Homily  [20]     Pastor Dan Neary

Sin & Virtue  [21]

 

Lay groundwork for the next seven weeks.

Answer some basic questions.

 

Is sin real?  [22]

The Rule of law – If there wasn’t sin, we wouldn’t need laws, law enforcement or prisons

 

The Confrontation with Holiness

 

Isaiah 6:5-7

Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."  Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.  He touched my mouth {with it} and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven." 

 

The Mirror

We know who we are.

 

What is sin?  [23]

“Sin is a riddle, a mystery, a reality that eludes definition and comprehension.” (Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, http://bible.crosswalk.com/Dictionaries/BakersEvangelicalDictionary/bed.cgi?number=T649)

 

Fortunately, sin isn’t completely mysterious and beyond comprehension.

The truth of the matter is that there are volumes upon volumes of good material written on sin… from all sorts of perspectives (social, theoretical, medical, philosophical, theological, even mathematical).

 

And, of course, the Bible has a great deal to say about sin.

 

So… what is sin?  [24]

 

 

Historically, sin is, first of all, a tragedy.  [25]

The result of the first sin, Adam and Eve’s sin, was a fall. We read it together, today, in the creed:

Humans were created good and upright. However, by voluntary transgression fell
and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. 

 

It is tragic because it represents a fall from the high original status of humankind. Created in God's image, Adam and Eve fall to Satan’s tempting. First, Satan introduces doubts about God's authority and goodness. "Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" (Gen 3:1)

 

Throughout the Bible almost every sin reaches for things with some intrinsic value, such as security, knowledge, peace, pleasure, or a good name. But behind the appeal to something good, sin ultimately involves a raw confrontation between obedience and rebellion.  [26]

Will Adam and Eve heed their impressions or God's instructions?

Will they listen to a creature or the Creator?

Will they serve God or themselves?

Who will judge what is right, God or humans?

Who will see to the results?

Ultimately, by merely taking the position of arbiter between the conflicting counsel of God and the serpent, Eve and Adam elevated themselves over God and rebelled against him.

 

Sin involves our refusal to accept our God-given position between the Creator and lower creation.

 

The principal effects of sin are alienation from God,  [27]

from others, from oneself, and from creation. They emerge almost at once. Alienation from God led Adam and Eve to fear and flee from him. Alienation from each other and themselves shows in their shame (awareness of nakedness) and blame shifting. Adam Acts out all three alienations at once when, in response to God's questions, he excuses himself by blaming both Eve and God for his sin: "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit" (3:12).

 

Genesis and Romans teach that Adam and Eve did not bring condemnation   [28] on themselves alone.

From their privileged position as the first, originally sinless couple, the introduced sin to the human race. Since then sin, sinfulness, and the consequences of sin have marred all. Every child of Adam and Eve enters a race marked by sin, condemnation, and death (Rom 5:12-21). These traits become theirs both by heritage and, as they grow into accountability, by personal choice.

 

 

What do you mean by 7 deadly sins?  [29]

First of all, let’s make it clear that we’re not going to find a list of “seven deadly sins” listed in the Bible. The list is man-made.

In the late 6th century, Pope Gregory the Great reduced lists that were floating around into a list of seven that closely resembles what we have today.

So…   [30] are there seven conveniently arranged, one for each day of the week?

No… the list is more serious than that:  [31]

 

This idea of the seven deadly sins has permeated our popular culture.  [32]

Have you heard this one?

 

Is Gilligan the Devil?

 

Years ago, CBS had a popular little series called "Gilligan's Island". There is, however, a dark secret about this "comedy" you may never have realized. The island is a direct representation of Hell.

 

Nobody on the island wants to be there, yet none are able to leave. Each one of the characters represents one of the 7 deadly sins:

 

Ginger represents LUST - she wears skimpy outfits, is obsessed with her looks, and is a borderline nymphomaniac.

 

Mary Ann represents ENVY - she is jealous of Ginger's beauty.

 

The Professor represents PRIDE - he is an annoying know-it-all.

 

Mr. Howell represents GREED - no explanation needed.

 

Mrs. Howell represents SLOTH - she has never lifted a finger to help on any of their escape plans.

 

The Skipper represents two sins: GLUTTONY - again, no explanation needed and ANGER - he violently hits Gilligan on each show.

 

This leaves Gilligan. Gilligan is the person who put them there. He prevents them from leaving by foiling all of their escape plots. Also, it is HIS island. Therefore, Gilligan is SATAN.

