Whatever Became Of Sin?

WHATEVER BECAME OF SIN?

Ephesians 2:1-10

INTRO: I heard about a man who was standing in an airport pointing his finger at different people saying GUILTY! One man responded: “How did he know about me?” If we did that today, people would say: “What have I done wrong? I’m just like everybody else.” But as Christians we are not like everybody else. We are to be different. We have been changed. Whatever happened to sin in our lives? People today don’t believe much in sin anymore. What is sin anyway?

I. SIN IS MISSING THE MARK (vv. 1-3).

The original word for sin—ᾅìáñôéá (hamartia) means: “not to hit,” or “missing the target.”

It was used to describe a soldier who missed his target (i.e. to fail in his purpose, to go wrong).

There are two kinds of sin:

ROOT SINS: those inside the person—missing the mark.

FRUIT SIN: The things we do—that others see.

ILLUS: “Pastor, I feel sorry for you, you pastor some of the meanest people in town. They are terrible sinners.” The man was a member of the church himself. He only saw other people’s sins.

Sin does three things in our lives.

1. Sin Kills.

(1) Innocence

(2) Desire to do right

(3) Fellowship with God and others

2. Sin Controls.

3 . Sin Condemns.

II. GOD CLEANSES OUR SIN (vv. 4-7).

God, who is rich in mercy, reaches down and takes us in our transgressions and makes us alive in Christ.

He has raised us up to be sharers with Christ both now and in the future.

ILLUS: Think about a pet in the animal shelter—but for our love and choice, the pet would still be there.

But for the grace of God, we would still be without hope in this world, and without hope for the next world.

We have no power within ourselves to prevent sin, or to stand justified (Just as if I never did it) before God.

III. OUR RESPONSE TO HIM (vv. 8-10).

Through faith. That is how we respond to God. It is not by works that we are brought to Him.

Grace glorifies GOD.

Works glorify MAN.

ILLUS: Chinese Handcuffs—you place your finger in each end of the tube. The harder you pull the tighter it gets. Relax and it will slip off your finger.

The harder we pull against God, or the harder we try to live right, the farther we slip away from Him. We need to relax and let Him do the work in us.

CONC: What has happened to sin in our world? It is still around even if people will not admit to sin in their lives. We are still guilty of sin in our lives as Christians. God wants to remove that sin! Will we let Him?