"What Everyone Needs to Know About Sin" by Hiram Kemp

Nobody's for sure how many words are removed and added, but it is true

that on an annual basis, words are added to the dictionary and there are

words that are taken out for various reasons. An article in the Reader's Digest

suggests 3 reasons for why different words are on occasion taken out of

the dictionary. Sometimes they say, number one, it's the evolution of language.

Language changes, maybe due to slang or pop culture, the way

people use words. And as the language evolves and continuously changes,

human vocabulary is updated and certain words are considered obsolete.

And so as the language evolution— evolutionizes, the words

are removed. Second reason why words are sometimes taken out is the

evolution of meaning. Sometimes, and you can think of certain words where this

would be true, a word once meant something, but over time things have changed.

People use the word differently, and as a result, the meaning has changed.

And as that continues to happen, eventually Webster and others just decide

it's a good idea to remove the word altogether.

And then the third and final reason why this article suggests that there are words

taken out of the dictionary, it's the aging of words. Sometimes words

just become archaic and old, and you can summarize it by simply saying

people just don't talk like that anymore. And as a result, words are

taken out. The interesting thing about words being added and removed from the dictionary

is most times you don't even realize this is happening.

Just over time, people start using a word sort of differently,

slightly differently than the way it had been used for decades before.

People start saying different things about this word or maybe using it

less and less, and then they remove it from the dictionary, and all of a

sudden the word just sort of vanishes as if it's been permanently removed

from the human conscience and people no longer use the word anymore.

There are certain words that removed from the English lexicon really make no difference

at the end of the day, but then there are other words that we just

simply can't do to live without, and one of those words is the

word sin. Now, maybe you don't realize this, but there

is this idea that people have tried to just sort of remove the word sin

out of the human vocabulary and out of the human lexicon, It can't be done.

But if you just observe the world in which we live, you'd have to

admit that we're trying really hard to do so. I mean, just about everything

is approved these days, and really nothing is ever called sin

anymore. We don't say things like, I've got pride.

We call it confidence. We don't say, I'm bitter.

We say, I'm still hurt about that. There is no

fornication. These are just 2 people who are deeply in love and practically married

by common law anyway. And so we just sort of let it go.

It's not gossip, it's concern. In fact,

probably the greatest thing in our society that is known as sin today

is calling something else a sin. And as we think about

this, we should appreciate we're not the first group in society to try to do

this. In Isaiah's day, Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 20,

Isaiah 5 · chapter mention

Isaiah says, woe to you that call evil good and

good evil, put light for darkness, darkness for light, bitter for sweet

and sweet for bitter. In the days of the judges, Judges 17:6

Judges 17:6

and Judges 21:25, we read, in those days there was no king in Israel,

Judges 21:25

and every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Paul talked

about the Gentile world in Romans chapter 1, and in verse 18, he describes some

Romans 1 · chapter mention

who he says they suppress the truth in their unrighteousness.

And one of the indications that we are living in the last dispensation

of time, according to 2 Timothy 3:1-5, is that people profess godliness

2 Timothy 3:1–5

with their mouth but not with their life, and they denote the power of

godliness, but they ignore its power. Even if you could

remove this word from the lexicon of the English-speaking world,

you wouldn't be able to deny its behavior. Whether you're a believer or

an unbeliever, the fact remains, you look out at the world in which we live

and the behavior that people practice, it just makes it obvious

that human sin, unrighteousness, and misconduct is what's wrong with

our world. But this sermon is more than just about keeping a Bible word

in circulation. It's about understanding what the Bible says about sin

and what that means about us as human beings, but ultimately what it

says to us about God. Because the truth about sin is a truth that

everybody in the world needs to appreciate— what we've done to ourselves at the deepest

level, how this affects the world in which we live, and the depths that God

has gone to in order to get us out of it. Isaiah 59:1-2,

Isaiah 59:1–2

Isaiah says, behold, the Lord's hand isn't shortened that it can't save.

His ear isn't heavy that he can't hear, but your sins and your iniquities

have separated you from your God. And have we been made friends

again? It's only in appreciating the depths that we fall into in sin that

we can appreciate the rescue that God has gone to in order

to save us. So in the time we have remaining, here are 5 truths that

everybody needs to know about sin, and here's number one: sin

is not inherited. This idea that we inherit

sin has had many champions down through time that have sort of popularized this

idea. It started with Augustine in the 4th century. It was popularized

in systematic theology by John Calvin, but even in more recent

times in pop culture, people like Biggie and J. Cole have just sort of popularized

this idea, and now it just sort of rolls off the tongue naturally.

