Sin And Salvation

"Sin and Salvation"

Genesis 3:1-13; Romans 8:1

Every believer needs to know the allure, the acts, the attitude and the cost of sin so that it can be avoided at all costs.

Introduction

Certain words that are prevalent in scripture have fallen out of favor in our society. One is rarely if ever used in polite conversation. If you say it loud enough in a public place people will get quiet and look at the person who said it. It is very politically incorrect. It is the word sin.

Ill.

One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the evil that was going on. He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out. So He called one of His best angels and sent the angel to Earth for a while. When he returned he told God, yes it is bad on Earth, 95% is bad and 5% is good.

Well, He thought for a moment and thought maybe He’d better send down a second angel to get another point of view. So God called another angel and sent him to Earth for a time too. When the angel returned he went to God and told him "Yes, the Earth is in decline. 95% is bad and 5% is good." God said this was not good.

So He decided to send e-mail to the 5% that were good. He wanted to encourage them, give them a little something to help them keep going.

Do you know what that e-mail said? Oh, you didn’t get one either, huh? What a bummer. (Steve Shephard, "After Easter - Getting With God’s Program of Worship", Sermon Central)

The word sin comes from the Hebrew word "hatta th" meaning "missing" and the Greek word "martano" which translated means "miss the mark". Scripture reveals that "all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory". (Romans 3:23)

Believers need to not only add the word to their vocabulary but also understand the biblical progression of sin in our lives so it can be avoided. Every believer needs to know the allure, the acts, the attitude and the cost of sin so that it can be avoided at all costs.

1. Sin is Alluring

I like to watch the occasional fishing show. It amazes me how many lures a fisherman will have in his tackle box. There is one for every kind of fish and every kind of water. Depending on what the fisherman is trying to catch determines the line and the lure used.

Make no mistake about it, sin has an allure, a fragrance, an aroma that draws us away from the Lord. It is called temptation. Temptation is not sin but it is the fishing line, the lure used to draw us in to sin. Let’s look at Genesis 3:1-7,

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Here is what the Lord said to Adam in Genesis 2:16-17.

And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

There is a lot of truth found in this exchange between the serpent and Eve. The problem is it is only partial and half truths. Sin always begins by questioning God’s word, "Did God really say..."

The serpent questioned God’s word and later challenges God’s word with, "You will not surely die". He also tells Eve she will be like God. Eve was given the ultimate temptation, be God.

What could Eve have done to avoid the sin at this point? She could have walked away and called on God. They had an intimate personal walking relationship with Almighty God. Nothing separated them from Him. They both were getting ready to lose the greatest gift ever, walking with God in blissful innocence.

2. Sin is an Act

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.