MAN’S BASIC PROBLEM: SIN
March 28, 2010
Moheb Ghali
I. Introduction:
I would like to ask you to participate in a quick exercise this morning. Look at the person
next to you, or in front of you, or in back of you. Point your index finger at him/her and
make the following three statements in as a sincere voice as you can muster:
YOU ARE A SINNER.
YOU NEED TO REPENT.
ONLY JESUS CAN SAVE YOU.
For those who made the statements: Did you feel comfortable doing that?
For those on the receiving end: Did you appreciate being told that you are a sinner and
that you need to repent?
We find it distasteful to confront people in this way – after all, who are we to judge
others? Besides, only a disheveled fanatic standing on a box at a street corner would
shout things like that at people, right? Wrong!
John the Baptist made a career of saying those three things to people. Jesus did the same.
Peter’s first sermon on the day of Pentecost can be summed in exactly these three
statements. In our times, consider Billy Graham: no matter what scripture he would begin
his preaching with, he always ended by telling people that they are sinners, they must
repent and that only by turning to Jesus can they be saved.
While this confrontational style may not suite you, we have to realize that it is impossible
to avoid making the statements and be successful in bringing anyone to Christ. If people
are not sinners, what would have been the point of God sending His Son? What would be
the point of Jesus giving up His life? If people are not sinners, why would you try to lead
anyone to Christ? Why would anyone listen to you if they have no need for forgiveness
or for Jesus? Whether you are comfortable with it or not a person must realize that he/she
is a sinner, if you were to lead them to Christ. If I am not a sinner, I have nothing to
repent of. And I have no need for a redeemer, thank you very much. And, of course, if
there is no such thing as sin, I cannot possibly be a sinner!
II. Is Man a Sinner? Are we all sinners?
Let us be clear on what sin is: Sin is basically a rebellion against God and His authority.
It is a rejection of His instructions, a distrust of His judgment and intentions. It is not so
much the actual doing but the desire, the will and the decision to do what we are told not
to. The actual “doing” comes only after one has considered the options and decided that
what one desires is more important than obedience. One sins in his heart before carrying
out the sins with his actions. Jesus tell us that “For out of the heart come evil thoughts,
murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. “ [Matthew 15:19].
Consider Adam and Eve: God gave them all creation to rule over it and care for it – all of
creation except for one tree of which He warned them “ you must not eat from the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” [Genesis
1:17] The serpent told them otherwise: “You will not surely die. For God knows that
when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD, knowing
good and evil.” They had the choice of whom to believe, whom to obey. In their grasp for
the power to be “like God” they chose to disobey God, to reject His command and to
doubt His motives. They chose to believe the lie that what was forbidden was actually
“good”, “pleasing” and “desirable” [Genesis 3:1-12]. Only after making the choice to
disobey did they eat.
You may say Adam and Eve were sinners, but that does not necessarily imply that we
also are sinners. We are nice people. We do not commit murder or adultery; we do not
steal, covet or give false witness. Neither did Adam and Eve do such things! Our sin is
like theirs’: disobedience in an attempt to become “like God”. Do we obey the
commandment “you shall have no other god before me…you shall not make for your self
an idol”? Do we have our own idols, whether they are fame, power, or wealth, or our own
egos? Do we feel at times that people owe us thanksgiving and praise? Do we seek to be
loved, worshiped and adored? Do we get offended when people slight us or do not show
up appropriate deference due us? Do we at times want to be the ones in charge of our
destiny – to be “like God”? Are we sometimes convinced that our will, our ways and our
works are sufficient?
Did you ever say something mean or vicious to someone and wished you had not? James
tells us that “no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”
[James 3:8]. How serious is saying a few angry words? Jesus compares that to murder!
“But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.
Again, anyone who says to his brother, `Raca, '(empty one, fool, empty head) is
answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, `You fool!' will be in danger of the
fire of hell.”[Matthew 5:22] How serious is just looking at a woman lustfully? Jesus
considers that the same as adultery: “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman
lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” [Matthew 5:28] Again, it
is not the outright doing; it is the desire that makes us sinners. St. James writes: “but each
one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after
desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to
death.”[James 1:14-15].