Born sinner. Born in sin, inheritors of

Adam's sin, and all of those are simply ways of saying

something that's false and not true.

The Bible does teach that Adam introduced sin into the world. Romans 5

and verse 12 says, for by one man sin entered the world, and death

by sin, but death passed to all people because

all people have sinned. The Bible teaches Adam introduced sin into the world, but we

do not inherit his guilt. His transgressions, or the blackness

of his stain is not on our soul as soon as we're born into the

world. Romans 2:6, God says that he will repay each

Romans 2:6

person in accordance with their works. One of the truths

that everybody needs to know about sin is we, we do not inherit it

from Adam or from anybody else. When you think about what

happened when Adam and Eve sinned, when they transgressed and they fell, God shows

up at the end of Genesis 3 and he starts doling out the consequences.

And He says to Eve in Genesis 3:16, her consequence

Genesis 3:16

would be pain in childbearing, and her desire would be to rule

over her husband, and he would reign over her. He says to Adam in Genesis

Genesis 3:17–19

3:17-19 that his work would now be difficult,

and in the sweat of his face he would eat bread, and nature would no

longer easily cooperate with him as it had been previously designed to do,

Genesis 3:17-19. But one of the things God

Genesis 3:17–19

doesn't say to Adam is, oh yeah, and by the way, because of you,

everybody is going to be born in sin and inherit your guilt. Because God

doesn't say that and the rest of the Bible doesn't bear that out, it should

be a corrective for how we view sin and the way it's made its entrance

into our world. The Old Testament Law of Moses taught that the father wouldn't

be punished for the sins of the son and the son wouldn't be punished for

the sins of the father, Deuteronomy 24:16. In the historical

Deuteronomy 24:16

sections of the Old Testament, ancient Israelite kings were taught that they

couldn't look back at their fathers and say, I'm the way that I am and

I'm an idolatrous worshiper because of what my fathers have done. 2 Kings 14:6,

2 Kings 14:6

2 Chronicles 25:4. It was their responsibility,

2 Chronicles 25:4

and it's ours as well. But I think the passage in the Bible that hits

at this truth most clearly is found in Ezekiel 18. If you've got your Bible,

turn to Ezekiel 18. And in Ezekiel 18, the prophet Ezekiel

is dealing with ancient Israelite people who were struggling with the same thing that many

modern Bible students struggle with today when we think about the entrance of sin

into the world. Ezekiel 18:1-4, essentially what the people

Ezekiel 18:1–4

are saying to the prophet and to God is, we are guilty of sin,

but we're guilty of being punished because of what our forefathers have done.

They say, we— our fathers have eaten the sour grapes and our

teeth are set on edge. And Ezekiel responds to them and to all

people everywhere in verse 20 when he says, the soul that sins will

die. The son won't bear the iniquity of the father, nor the father for the

son. Righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness

of the wicked will be upon himself. Translation: we don't

inherit sin from anybody else, and everybody in the world

needs to appreciate and accept this reality and this truth about sin.

Before I explain this illustration, I just want to say Neil and I did not

coordinate the back-to-back WNBA references for illustrations, okay?

It's been viral for about 2 months. It doesn't seem to be losing any steam,

but Sophie Cunningham was in a game. She's a guard for the Indiana Fever.

And she was in a heated exchange with a woman by the name of Dawanna

Bonner. And the exchange happened on the court because of a foul that was called.

And you could hear Bonner saying to Sophie, don't point at me.

And so you know what Sophie did? She pointed. But more

than just point, she held it unbroken for 22 seconds.

Coaches and refs were telling her to get off the— get off the court,

and she continued to hold the pointed finger at Bonner, and she

wouldn't break it. She wouldn't stop it. Like a kindergartner in elementary,

basically saying, You can't stop me. I'm going to point. It went

viral. It's been called the Sophie Point, and people were doing it in other sports

and in other disciplines. It's been marketed. And for 22

unbroken seconds, she just pointed even though she was told not to. I don't know

if you've ever done this before. Pointing at somebody else for 22 seconds

is pretty awkward and disturbing. But imagine pointing at

somebody for thousands of years. Adam has

his share of the blame, and the Bible will not let him off the hook.

