Why is Sin Such a Perplexing Problem? (Rom. 3:10-17)
Illustration:For a long time I used to think this a silly, straw-splitting distinction: how could you hate what a man did and not hate the man? But years later it occurred to me that there was one man to whom I had been doing this all my life--namely myself. . . In fact, the very reason why I hated the things was that I loved the man. Just because I loved myself, I was sorry to find that I was the sort of man who did those things. Consequently Christianity does not want us to reduce by one atom the hatred we feel for cruelty and treachery. . . But it does want us to hate them in the same way in which we hate things in ourselves: being sorry that the man should have done such things, and hoping, if it is in anyway possible, that somehow, sometime, somewhere, he can be cured and made human again.
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
1. Have you ever stopped to consider all the problems brought upon by our sinful nature and our sins of omission, commission, disposition and faulty assumptions? Too many people, in our humanistic age, would rather think in terms of mistakes instead of the seriousness of sin. Paul teaches the Romans about the state of sin in that no one is righteous and no one does good. (vs. 10-12) This goes against the tendency of many who are unwilling to admit that everyone has a desperate need for a Savior. Some people will say, "Oh, look at that cute baby. How can you say that he is a sinner?"
Paul states, "We inherit our sinful nature through Adam." He writes, "None is righteous, just and truthful and upright and conscientious, no not one." (vs. 10 – amplified version)
When a person recognizes that they are incapable of pleasing God they soon realize that they are unable to discern the will of God for their life. Unregenerate people are spiritually dead, but they are loath to admit it.
Spiritual dead people have no aspirations for God or what is good. Their minds are bereft of the Spirit of God that guides one into all righteousness. Corruption, evil and self-destructive appetites control a spiritually unregenerate person.
Only when people admit that they are helpless sinners are they able to experience a new birth through Jesus Christ. For most individuals, confessing their sins is the biggest stumbling block to finding eternal life.
Only when a person comes to God acknowledging that he is guilty of sin can he express his need for a Savior. About 90% of the six billion people on the earth try to find all kinds of substitute sacrifices for sin except Jesus Christ - only to remain unfulfilled and dead in their sins.
Ask the Lord to help you teach people about the serious nature of remaining in a sinful state without having Christ as their Savior and Lord.
2. Paul teaches the Romans that sin leads to deceitful speech. A sinful person’s speech is full of beguilement. A deceitful person consistently practices the act of representing as true what is known to be false.
Failure to be honest with ourself, others and God is a trait of someone who is a prisoner to their own sinful nature.
Sin deceives peoples’ intentions by trying to make them think they are doing good when they are standing in the way of God’s priorities.
Immature Christians fail to realize that they are guilty of the sins of omission.
Sin tends to stifle a person’s discernment because they cannot see truth as interpreted by the Spirit of God.
Ask the Lord to help you be freed from any pattern of deceit as you learn how to speak the truth in love and grow up in ALL aspects in to Christ.
3. Paul shows the Romans that sinful people exhibit behavior that is violent and ends in desolation. The great apostle wrote, "Their feet are swift to shed blood." (vs. 15) People are led by their sinful impulses may not realize it but their destructive behaviors harm everyone around them, including themselves. Sin is fierce like a wolf.
Jesus said, "The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it." (John 10:12) Sinners who assume any kind of leadership position put the people under their care at great risk.
This is one of the reasons why it is essential to ask the Lord to put Godly leaders in all positions of authority.
4. Paul teaches the Romans that sin leads to moral decay. Without the righteousness of Christ cleansing our minds, we are helpless to stem the flood of moral decadence in our personal lifestyles.
The most disciplined person in the world is unable to remain morally upright without the help of the Spirit of God. Paul wrote, "The works of the flesh are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousy, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murder, drunkenness, revelries and the like.
Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Gal . 5:19-21) In contrast, the FRUIT of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.
We cannot manufacture goodness with sincere human efforts. Without the empowering of the Spirit of God working through a born-again Christian, every individual remains a slave to moral decline.
Ask the Lord to help you urge people to trust and obey the Spirit’s leading instead of their sinful desires by your fine example and teaching.
Conclusion:Few college football coaches have made a point against drugs as effectively as Erk Russell of Georgia Southern College. He arranged for a couple of good ol’ country boys to burst into a routine team meeting and throw a writhing, hissing, six-foot-long rattlesnake onto a table in front of the squad. "Everyone screamed and scattered," Russell recalls. "I told them, ’When cocaine comes into a roon, you’re not nearly as apt to leave as when that rattlesnake comes in. But they’ll both kill you!"
Unknown.
