“Different Kinds Of Sin”
INTRODUCTION: Tonight, we’re going to talk about SIN … always an interesting topic … one that we all know a lot about … from personal experience.
When we talk about sin, there are 2 things that we find:
• Man makes so little of it.
• God makes so much of it.
Man JOKES about it … even BRAGS about it. Man thinks of sin as a HANG-UP that Christians have. Man thinks sin is ENTERTAINING … most of the TV shows and movies are centered around sin.
God says that the “wages of sin is death” … eternal death in the Lake of Fire. God says that “the souls that sinneth shall die”. God says that sin is a very serious matter.
Sin is UNIVERSAL … you can’t escape it. No matter where you go in the world, you will find sin. Sin can’t be ESCAPED … BUT … it can be OVERCOME … by the power of God. We know that sin exists … OTHERWISE … there wouldn’t be any jails … or locks on your cars & houses.
TONIGHT … we’re going to find out what sin is. Some say that sin is just a weakness of the flesh … the absence of society’s morals. Some say that sin is the nature of the beast revealing the evolution of man … that it shows that man hasn’t completely evolved yet. Some say that sin is a disease, a sickness of the mind … mental, not spiritual.
BUT … what does the BIBLE say? We all know how sin came into the world. It didn’t originate with Adam & Eve. Sin originated with the Devil … with Lucifer … BEFORE he became Satan, the Devil. BUT … sin entered the world of MANKIND through Adam.
Lucifer fell from perfection when he exerted his will above the will of God – Isaiah 14:12-14 – ribbon. When Satan tempted Eve, she was DECEIVED … AND … ate of the fruit of the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil”. Adam ate WITHOUT DECEPTION … knowingly. When he sinned, as the corporate head of the human race, his seed became corrupt. That’s why we must be BORN-AGAIN - 1 Peter 1:23 – “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
SO … we are sinners BY NATURE. You don’t have to teach children to be bad, tell a lie, etc. We are ALSO SINNERS BY CHOICE. THUS … we are responsible to God for the sins we commit.
HOW DO WE SIN? WHAT KINDS OF SIN DO WE COMMIT?
I.- SINS OF COMMISSION – These are through DIRECT DISOBEDIENCE to God.
There are different words in the Bible for “sin”. We don’t see them that clearly in the English translations, so we’ll look at the GREEK to clarify “sin”.
1.- Romans 3:23 – “sin” = “hamartia” = ‘missing the mark’. The TARGET, the BULL’S EYE, is God’s perfect will. We sin when we “miss the mark” … i.e., anything other than the “bull’s eye” of God’s perfect will. How many times in a day, or hour, do we miss the bull’s eye? We miss God’s standard for perfection … we “come short of the glory of God”.
2.- Romans 5:19 – “disobedience” = “parakoe” = ‘to fail to hear’. Have you ever HEARD someone talking to you, but failed to HEAR them? Sometimes, it’s called “selective hearing”! Sometimes we get busy reading the paper, watching TV, etc. … AND … we are only half-listening to what someone is saying.
The same is true with SIN. God is speaking to us, and we only half-listen. That happened to Adam - Genesis 2:16-17 – “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: [17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Adam wasn’t paying attention to God, when God spoke … AND … he ended up DISOBEYING God. We do the same thing, don’t we? We get so involved in what we WANT to do … what we LIKE to do … that we don’t pay attention to God speaking to us.
How do we know what God is saying? So we wouldn’t FORGET what He says, He wrote it down for us. It’s called the BIBLE. In it, you will find God’s “bull’s eye”. We need to LISTEN to Him when He speaks to us.
3.- 1 Timothy 2:14 – “transgression” = “parabasis” = ‘to go to the wrong side of the law’. This is like John Wayne telling Billy the Kid that he’s on “the wrong side of the law”. There’s a RIGHT side, and a WRONG side of the law … there’s no MIDDLE ground.
You are on GOD’S side, or SATAN’S side. Satan, like a bully, draws the line in the sand, and says “step over this line”. When you cross over, you “transgress” God’s law. 1 John 3:4 – “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”
God also draws a line in the sand. It’s 1 line … always straight … never changes … the same for everybody. That’s called JUSTICE. God sets the standard. When we sin, we deliberately go to the other side of His law. We sin when we set our OWN STANDARD, and ignore God’s standard. Judges 17:6 – “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”
“transgression” is very similar to “trespass”. Ephes. 2:1 – “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;” What does a “No Trespass” sign mean? It means that you had better not step over the line. It means, don’t go where you’re not supposed to.
SIN, is trespassing OFF God’s values & perfect will … AND … onto your own values and will. Each time we sin, disobey, transgress, or trespass, we commit SIN … a sin of COMMISSION.