But I can imagine that Adam is shouting down through the hallways

of time as we transgress, as we stumble, and as we rebel,

saying to the masses of humanity, don't point at me.

Psalm 106:6 says, we have sinned and rebelled

Psalms 106:6

and transgressed just like our fathers. Our transgressions are our own.

And this is more than just about theological precision concerning

where sin comes from. It's about the way that we see God. God would

not place somebody else's debt on you. He's good and upright,

Psalm 25:8. He's the judge of all the earth that

Psalms 25:8

will do right, Genesis 18:25. But more than

Genesis 18:25

this, it causes us to step back and then re-enter the Bible and then

how we see the whole world. If we don't inherit anybody's sin,

including Adam's, then that means we should change our terminology.

It's not original sin. We're originally saved,

Romans 9:11. It's not original guilt. It's original

Romans 9:11

grace. We're born in a state of innocence and we choose

later to go in the opposite direction of that, Matthew 18. 3 through

4. I think the more you think about this point,

the more disturbing and unsettling it might be. Because if

this is true, and it is according to Scripture, if we don't inherit anybody

else's sin, then that means we've got to deal with it. I think you can

imagine why this idea might be popular and why people might want to

believe that this is true when they're taught it theologically or in pop culture.

Because if I'm not responsible for the reason that I'm in the mess

of sin to begin with, then I'm less inclined to want to deal with it.

If it's because of what Adam did thousands of years ago in Eden that I'm

guilty of transgression, then I'll never want to fix up or fess up.

I can just keep pointing back at Adam doing my best impression of Sophie

Cunningham. But if it is my fault, then I've got

work to do. You see, the Bible says that yes, your environment,

your upbringing, and all of those things may have some bearing in explaining

your struggles, but they don't bear the consequences for your sin and your actions.

When Moses comes down from Mount Sinai, he confronts Aaron. Aaron can point at the

people all he wants to, Exodus 32:23-24,

Exodus 32:23–24

but he made the golden calf. It was nobody's responsibility but

his. This is challenging to us because it means we've got

to confront the worst things about ourselves. But if we run in the other direction,

we miss out, because it's not until we confront the worst

things about ourselves that we ultimately learn the best things about him. That he's

patient and long-suffering, abounding in steadfast love and mercy, not willing

that any should perish, Exodus 34:6-7.

Exodus 34:6–7

The first truth that everybody needs to know about sin, sin is not

inherited. So, where does it come from? That's number 2,

sin is chosen. It's our choice. We decide

on our own account. We don't— the world is broken because of

Adam's sin, and the world is changed because of what Adam did, Sin came into

the world through Adam, but sin has come into our own lives based on the

way that we have chosen to live and go astray from God. The wise man

says it this way in Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 29: Lo,

this is what I found: God made man upright, but man

has sought out many wicked schemes and inventions. Individuals have

decided to go their own way. Yes, we're born into a state of innocence,

but eventually every one of us goes astray from God. Paul says

in Romans 3 and verse 9: Thus we've concluded that both Jew

and Gentile are all under sin. We're not born as

sinners, but we become sinners. Eventually we reach a stage

or an age of accountability, and the Bible says nobody escapes

that. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, Romans 3 and

verse 23. 1 John 1 and verse 8 and 1 John 1 and verse 10

says even after becoming a Christian, there's these incidents and times where

we sin, and if we deny that, we're a liar and we make God a

liar. What everybody needs to know about sin is

that sin is chosen. We choose to rebel, to defy,

and to transgress God's law and his Word. Turn in your Bible to

James chapter 1, and this is the place where Robert read for us from the

James 1 · chapter mention

scripture reading. And James in James 1, really 13 down through 16,

unpacks where sin comes from in the individual life. And it's interesting

that James will not let you off the hook or me. He doesn't. He says

it's not God's fault. But if you read James 1:13-15, it's interesting.

James 1:13–15

James doesn't even say what you would expect as a Christian. He doesn't say it's

the devil's fault. James says, no, this one's on you. James 1:13,

James 1:13

let no man say when I'm tempted, I'm being tempted by God, for God cannot

be tempted with evil, neither does he tempt any man. But every

man is tempted, in verse 14, when he's drawn away of his own lust and

enticed. When lust is conceived, it gives birth to sin.

Sin, when it's full-grown, gives birth to death. Verse 16, he says,

do not be deceived, or do not err, my beloved brethren. Don't be deceived

about what? Don't err about what? Where sin comes from and the fact that though

we might not like to appreciate it as true, it's what we chose.