Are we all sinners? The short answer is: Yes, we are all sinners. St. Paul tells us that “we
have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” [Romans 3:23] and St. John tells us
that “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” [1
John 1:8]. As a matter of fact both of these scriptural passages are in St. Brendan’s
statement of what we know – look it up at the end of the worship booklet!
You may agree that we are all sinners but argue that many of us commit only “small” sins
– nothing major! Sorry, but disobedience is disobedience. In the Screwtape Letters the
senior devil writes to his nephew, the junior devil, this piece of advice: “You will say that
these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be
able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the
extent to which you separate the man from (God). It does not matter how small the sins
are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out
into the Nothing. … Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope,
soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”[C.S.
Lewis, Screwtape Letters, Letter XII] If sin is rebellion against God, there is no
distinction between a minor and a major sin. St. James writes:” For whoever keeps the
whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” [James 2:5]
Sin separated Adam and Eve from God – they went hiding away from His presence. In
the same way sin separates us from God – we do not want to, and we dare not, face Him
after rejecting His commands and choosing what we desire. And once we are separated
from God we are vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy who will certainly draw us
further and further away from God. The sad fact is that this is not “freedom from God
and His commands” as the enemy would have us believe; rather it is slavery to sin. We
just like Edmond (in the Chronicles of Narnia), will crave more and more “Turkish
Delight” and end up in captivity and slavery to the provider of the ‘Turkish Delight’. Paul
writes: “Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as
slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which
leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? … When you were slaves
to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.” [Romans 6:16, 20]. Sin is the
way to death. When God told Adam and Eve “you shall surely die” He meant it. St. Paul
writes: “sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way
death came to all men, because all sinned” [Romans 5:12]
III. What to do?
Just convincing a person that he is a sinner does not accomplish much other than getting
him depressed. We need to tell him what to do as well as what will not work.
We need to impress on him that doing good works is only an analgesic, masking the pain
of separation from God. We cannot repair our relationship with God by doing good. Paul
writes: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.” [Ephesians 2:89].
Nor can we escape slavery to sin by engaging in religious activities. The saying that
religion is the opiate of the people has some truth in it. Engaging is religious activities
can sedate us so that we are no longer aware of our sinfulness.
It is also not possible to get out of clutches of sin by sheer will power and determination
to stop sinning. If any could, it would have been St. Paul, the most single minded,
unwavering, determined, and unyielding person in the face of persecution I know. But he
writes: “So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the
members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner
of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will
rescue me from this body of death? … So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's
law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” [Romans 7:21- 25]. If Paul could
not do it, we cannot either.
If it is not possible for us through good works, religious works or determination to repair
our relationship with God – to overcome our sinful nature that separates us from God and
leads us to death, are we “toast”? Is there any hope that something can be done?
The Good News is: Yes, something can be done- in fact it has been done! What is
impossible with man is possible with God [Mark 10:27]. But we need to do two things to
get ready for that: (a) Repent and, (b) Turn to Jesus.
Just acknowledging the fact that we are sinners is not enough. If we want to continue as
we are, there is nothing that God can do – He gave us freedom of choice. The big lie that
keeps people from repentance is that life would become dull, boring, and joyless; all the
fun would be taken out of life. The enemy would have us believe that sin is “good”,
“pleasing” and “desirable”. St. Augustine is reported to have said “Lord, give me virtue
and chastity but not yet1” It is the same lie that he told Adam and Eve: God is
withholding from you something good, pleasing and desirable. If Satan would let us see
sin for what it really is there would be no temptation to sin. Hence the need for the lie.
On the other hand, if we are willing to turn away from sin, that is, turn from disobedience
to obedience, to replace our will with His will [Matthew 26:39]; even though we know
that we need His help to do that, God will help us do it. The curious thing is that Adam
blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent, but neither one confessed that he/she has sinned
and neither repented!
I make a distinction between repenting and leading a sinless life thereafter. St. Paul
repented and turned to Jesus, but he still sinned: “When I want to do good, evil is right
there with me… I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a
slave to the law of sin.” Repentance is the decision to be obedient – a decision that no
matter how many times I sin, I will confess it and ask for forgiveness. I sin but I am no
longer a sinner by nature- I have a new nature although every once in a while my old
nature shows through!
Repentance is part (a). How about part (b): Turn to Jesus? What will that do? Come back
the Sunday after Easter: Deacon Gerry will tell you some really Good News!