that circumstance for it. A poor workman always finds fault with his tools, and never with himself. When we believe we have no sin, the scripture says not only do we deceive ourselves but:
B. The truth is not in us
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” - I John 1:8
The closer you get to God the more you discover your sins. If the truth were in us, it would reveal our sins to us, causing us guilt and conviction. At that point, if we were honest, we would then admit those sins to God and ask for forgiveness. If the Truth were in us, we would know that sin doesn't belong in the same place.
In order to see sin within ourselves, we must have the truth in us. The more we know the truth the more we see our sins. If you were empty handed in the deepest and darkest cave it would be impossible to find a turquoise stone. You can't see the hand in front of your face much less a stone of a certain color. But if the stone is out in the light, you could find it easily. You see, when the light of truth is in us it's easy to see those things that don't belong.
If we believe that we have no sin, it proves the truth is not in us, because if it were in us, it would reveal the sin inside. If we claim that we don't sin, (which means: If we 'believe' we don't sin) we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us but worst of all is that . .
C. We make God out to be a liar
“If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” -I John 1:10
To claim that you don't see any sin, is like floating in the Atlantic Ocean and saying you don't see any water. You are deceived, if you don't believe you are a sinner. God says many times and in many ways that because we are sinners we need a savior. When we deny we sin we deny we need a savior, making God out to be a liar. The word says it is impossible for him to lie so when the word says “All have sinned.” He is not lying! When He says “the wages of sin is death” He is not lying! When we read in Ecclesiastes that: “Indeed there is no one on earth who is righteous no one who does what is right and never sins.” He is not lying! Self deception means the truth is not in us and we call God a liar by denying that we sin.
Transition: So we know what happens if we claim we don't sin. Now lets look at what happens if we confess we do sin
If we confess we do sin
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” - I John 1:9
We NEED a Savior because WE SIN. God is not only holy, he is also faithful and just. He knows what we need. And what we need more than anything is a savior, that is why he sent his son. Here we read that if we are honest about our spiritual life we can't help but confess our sins to Christ. Thankfully, God in all his mercy will not only forgive us our sins, but purify us from the effects of it. Today, I hope you see the benefits of confessing your sins to God. (Especially after salvation.)
Let me make another point:
We will always struggle with sin.
“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.” -I John 2:1
You see the conflict in this verse? The warning of sin followed by the provision if we do sin. We may be saved by grace, but I don't read anywhere in the word where it says God's grace gives us a license to sin. In fact the apostle Paul wrote “shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? By no means! We have died to sin how can we live in it any longer.” Romans 6:1, 2
Being saved doesn't mean you can sin with impunity, it means that even when you do sin (against your best efforts not to) you can confess them to Christ and receive forgiveness.
Paul said He was the chief of sinners or the worst of sinners. He wasn't bragging or boasting in sin he was ashamed of them. Now we all doubt he was the worst of sinners, but He felt that way because the closer He got to God the more He realized how woefully far He fell short. He said “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh.” (The flesh and spirit will always war against one another, that is why we must crucify the flesh daily.) He goes on “For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.”
It's true that everyone sins. “For all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God.” The Christian life is a life of continued repentance. Sin may get the better of you one day, but if the truth is in you, you are determined to get the better of it the next. And with continued repentance we may go a long time without any observable or noticeable sins but our heart is still sinful and it will remain sinful until we die. Like a volcano, it may not be erupting at the moment, but it is still a volcano. You still have a sinful heart even though you may not be sinning at the moment. By definition and by nature Sinners will sin. Christianity is a religion made up of sinners. No matter what we do or how hard we try, even though greatly reduced, there will always be some measure of sin in us. And God is so Holy, that just one minor sin, keeps us from heaven. If we were perfect and without sin we would be in heaven. After all Adam and Eve sinned once and were banished from paradise. We should hate sin because it keeps us from heaven today. Sin is the reason you and I are not in paradise right now!
But what makes a terrible situation worse is when we pretend we don't sin. Sin should be confessed and repented of but more than any thing it should remind us all to look unto Jesus! Sin is the reason we can't be in heaven, Jesus is the reason we can be in Heaven and God's love is the reason we have Jesus.
A great preacher once said “The better a man is, the more anxious he is to know the worse of his case.”
When you examine yourself to see if you are in the faith; it will be your attitude toward sin that will be the best evidence for or against your Christian witness. Your attitude toward sin will change after salvation. Do you hate your sin, or do you deny it? Do you despise it or do you ignore it? Do you fear the wages of it or do you make excuses for it?
It is the work of the Spirit to feel the pain of sin. To feel the guilt and shame of sin. What's wrong today is We are not ashamed of sin! We have no sense of remorse for sin! Instead of hating sin, we excuse our sin! We despise any conviction of it! We deeply resent anyone warning us of it! Warning people of the consequences of sin (with love) is the best way to reform others to Christ.
Now going in a totally opposite direction for a moment, I want to make my last point about those who struggle with assurance
I want to give great hope and reassurance to you Christians who can't seem to find peace with your salvation – If you pray in one form or another something like “Lord you know my heart, let me know my sin and wrongs so I can apologize and repent of them. All I want to do is please you Lord.” I want you to know that is a prayer of righteous man. You are in good company; because Job said “How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offenses and my sin.” and David prayed similar prayers. You should take comfort in the fact that you already feel your guilt – And what you are asking for, you already have and never realized it. A lot of times we have the grace we pray for and don't know it. Because We make the mistake of assuming that we have to “feel” something first. We say “I just don't feel anything” “I don't feel different” “I still feel the same way.”
Jesus is calling out to you saying “look unto me.” you say “I try and try” He says “Stop trying and look unto me!” You say “I feel good after a sermon, after worship, after a Christian movie but it fades and I'm depressed the next day”. Jesus says “look unto me! Not to your feelings.” Then you might think “Surely it isn't that simple. Will that really save me? Just looking to Jesus?” Adrian Rogers once said that the greatest preacher since the apostle Paul, was Charles Haddon Spurgeon and he said “that if (looking to Jesus) does not save you then I am not saved.”
Stop trusting your feelings and start trusting Jesus!
It is the devil who says “you can't be saved!” “You are too far gone, too far past the point of grace!” Satan is the one making you despair a pardon, not God. Satan is the one who has you lying in your bed crying! He is the one who has you moaning in doubt and groaning in depression! Throw those thoughts to Hell! And shout “Get behind me Satan! I AM Saved! For he said 'For those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!”
Conclusion: Friends, if you hate your sins because you know its danger and that it grieves the Holy Spirit, and you hate the possibility of it controlling you, and you ask God to reveal even those secret sins within you then you have the right attitude toward sin, and this message is a confirmation to you to have peace. Keep up the good fight. But if you say you don't have any sin, then you deceive yourself and truth is not in you. If you say “I have to feel a certain way before I get saved.” “I'm not sorry enough!” then you are living in self-righteousness!
Altar Call: But there is hope for anyone who will confess their sin to God, God will faithfully forgive those sins. Admitting you're a sinner is the first step of salvation. It requires humility. It requires honesty. It requires bravery. Even though I doubt anyone will, I will ask so that it may be a witness for or against you on the last day. If anyone would confess those sins this morning, please come forward and look to Jesus for forgiveness.