In Joshua chapter 6, God tells the people, hey, you're going to go into Jericho

Joshua 6 · chapter mention

and conquer this city, but under one condition. All of the spoils belong to

me. A man named Achan steals from the spoils and takes for himself. When he's

brought out and confronted by Joshua, Joshua, before his execution, says, Achan,

why'd you do this? And in Joshua 7:21-23,

Joshua 7:21–23

Achan says, when I saw the Babylonish garment,

I coveted. I saw the 200 shekels of silver and the

gold weighing 50 shekels. He says, I coveted, I desired,

and I took it. Achan, why'd you do it? Achan would say, it's because I

chose it. And if you think about even all the words in the Bible that

are used to describe what sin is by definition, it makes this point come alive

even more. Sin is described as lawlessness or transgression, 1 John 3:4.

1 John 3:4

That is, God has a standard, God has a law, and we just decide,

I'm going to go past that. All unrighteousness is

sin, 1 John 5:17. That means God has a standard

1 John 5:17

of what's right and humanity decides, I'm going to do what I want.

The Bible calls sin disobedience, Romans 1:20-23.

Romans 1:20–23

But perhaps the word in the Bible that describes sin the best

and most vividly, this word is used in both the Old and New Testament in

their respective languages, languages is this idea of sin means missing the mark.

It's the idea, not that we accidentally, that we attempted to

hit the mark and we somehow missed because of human frailty and weakness,

though that does happen. The word translated sin most often in the New Testament

is this idea that we just went our own way and aimed at whatever we

wanted to and we failed. Isaiah says rebellious children

add sin to sin, Isaiah 30:1. To the

Isaiah 30:1

one that knows to do good and doesn't do it, to him it's sin,

James 4:17. What everybody needs to know about sin is sin

James 4:17

is chosen. And maybe we don't like this. This makes us uncomfortable, the idea

that we would see ourselves the way the Bible does, because this

means that we're maybe not as good as we would like to think. Maybe we're

worse off than we could imagine. And this is the Bible saying to you and

me, if our lives are a movie with a strange plot twist that no one

saw coming, then it means that we finally start to see ourselves

as we watch the movie of our lives as the villain doing ourselves

the most harm, that we never could appreciate or realize we're

the ones choosing and going in the opposite direction. But it's only when we

see that do we really start to appreciate what God's done for us. The word

gospel is a Greek word that means the good news. But before we can appreciate

the good news of the gospel, we've got to sit with the bad news of

sin. We might not want to hear it, but we need to hear it.

I mean, imagine you fall out of a tree. And you go into the doctor,

you go to the emergency room, bone protruding out of your arm, and you approach

the doctor, you get in to see somebody, you're in excruciating pain, and you say

to him, Doc, what is it? What's happened to me? And he's a nice doctor

and he doesn't want to hurt your feelings, so he says, I'm not going to

tell you it's broken, but you've had an inconvenient change in your skeletal structure.

You'd be frustrated. You say, listen, I don't care what you call it. I've got

a broken bone. Tell me what I need to do. So I can fix it.

And we come hobbling into God's presence and we're broken and

we say, God, tell me what happened, it's hurting. And God says, I've got to

be honest with you, you're broken and you did it to yourself.

And I'm telling you the truth so you can fix it.

Isaiah 53:6, Isaiah says, all we like sheep have gone

Isaiah 53:6

astray. We've gone everyone his own way and the Lord has laid on

Jesus the iniquity of us all. We've all chosen. Martin Luther says,

sin is a turning in on oneself. It's doing ourselves damage and

harm. And every time we sin, we always choose wrong.

Deuteronomy 30:19, Moses says, I've set before you death and life.

Deuteronomy 30:19

Choose life that you may live. But here's number 3,

sin is deceptive and it's enslaving.

Sin doesn't show up the way you and I might imagine just

with bad— there are things Paul does say, the works of the flesh are evident,

Galatians 5:19-21. But the primary way that sin

Galatians 5:19–21

shows up in the world, in our lives, is it's through a deceptive nature.

What does that mean? It means it's not going to come with a name tag,

a red suit, a pitchfork and horns. Hello, my name is sin and I'm

here to destroy your life. It's not going to happen that way. Sin seems inviting

and welcoming and happy and helpful. That's why the Bible in

places like Hebrews 3:13 talks about the deceitfulness

Hebrews 3:13

of sin, because sin doesn't look like it's going to ruin your life until

it does. In Hebrews 3 and verse 13, the Hebrew writer says,

but encourage one another daily while it's called today,

lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of

sin. It's this idea that you don't even see it coming.