 

Crazy? He does wear red in every episode.

 

Some have even tied Snow White’s seven dwarfs to the seven deadly sins… too much of a stretch for me!

 

We could certainly come up with other lists.  [33]

We could even come up with a Biblical list… we could have preached a 10-week series on the 10-Commandments.

 

I think this list is worth understanding.

 

I especially appreciate this list’s focus.  [34]

Because this focuses on the core, the center of sin.

Right smack in the middle of sin… is I.  [35]

 

This list properly identifies our sin problem as an “I” problem.

 

Aren’t there worse sins?  [36]

We are good church-goin’ folks.

If we’re going to preach on sin, shouldn’t we go preach where the real sinners are… maybe down in the taverns… maybe the prisons would be a better place… that’s where the real sinners are.

 

Jesus said God requires more than obedience to external norms. People sin by hating, despising, and lusting even if they never act on their desires. People sin if they do the right things for the wrong reasons. Obedience that proceeds from fear of getting caught, or lack of opportunity to act on wicked desires lacks righteousness (Matt 5:17-48).

 

There are sins that are certainly more socially worse than others.

There are even sin habits that are more difficult to break than others.

 

But it seems that, as far as God is concerned, all sin is a breach of relationship with Him. There really is no meaningful quantification or degree of sin to be found in Scripture.

 

What is the point of studying sin?  [37]

It is our responsibility to reign-in sin.

 

Romans 6:8-15

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him, because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, no longer dies. Death no longer rules over Him. For in that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in that He lives, He lives to God.  So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace. What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not! 

 

We need to understand sin, our sin, so we can wage-war against it.

We can have victory over sin and this passage spells-out three steps.

  1. Count yourself, or consider yourself, dead to sin. Renounce it! (v.11)
  2. Do not let sin reign. Resist it! (v.12)
  3. Offer yourself to God. Replace it! (v.13)

 

You can’t really do any of this is you can’t identify sin.

 

 

What do you mean by 7 heavenly virtues?  [38]

Unclear of exact origins… but goes back to the Middle Ages. The popularization of the virtues can be attributed to the 13th century theologian Thomas Aquinas.

 

So, our approach over the next seven weeks will be to pair-up each of the sins and virtues.

 

Isn’t everything different now in the New Testament? What about Grace?  [47]

There are some age-old arguments around these questions.

There are some age-old heresies around these questions.

We could spend a long time here, but let’s answer these questions quickly from our text in Romans:

 

How dare you?  [48]

Good question.

Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude, Justice, Temperance, Prudence

Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth

 

I’ve been known to demonstrate them all. I’m better at some than others…

but that is my business.

 

Please be certain that any treatment of sin that comes from this pulpit comes from a fellow pilgrim. God uses imperfect human vessels.

 

1 Timothy 1:12-17

 

What is the answer?  [49]

Christ came not just to explain but also to forgive or remove sin.

His name is Jesus because he will deliver his people from their sins (Matt 1:21; Luke 1:77). Thus he was a friend of sinners (Matt 9:9-13; Luke 15:1-2), bestowed forgiveness of sins, and freed those suffering from its consequences (Mark 2:1-12; Luke 7:36-50). Jesus earned the right to his name and the right to grant forgiveness by shedding his blood on the cross for the remission of sins.

 

The crucifixion is at once the apex of sin and the cure of sin (Acts 2:23-24). That the Son of God had to bear the cross to accomplish redemption shows the gravity of sin. That he rose from the dead demonstrates that sin is defeated. After his resurrection, Jesus sent out his disciples to proclaim the victory and forgiveness of sins through his name (Luke 24:47; John 20:23).

 

Our goal here in this church is simple. We want to grow.  [50]

We want people to come to faith here… numerical growth.

And, we want people to develop a strong walk with God… spiritual growth.

 

We can go back, again, to what we read together today in our creed:

 

The only hope of redemption is through Jesus Christ the Son of God. Salvation is received through repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. By the regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, being justified by grace through faith, we become an heir of God, according to the hope of eternal life.

 

 

And today I offer that hope to you.

If you find yourself trapped in Sin… come to Jesus for redemption.

If you have received redemption, but today are dealing with difficulty getting your experience to match the redeemed position Christ has bought for you, come to Jesus for help in the power of the Holy Spirit.