SIN ABOUNDING by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction:  Many of you know that I love the Old West. When I was 6-7 years of age, my dad gave me some Bonanza comics, and I was fascinated with the scenes of the Old West. Not long after, I read a book titled “Treachery at Cimarron” by Jim Ross, which really got me hooked on westerns. Later, I read many Louis L’Amour books, and a couple of Zane Greys. Of course, the Western movies were a big draw for me, especially “Tombstone.” Through the years, our family has made several trips out West, everywhere from Tombstone, Arizona, to Dodge City, Kansas, to Deadwood, South Dakota. As you can see, the stage behind me is ready for our play “West of Pecos.” It is set in the 1870’s when law and order stopped by the east bank of the Pecos River in Texas. On the west side of the Pecos River, it was a world of violence and craziness. One man, Judge Roy Bean, tried to establish some semblance of justice around Langtry. There are a couple of movies and even a show about him. By the way, make sure you get your tickets and even invite friends and family to come. We want this place to be packed out. They will hear the gospel in a creative and humorous way. In many ways, the play ties in with our message today titled SIN ABOUNDING. Just like the Old West, our world is also marred by sin and lawlessness. Jesus came to break the power of sin by his death on the cross. Unlike Judge Roy Bean, Jesus was much more than some mythic figure built by Hollywood. He was God’s only answer to sin and death.

Romans 5 (page #1738) 20 “Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Context: In last week’s message, we learned about original sin, how did sin get into this world. Paul wanted both the Gentile background and Jewish background believers in Rome to understand that everyone was under the condemnation of sin and hence death because Adam was our federal or covenantal head. People sin and die not only because of Adam’s sin but also because they sin themselves due to Adam’s nature in them. Condemned for what he did and condemned for what we do, but Adam’s sin is fundamental and foundational. The only way we can get out of sin and death is by switching families – we must make a transfer from the family of Adam to the family of Christ. By uniting himself to death, Jesus freed us from the bonds of death. Now, death no longer has power over us. Instead, it is the means through which we live in Christ. Death now becomes God’s way of bringing us life. He took the curse brought about by the Enemy and turned it on its head. Now, Christian life is God’s call to come and die and, in so doing, live.

Application: Have you made the transfer from the family of Adam to the family of the New Adam? Are you still living in the family of sin and death? Death is separation. Second death is eternal separation. Separation from God and separation from our loved ones in Christ forever.

We are still not ready to leave the subject of sin. Paul still has much to teach us about sin in the Book of Romans. There are still questions that need to be answered: What is Sin? How does it impact us? What does the cross do for sin? By the way, all this is very important for end-times prophecy because all the wrath and the tribulation are simply God dealing with sin completely and permanently.

With that said, how should we understand the meaning of sin through Paul’s letter to the Romans? For starters, there are 4 main Greek word groups for sin (See, Moo, “Sin in Paul”). The first is “hamartano.” It is found about 90 times in Paul’s letters and about 60 times just in Romans. Originally, it meant “missing the mark.” Since then, the word means so much more than that. Second, “paraptoma” = Trespass, about 15 times by Paul, 9 in Romans; third, “epithumia” = lust; and fourth, “parabasis” = transgression. There are many more words, and most begin with the prefix “a” to indicate a negative attribute (unbelief, unrighteousness, unfaithfulness, disobedience, godlessness, and on and on). Here’s the point: The various words that Paul employs to refer to sin proves that sin was a very important subject for Paul. Also, it is a very complex subject.

1. The Essence of Sin: Paul does not give us a definition of sin. Instead, we have to glean it from the many things that he says about sin. Romans 3 (page #1735) 9 …For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. 10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” 13 “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; 14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways; 17 And the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19  Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Here is the essence of sin – letting anything diminish the glory of God.

For e.g. blocking the light

2. The Manifestation of Sin: 3 ways

A. Individual Behavior: thoughts, words, and deeds

Romans 1 (page #1733) 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;

B. Societal Systems: antigod and anti-biblical values

Romans 1:28 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.”

2 things to caution against Liberal tendency:

• Are the values created by people or given by God?
• Is it a strategy to shift the blame away from personal responsibility?

It’s easy to fight the man but it’s harder to fight the inner man.

C. Cosmic Power

Sin entered: Romans 5:12 (page #1738) “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”

Sin rules: Romans 5:21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sin pays wages: Romans 6:23 (page #1739) “For the wages of sin is death…”

Sin seizes opportunity and produces evil desire: Romans 7:8 (page #1740) “But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire.”

Sin deceives and kills: Romans 7:11 “For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.”

Sin is intensified by the law: Romans 7:13 “…so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.”

Here’s the point: Sin is much more than just wrongdoing. It is a power that has entered the world when Adam sin and tries to enslave humanity. It even uses the law to deceive and kill (“Ontological metaphors,” See Gaventa commentary, p. 162-165).

3. The Status of Sin:

A. Before the Cross: Master Sin controls us.

Romans 6 (page #1739) 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

B. After the Cross: We are Dead to Master Sin.

Rom. 6:12   Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

The Cathedrals (Southern Gospel Group) had a song which went like this:

As a child, I foolishly turned God away,

Not knowing the heartbreak a sinner must pay,

But God, in His goodness, has let me return,

To share with His children this lesson I learned,

Chorus

Sin will take you farther than you want to go,

Slowly, but wholly, taking control,

Sin will leave you longer than you want to stay,

Sin will cost you far more than you want to pay.

So with pleasure and promises, Sin took control,

Leaving me dying, with nothing to show,

Gone were my loved ones, and my dearest friends,

Only a Saviour could love me again.

Invitation: Do you see the power of sin in your life? Do you see the power of sin in the world around us? Do you truly understand why Jesus had to come and rescue us? Are you saved?