This is a picture of what's called a Lone Star tick,

and they say Lone Star ticks can do great damage. Not just a bite like

normal ticks, they can create in somebody what's called an allergic reaction called the alpha-gal

syndrome. And that's after you've been bitten by this tick, if you eat red meat,

not only can you have an allergic reaction, but that allergic reaction can

ultimately lead to your death and your demise. In 2024,

there was a 47-year-old pilot in New Jersey who

died, and initially his death was ruled sudden and unexplained.

They did some further digging, and he was bitten by one of these Lone Star

ticks, and then after that, he ate a hamburger, and that's

what led to his death. I mean, just look at this tick. I know it's

blown up on the screen, but it's so small you could flick it into another

galaxy with your middle finger. But if it bit you, It could

kill you. And sin's like that. I mean, you could wave sin off with the

hand just like Joseph does in Genesis 39:9 when he tells

Genesis 39:9

Potiphar's wife, I can't do this great wickedness and sin against God. But on

the contrary, you could also extend the hand to sin and be welcomed in

and ruined. Solomon paints a vivid picture of this in Proverbs 7:20-23

Proverbs 7:20–23

when he says, you see this foolish young man, he's like an ox going to

a slaughter, a bird caught in a snare. He doesn't know it'll cost him his

life. Why? Because sin is deceptive. It sneaks up

on you and you never see it coming. Turn your Bible

to Genesis chapter 4, because I think in Genesis chapter— this is the first time

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

in the Bible, in Genesis 4, that God actually calls something sin.

And what God says and the picture God paints about sin,

I think it was meant to stick with us the rest of our lives,

is God says some things to Cain about sin, and the picture God paints about

the deceptive nature of sin. You know the story of Cain and Abel

in Genesis chapter 4 and how it ultimately ends. But before this, Abel's mad— Cain's

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

mad at Abel because Abel's offering was accepted and his was not. But look

at Genesis 4 and verse 7 and notice what God says to Cain.

He says, do you do well to be angry? He says, if you do well,

will you not be accepted? But otherwise sin is crouching at your

door and its desire is to rule over you, but you must master it.

This phrase, sin is crouching at your door, It's a Hebrew word that means to

like lie down, to make itself seem smaller. You've— you

maybe have a house cat and you've seen this happen. They try to sort of

crouch down and make themselves seem smaller. Lions do this right

before they pounce. God's saying, Cain, that's what sin's doing.

Cain, sin is crouching at your door. Yes, to pounce and

to ruin, but also to deceive and to pretend, to not look as

big as it really is. You see, Cain, he's a human like you and me.

In Genesis 4:5, he's just angry. That's all he has to think.

Genesis 4:5

I'm jealous. I'm angry. This is normal. God shows up

and he says, Cain, tucked behind that anger is sin that is larger

than it appears. It's massive. And when it finally stands upright,

it'll devour you and it'll kill you. Oh, he just wanted to be angry.

Cain had no plans whatsoever of committing murder, but that's

what sin does. You see, sin's deceptive. And if sin could have

its way, every lust would be adultery. Every envy would be robbery.

Every self-pity would end up in idolatrous self-arrogance because sin

crouches down. It makes itself appear small. It makes itself

appear harmless. And then when it finally stands up, it's too late.

Ask Cain how it worked out for him. It deceived him.

And before long, Genesis 4:8, he's murdering his own

Genesis 4:8

brother. Because sin is sneaky, but sin

is also enslaving. Jesus's favorite way to describe

sin in John 8:34, he says, whoever commits sin

John 8:34

is the slave of sin. Paul picks up on this in Romans 6:16.

Romans 6:16

Paul says, whoever you yield yourselves as servants to,

his servants you are to whom you obey, whether of sin that leads to death

or obedience that leads to righteousness. Sin is deceptive and sneaky,

but it's also enslaving. It'll grab you in its clutches and refuse

to let you go. Proverbs 5:22 says that a person can

Proverbs 5:22

be ensnared or trapped in the cords of sin as it literally has you bound.