There’s ANOTHER type of sin …
II. SINS OF OMISSION – We can sin without ever doing the WRONG thing … BECAUSE … we don’t do the RIGHT thing.
The closer we live in obedience to the Lord, the less we commit sins of COMMISSION. MAYBE … you don’t cheat, lie, steal, gossip, kill. HOWEVER … you’ll still see sins of OMISSION.
James 4:17 – all turn. Sin is sin … whether you DO something WRONG … OR … DON’T do something RIGHT. The standard is God’s PERFECTION. Sin comes when you DO the WRONG … AND … DON’T DO the RIGHT. You don’t have to DO WRONG to sin.
Hebrews 9:7 – “errors” = “agnoema” = “sin of ignorance”. They should have known better, but didn’t. Leviticus 5:17 – “And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.”
There is an old saying, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse”. This is what Paul said about himself BEFORE he was saved - 1 Tim. 1:13 – “Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” Paul was IGNORANT of the truth of Jesus as the Messiah … YET … he sinned in what he did.
Eve was IGNORANT … she was beguiled by the serpent. 2 Cor. 11:3 – “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” Adam DELIBERATELY disobeyed … his sin wasn’t because of IGNORANCE.
Romans 14:23 gives us a good definition of sin - Romans 14:23 – “for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” What you do may be good, kind and with good intentions. BUT … if it isn’t done “in faith”, it is SIN.
There is still another kind of sin …
III. SINS OF DISPOSITION – These are sins of ATTITUDE.
We can sin in our HEART and MIND … YET … never commit an overt act of sin.
Turn to Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28. LUST is a sin, even if it doesn’t bring forth the ACT of adultery. HATRED is a sin, even if it doesn’t bring forth the ACT of revenge or murder.
The sin of the IMAGINATION is just as much a sin, in the eyes of God, as the ACT of sin. NOW … don’t think “Since THINKING about it is just as much a sin as DOING it, I might as well DO it!” While BOTH are sins, there are greater CONSEQUENCES when the ACT is committed. Just ask your wife or husband … or the cop!
Sin BEGINS in our mind … in our THOUGHT LIFE … in our IMAGINATIONS. James 1:14-16 – all turn. O be careful little mind, what you think! The seed of sin is planted in our minds through “lust”.
CONCLUSION: Sin is everywhere. Sin is all around us. Sin is IN us. BUT … God has the REMEDY for sin. 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
God makes much of sin. WHY? BECAUSE … sin cost Him His Son, Jesus. 2 Cor. 5:21 – “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Sin is very costly. That’s why God makes so much of sin.
MAYBE … we should make much of sin. MAYBE … we should see what it cost Jesus to pay our sin-debt. MAYBE … we should think about the price that Jesus paid for our sin … BEFORE … we so quickly yield to sin in our lives. MAYBE … we would see sin like Jesus does.
We should see sin as NOT JUST something we DO … BUT … ALSO as something we DON’T DO … AND … something that we THINK about doing. Sin, is anything that doesn’t please God … that doesn’t give Him honor and glory.
Let’s be more SENSITIVE to sin in our life!
STAND - PRAY
OUTLINE FOR HANDOUT:
“Different Kinds Of Sins”
INTRODUCTION: Man makes so little of sin … God makes so much of it.
- Sin originated with Lucifer – Isaiah 14:12-14
- Adam’s sin corrupted the human race – 1 Peter 1:23
I. SINS OF COMMISSION – Through direct disobedience.
1.- Romans 3:23 – “sin” = “hamartia” = ‘missing the mark’
- Not hitting the bull’s eye, God’s standard of perfection.
2.- Romans 5:19 – “disobedience” = “parakoe” = ‘to fail to hear’
- Sometimes we have “selective hearing” when it comes to listening to God speaking – Genesis 2:16-17
- So we wouldn’t forget, God wrote down what He said.
3.- 1 Timothy 2:14 – “transgression” = “parabasis” = ‘to go to the wrong side of the law’.
- Satan draws a line in the sand – 1 John 3:4
- God sets the standard – Judges 17:6
- To “trespass” means “Don’t step over the line” –
Ephesians 2:1
II. SINS OF OMISSION – Through not doing the right thing.
- You don’t have to do wrong to sin – James 4:17
- Hebrews 9:7 – “errors” = “agnoema” = ‘sins of ignorance’.
- Leviticus 5:17 – Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
- Paul sinned in ignorance - 1 Timothy 1:13
- Eve sinned in ignorance – 2 Corinthians 11:3
- A good definition of sin – Romans 14:23
III. SINS OF DISPOSITION – Through sins of attitude.
- You can sin in your heart & mind, without ever committing the overt act of sin – Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28.
- There are greater CONSEQUENCES to the ACT of sin.
- Sin begins in your thought life – James 1:14-16
CONCLUSION:
• God has a remedy for sin – 1 John 1:9
• Sin cost God so very much – 2 Corinthians 5:21
• We need to be more sensitive to sin in our life.
