FREEDOM FROM SIN
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Dominion means something that has supreme authority; or control over us. God does not intend for sin to be our supreme authority in life, nor does He allow that sin should control us. This is not to say we do not, or can not sin as Christians.
1 John 1:8,9 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Charles Spurgeon said in his book Prayer and Spiritual Warfare: "Oh, if only we could get rid of the memory of sin! What a torment it is for us to remember dirty words and snatches of obscene songs. If only we were free of sin in our thought lives!". "Many people have committed fornication, adultery, theft, and even murder in their imaginations by finding pleasure in the thought of them".
The Christian is definitely uncomfortable with sin, because It brings separation of fellowship with God.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
The meaning of death, is separation, it could be physical as when we go into the grave and are separated from our loved ones, or it could be spiritual meaning separation from God. Now we know that since sin does not control us, and because of 1 John 1:9 above, we can have our fellowship restored as Christians. The lost, however, who never come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, suffer the "second death" which eternal separation for God.
Rev 20:13,14 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
So how do we find freedom from the sin that so easily besets us?
Let’s look at a passage from the Old Testament:
Gen 39:7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
Gen 39:8 But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
Gen 39:9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
Gen 39:10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
Gen 39:11 And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
Gen 39:12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
I/ JOSEPH KNEW WHAT SIN WAS:
In his book "All the Doctrines of the Bible" Dr Herbert Lockyer says the following 15 things about sin:
(1) Sin Is a Lie.
It started in the Garden with the question of divine veracity-Hath God said? Sin is thus false, seeing it had its origin in the father of lies, even Satan, whom Christ called a liar. Sin entered the world through a blasphemous lie and maintains its hold upon men by asking them to believe a lie. Our Lord confirms the lying nature of sin when He speaks of the devil as one who is a stranger to truth (John 8:44).
(2) Sin Is a Delusion.
As sin is naturally treacherous. it is full of guile and that by which man is cruelly betrayed. "In whose spirit there is no guile" (Psalm 32:2). Looking within sin’s fair promises there can be heard the hiss of the serpent. Sin is ever deceptive. What it affirms is fictitious! It is full of make believe.
Sin unto thy hive may bring
A little honey-
But expect the sting.
Sin offers much pleasure, but only the pleasure of which Robert Louis Stevenson writes: "pleasure with a thousand faces, and none of them perfect; with a thousand tongues, and all of them broken; with a thousand hands, and all with scratching nails." Sin offers itself as a friend, then becomes a fiend.
(3) Sin Is Darkness.
The darkness of sin represents fundamental and final ignorance of God, who is Light (John 1:5; I John 1:5). Sin comes from the darkness, lives in and loves the darkness. It shuns the true light lest its true nature should be discovered (John 3:20). Satan is referred to as the prince of darkness (Ephesians 5:11). He it is who inspires works of darkness, and his end is the blackness of darkness forever (Jude 13).
(4) Sin Is Separation.
Sin separates man from God, and man from man (Isaiah 59:2). Those smitten with the plague of leprosy had to dwell alone because of the contagious character of the disease. Moral leprosy also results in spiritual isolation. The sinner is not only separated from God here and now, but dying in sin, is eternally separated from God (Revelation 20:15).
(5) Sin Is Perversion.
That sin is crooked, a perverse, distorted thing. Sin perverts man’s thoughts of God and His law, and is contrary to equity. At the same time it works for the destruction of the human soul. Sin not only perverts, but pollutes. Loose thinking leads to loose living. The Spirit’s work is to reveal to our minds the loathsomeness of sin.
(6) Sin Is Servitude.
It is most impressive to note how the Bible takes pains to teach us that indulgence in sin means grievous toil and bondage, in labor of the most wearying kind. The tragedy is that the majority around prefer to be slaves of Satan rather than servants of God.
(7) Sin Is Emptiness.
A man who serves sin gets nothing for it. The apples of sin are the apples of ashes. Failure, defeat, disgust and disappointment are written over the life of a sinner.
"I was born, indeed, in your dominion," said Christian to Appollyon, "but your service was hard and your wages such as a man could not live on, for the wages of sin is death." The rewards of sin are confusion and dissatisfaction.
(8) Sin Is a Mistake.
All who sin become like shepherd-less sheep a prey to enemies. All who sin discover, sooner or later, that they have made a mistake, tragic and fatal. What the Bible teaches regarding the effects of sin is clear and unmistakable. There are a few Hebrew words describing the ruinous affects of sin. If we weaken or ignore scriptural definitions of sin, we depart from what Christianity really is. Surely it is important to know God’s thoughts regarding the abominable thing He abhors.
(9) Sin Renders the Soul Guilty Before God.