Kirk Franklin is a musician known for religious and gospel music. A couple

years ago, he was interviewed on Oprah, and on this— in this episode, he was

talking about his struggle and addiction to pornography. And he told Oprah,

he said, you know, one day I realized I had a problem because

I took the magazines that were causing me trouble and causing me to stumble,

and I drove far away from my house And I wanted to be rid of

it. And so I threw them in a dumpster because I realized that sin was

an issue. But he underestimated the power and clutches of sin because

Franklin says, at 3 o'clock in the morning, I woke up and drove to the

nearby dumpster and jumped inside digging for the magazines.

Imagine being so enslaved that you jump into a dumpster and

you're digging in the middle of the night with your flip-flops on trying to find

the very thing that'll wreck you. But if you're being honest with yourself,

you really don't have to imagine, because how many times in our lives have we

found ourselves running in the same direction of the very things

that come to ruin us? 2 Peter 2:19,

2 Peter 2:19

Peter says, while they promise you freedom, they themselves

are the servants of corruption, of whom a man is overcome of

the same thing, he's brought back into bondage. Flee lust and youthful temptation,

2 Timothy 2:22, but it's difficult and challenging Because sin

2 Timothy 2:22

always comes to enslave. It starts off deceiving

and crouching down, and then once it grabs ahold of us,

it refuses to let us go. Quickly, here's number 4: sin

is deadly. We sometimes sing a hymn,

Love Lifted Me, and maybe you know how this song starts out. I was sinking

deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore. I love that

song. I believe in poetic license, but listen, what Paul's talking about is not that.

Paul does not say, hey, you were sinking. Paul says, no, you were sunk.

Paul doesn't say we were slipping. Paul says you slipped. Paul doesn't

even say you were dying. Paul says you were dead.

Ephesians 2:1-3, Paul says, and you has he made alive

Ephesians 2:1–3

who were dead in trespasses and in sins, where in times

past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince

of the power of the air, the spirit now at work in the sons of

disobedience, among whom we all had our conversation in times

past. And the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and

of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

Everybody in the world needs to know this 4th reality, that sin is

deadly, that sin ultimately comes to ruin and to

destroy and to end us. The Bible uses this language. Notice Paul in

Romans 6:23 does not say the wages of sin will

Romans 6:23

be death, as if it's future. Paul says the wages of sin is death.

What does that mean? It means the wages of sin, yes, they will

be death in eternity as people that fail to repent and trust in

Jesus are lost forever and ever. But the wages of sin are death right now

because there's a sense in which if a person is living a lifestyle of sin

separate and apart from Jesus right now, they're already dead in

their trespasses and sin. It's not on the way. It's being realized now,

and it'll be fully realized at the end of all time.

Whenever you're studying the gospel with somebody and you get to this point and you're

talking about belief and repentance, you've got to try to get a person to see

what you once upon a time saw, and that is, hey, you've got sins you

need to repent of. And you start talking to people about repentance, and normally people

sometimes think, well, yeah, I think I've done some bad things here and there

before, but Paul's using stronger language than that. And maybe as you

read in the Bible about sin being death, you think to yourself,

I mean, this is pretty pretty strong language. I don't know, maybe the Bible's overdoing

it, but if you think about a lifestyle of sin, it is just that.

You've lost your 5 senses, spiritually speaking. You can't see,

John 9:39-41. You're past feeling,

John 9:39–41

Ephesians 4:19. You can't even

Ephesians 4:19

hear the gospel properly because your ears are shut off to spiritual truths,

1 Corinthians 2:16. You can't smell

1 Corinthians 2:16

the aroma of the good news of the gospel of Christ, 2 Corinthians 2:14-16,

2 Corinthians 2:14–16

Paul uses this terminology to drive home the point that sin

is not just dangerous, it's deadly. No wonder Paul says when

you're baptized, you bury the dead man. It just makes sense. That's what

you do to dead people. You bury the dead and then you rise to walk

in this newness of life, Romans 6:3-4, that previously just

Romans 6:3–4

couldn't be enjoyed. The Bible says that we are walking in newness

of life because before Jesus and before his entrance into our lives,

Sin had held us captive, but more than just holding us

captive, we were dead in our trespasses and sin. And it's only through what

Jesus has done that we ultimately enjoy the new life that God offers through

Christ. Here's the 5th and final thing: sin can

be defeated. To only preach the first 4 points

of this lesson would be to simply give you the half-truths, but the Bible

doesn't just say we're in darkness and that sin overwhelms us and

that sin is deadly and addictive. The Bible also teaches that sin can be

defeated, and that's in and through the person of Jesus. In fact, Jesus views his

triumph over death and the grave as his performing on our behalf.

