Why Christians Do Not Continue In Sin (1of 3)

His one sin plunged the whole human race into sin, because all mankind was in his loins when he sinned.

The Bible tells us that mankind is born into sin, but even if It did not state this, it would not be hard to prove.

Illus: All you have to do is watch a newborn baby. You will see immediately:

• Newborn babies often come into the world displaying a violent temper when they cannot have things their way.

• Newborn babies manifest stubbornness, pressing their little lips together so that they can not be fed.

These selfish and rebellious acts come naturally. We all get that naturally, from “Papa” Adam. We were born in sin. The human race is a LOST RACE.

That is why God’s Word says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Some have come shorter than others, but every one of us has missed the mark.

We all inherited that nature to sin from Adam. Some would have us believe that we came about through evolution.

Illus: This reminds me of the American who was visiting China. He saw a young Chinese boy bouncing rocks across the top of the water in a nearby lake. Each time he would throw the rock, it would make a sound like this; Ching, Chang, Chung! The American said to this young Chinese boy, “That’s strange. What do those sounds mean?” The Chinese boy began to explain that it was a ancient Chinese custom for a young man to do this, because it told him of his family history. He said, “For example.

• My father came from the Ching family.

• My grandfather came from the Chang family

• My great grandfather came from the Chung family.”

The American said, “Do you reckon it will tell me the history of my family?” The young Chinese boy said, “Try it and see.” He picked up a rock, and skipped it across the top of the water, and these sounds came forth; Chim-Pan-Zee.

A lot of folks may think we evolved from the monkey, but the Bible tells us we all came from Adam, the man God created.

Admittedly, the sinful nature that we all inherited makes us act like monkeys sometimes, but the fact is, we are all members of the lost human race that Adam is the head of.

• In chapter 5:12-14, we discovered that Adam is the head of the human race.

• In chapter 5:15-21, we also discovered that Christ is head of the heavenly race.

• From the first Adam we received sin

• From the second Adam we received righteousness

• One SINGLE ACT OF ADAM, plunged the whole human race into sin.

• One SINGLE ACT ON CALVARY, brought righteousness to the whole human race.

Once we have come to know Christ as our Lord and Saviour, we are IN CHRIST, NOT IN ADAM, we are justified by the blood of Jesus. That is, we have been declared righteous before God.

When the Lord Jesus saved us, several marvelous things began to take place in our lives.

WHAT TOOK PLACE?

1. WE WERE JUSTIFIED

That is, we were declared righteous. Christ on the cross took our sins, and His righteousness was imputed to us.

The reason we can be declared righteous, is because now that the Lord took our sins, and His righteousness has been imputed to us, when God sees us, He sees the righteousness of Christ.

But the second thing that took place after we were saved was:

2. WE WERE SANCTIFIED

That is, we are made righteous. Justification takes a sinner and DECLARES HIM RIGHTEOUS because the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to the believer.

But God takes that same sinner, and SANCTIFIES HIM/HER, AND MAKES THEM RIGHTEOUS.

• Justification removes all the GUILT. (We are now declared righteous).

• Sanctification removes the POWER OF SIN IN OUR LIFE.

Illus: I like that song that was written for boys and girls, but also applies to us adults. It is called, “He’s Still Working On Me.” The words of the song go like this, “He’s still working on me -- to make me what I ought to be. It took Him just a week to make the moon, and the stars, the sun and the earth, and Jupiter and Mars: How loving and patient He must be, HE’S STILL WORKING ON ME.”

This is true, if you are a born-again child of God, HE’S STILL WORKING ON YOU. As long as we live on this earth, HE IS GOING TO KEEP WORKING ON US, CONFORMING US TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON.

Some folks have the misconception that all God cares about is fixing up the inside. They do not think He cares about the outside.