The guilty are deserving of and liable to punishment. ’The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Disobedience carries with it a curse (Galatians 3:10). While the sinner may seek to deny that sin renders him guilty, and brings him into danger, yet guilt means exposure to the wrath of God and is the first and the worst effect of sin. Guilt is a judicial term, implying that the guilty one is deserving of judicial punishment.
(10) Sin Produces a State of Wickedness
There is a word rasha, ordinarily translated "wicked" or "bad." It is an expressive term implying that the sinner is actuated by an evil principle, and therefore becomes desperately wicked (Psalm 9:17). Alas, what low, vile depths the sinner often reaches!
(11) Sin Ruins Life and Hope.
The small word ra, so often used for "wicked" or "evil," means the ruin of a soul by breaking it in pieces. Because of sin, the potter’s vessel, made to be fitted moment by moment with the glory of God, is dashed to the ground and lies broken. It is in this sense that the word for "sin" before us is used in Proverbs 15:26.
It is somewhat remarkable that while in the word "holiness" there is the suggestion of wholeness or completeness-in the word for "wickedness" there resides the idea of ruin, brokenness, destruction.
(12) Sin Results in Distortion.
The word already considered, avon, speaks of a crooked or perverse attitude
and illustrates the terrible twist within human nature as the result of sin. Such a twist remains in the regenerate person. "The good that I would do I do not, and the evil I would not, that I do" (Romans 7:19,20). Sin bends man’s nature toward all that is alien to God, and blinds him to the peril of indulgence. This aspect of sin is presented in Psalm 32:3. Refusing the way of life, the sinner ends up in the way of death (Matthew 7:13).
(13) Sin Defiles the soul.
Defilement or moral and ceremonial uncleanness is the fruit of sin. "Woe is me I am unclean." This defiling influence of sin is brought out in the word mum, meaning to cover with blots and blemishes (Isaiah 1:6). When the soul is guilty of practiced sin, it becomes like a white sheet of paper on which ink has been spilt, or as pure snow trodden underfoot. Virginity of soul is lost.
(14) Sin Corrupts the soul.
One of the strongest words used in the Bible for sin is shachath, implying loathsomeness, a condition of rot. It is found in Genesis 6:12, and describes the vile condition which the sin of the antediluvians brought into the world. It is found again in Psalm 14:1, and shows that those who reject God are corrupt. The force of such a word is terrific, for it proves that sin destroys the soul, rendering it rotten, loathsome, unclean. When God is dethroned in national or personal life, the corrupt forces of sin hold sway. The clearer our conception of divine holiness, the deeper our consciousness of the exceeding sinfulness of sin.
(15) Sin Ensnares the soul.
This is a further word to study, namely! kashal, which reminds us that sin not only implies a fall, but involves the sinner in utter ruin (Ezekiel 18:20).
Sin blinds, deludes, deceives, defiles, then destroys. If unforsaken, sin results in irretrievable ruin. It is here that we can understand the unspeakable terror resident in the fatal words of the Master, "Depart from Me, for I never knew you." If the sinner despises divine warnings and dies in his sin, he is east into outer darkness, where the worm dieth not.
II/ JOSEPH KNEW FIRST, SIN WAS AGAINST GOD
The same God that was protecting him, that was helping him to rise about the wickedness of the men around him, Joseph you see loved God as we love our children or our wife. I am always amazed at someone who says they love God, yet they can curse His name. It is not easy to abuse or curse someone you love. Joseph, feared or respected God.
Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. So he said how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
III/ JOSEPH KNEW HOW TO OVERCOME SIN
If you have missed every thing else I have said; listen carefully now. Joseph knew how to overcome sin: He fled from it. That’s how we can overcome the temptations of the world the flesh and the devil, Flee!, Run!, Get away!, Say no!. Don’t play with sin to see if you are strong enough to resist it later, you are not. Just as soon as immoral thoughts come to your mind, Flee, think of something else. You know what works the best? Flee to a safe shelter, Jesus. Ask Jesus to take you in his arms and shelter you from your old nature. See how many times we are exhorted in Scripture to flee or run from sin:
1 Cor 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
1 Cor 10:14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
2 Tim 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
1 Tim 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
1 Tim 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Notice in many of these verses, we are exorted to flee to something, seek righteousness - who is righteous?
Seek godliness - who is godly?
Seek Faith - who gives faith?
Seek Love - who is Love?
Seek Patience - who is patience
Seek Meekness - Know any one who is meek?
Oh man of God, flee these things; and follow after the one who is all of the things mentioned above, Jesus our advocate in heaven who said:
Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
What is it that gives us the most trouble, what weighs us down? Flee it and run to Jesus! Oh, I know you have tried to resist sin on your own, and you have failed miserably. That is because you have not fled to the Rock of Ages, the shelter in a storm, the great physician, the balm of Gilead.
It is not enough to run but run in the right direction. It has worked for me and it will work for you.