And so Jesus could say in John 16:33, be of good

John 16:33

cheer, I've overcome the world, because as he's overcome, everybody who

puts their trust in him has overcome as well. In John 8:36,

John 8:36

Jesus says, whoever the Son sets free is free

indeed. And so that means a sermon like this is heard 2 different

ways depending on which group you find yourself in. A person that's not

a Christian hears this sermon and says about their life in their sins,

if I stay in my present condition, I'm doomed.

A Christian hears a sermon like this realizing where they stand in Christ

and say, if I stay in my present condition, hallelujah, I'm delivered.

Hebrews 2:14-15, forasmuch then as children are partakers

Hebrews 2:14–15

of flesh and blood, Jesus took on the same thing, that through death he might

destroy the one that had the power over us, that is the devil, and deliver

us who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

In Christ, sin can and is defeated.

Some of you in this audience maybe remember the G.I. Joe cartoon from the

1980s, and at the end of those episodes there was always this sort of life

lesson, this sort of PSA announcement where they would give this life lesson

and one of the children would say something like, now I know. And then what

would be the response? Knowing is half the battle. If you only

know the first 4 points of this lesson, you know half the battle, but you

know the wrong side of it, because the New Testament also says that in Christ,

those that walk in the light are continually cleansed, 1 John 1:7.

1 John 1:7

If you confess your sins, every sin and every iniquity is forgiven

right now. There is no condemnation in Jesus

Christ to those who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, Romans 8:1.

Romans 8:1

Somebody says, but don't Christians still sin? Absolutely Christians

still sin, but in the light of Jesus Christ, the blood continues to cleanse.

And as a person's following Jesus faithfully, they retain none of their sins.

All of our guilty stains are forever washed away, Hebrews 8:12.

Hebrews 8:12

This means if you're a Christian, you're not a dirty rotten sinner who just hopes

to sort of sneak in past God at the judgment and just maybe make it

into heaven. You're not a sinner in a capital S way that the Bible describes

sinners. If you're in Christ, it means you're more than a conqueror,

Romans 8:37. Right now you're being led into a

Romans 8:37

triumphal procession of victory through Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 2:14.

2 Corinthians 2:14

And when you think about sin, it's not the case, well, we're all just a

bunch of sinners. Not those in Christ. Those in Christ

look at the cross and realize that as Jesus was dying,

so was sin. When you were baptized into Christ, your sins

were literally drowned to death and they won't be resuscitated. You've been raised

to walk in newness of life, your sins forever cut off and separated from you.

And so long as you stay near to Jesus Christ, he'll never

bring them up again. See, what everybody in the world needs to know about sin

is that in Jesus Christ, those sins that the world, try as they might,

can never overcome can only be overcome in Jesus. And maybe you

know people that aren't religious and they say, I don't need the church. I don't

need religion to be a better person. Listen, I can become a better person just

through sheer exertion and hard work and good effort. And to that we say,

maybe you could. Maybe you can do some sort of behavioral modification

through just doing the right thing and trying to behave the right way. But here's

the one thing you can't do that only Jesus can do. You can't bring yourself

back from the dead. See, that's the only thing that God offers that

the world can never offer. That is, Jesus says, in me,

I'll give you a brand new life now and an eternal one when this

life is over. There are some words that people sometimes think

we can just do without them. Maybe we can just remove them, but the deeds

and the actions are here to stay. And sin is one of those words.

I know we live in a world that wants to stuff this down and we

found polite ways to say everything, but the Bible is honest with us

because Jesus says you need to know the truth because only in the truth can

you truly be set free and liberated. John 8:31-32.

John 8:31–32

If you're a Christian, hear this sermon and say, praise God,

I'm delivered from sin forevermore, walking in the light,

cleansed of the blood of Jesus, no longer guilty of the things that Jesus

died to save me from. If you're outside of Jesus Christ,

we encourage you, flee to him for refuge. If you believe Jesus

is the Son of God and you're ready to turn away from your sins and

confess them, I believe Jesus is the Son of God, we'd be happy to baptize

you into Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, Acts 2:38.

Acts 2:38

The old man will die, be buried in that water. You'd rise to walk in

newness of life. Kason's gonna lead us in a song to encourage us. If you

need to respond to the invitation, come now as together we stand and as we