Whatever Happened To Sin?

Bible Book: 1 John 1 : 5-10

Subject: Sin; Forgiveness; Confession

Introduction

"'Have you anything you did not receive from God?’ inquired the teacher of his pupils. ‘No,’ said all the scholars but one. He replied, ‘Yes.’ – ‘What is that?’ asked the teacher. ‘Sin,’ replied the boy.”[1]

The mention of sin disappeared from many pulpits across America and few people noticed. A subject so rarely discussed even in private conversation. Attempts to accentuate the positive and to eliminate the negative have left the church on the horns of a dilemma. Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe warns, “Any theology that minimizes personal holiness and excuses sinfulness is not biblical theology.”[2]

Dr. Merrill Chapin Tenney (1904-1985), former Dean of the Graduate School at Wheaton College, shares the following definition of sin in the Handy Dictionary of the Bible, “Sin is anything in the creature which does not express, or which is contrary to us, the holy character of the Creator. The first sin in the universe was an act of free will in which the creature deliberately, responsibly, and with adequate understanding of the issues, chose to corrupt the holy, godly character with which God originally endowed His creation. Sin in the human race had its origin in Adam and Eve (Genesis 3), but sin in the universe had its origin in angelic beings who rebelled against the Creator and whose nature, as a result, became fixed in evil (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). Adam and Eve were created with a holy, godly nature, in fellowship with God; as a result of their sin their nature became corrupt; they became hostile to God and guilty before Him; and they involved the whole human race in their corruption and guilt (Romans 5:12-13). The essence of sin is living independently of God. The solution to the problem of sin is found in Christ, in the redemption provided by Him (Romans 3:21-8:39).

Adam and Eve weren’t the first sinners, they weren’t the last. Humans have been involved in rottenness ever since—always egged on by the devil and his demons.

After studying all the different Hebrew and Greek words that are translated ‘sin’ in the Bible, a pastor concluded: ‘Sin is any act or attitude (personal or social) that fails to express love for God, neighbor, or self.’”[3]

With all of this in mind, let’s dig in to our text. We read in 1 John 1:5-10, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

Allow me to share three things about sin from our passage.

I. First, we see the repugnant concealment of the fact of our sinfulness.

Concealing sin is repugnant and repulsive to God. From 1 John 1:5-6, we read, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

Three times we find the phrase, “If we say”. In verse 6 we read, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” In verse 8, we read, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” In verse 10, we read, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

Paul the apostle writes in Romans 7:7-9, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.”

Several years ago, as we made our way to the graveside, Mr. John Dunbar, a mortician in Columbia, South Carolina, told about his hair style. He said it was a “Watergate” and after I asked why, he said it was a cover up. One Sunday afternoon I met a politician in a Columbia motel restaurant, named Harry S. Dent, Sr. (1930-2007), who was actually involved in the Watergate Conspiracy. He repented of his sin, as did Charles Colson (1931-2012), and he wrote a book titled, Cover Up: The Watergate in All of Us.[4]

We read in Proverbs 28:13a, “He who covers his sins will not prosper.”

II. Furthermore, we see the relevant conviction about the fellowship and sinning.

Dr. Vance Havner (1901-1986) states, “We are told that since we face so many foes without, all church people should close ranks and forget about ‘secondary differences.’ The traitor in the camp is more dangerous than the enemy we face. The Israelites were defeated not so much by the Canaanites as by Achan.”[5] In Joshua chapter 7 we read about the Israelite defeat at Ai because of the sin of Achan. Sadly, Achan’s “confession” of sin lacked the genuine ring of repentance.

The Puritan John Owen (1616-1683) explains, “The custom of sinning takes away the sense of it; the course of world takes away the shame of it; and love of sin makes men greedy in the pursuit of it.”[6]

Aurelius Augustinus (354-430) often simply called, “Augustine” said, “The beginning of knowledge is to know oneself to be a sinner.”

From 1 John 1:7-8, we read, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

We are members of the Body of Christ, the church. We have entered into a covenant relationship with God and each other. When one member suffers we all suffer and when one member sins we suffer as well. What you do either negatively or positively affects the Body of Christ. Sin breaks our fellowship with God and other believers. It also does harm to the body of Christ and hinders the work God desires to do. Some church members have the mistaken notion that they can sin in a vacuum without hurting others.

Dr. Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) lamented, “The greatest barrier I have met is the almost total absence from the minds of my audience of any sense of sin.”[7]

III. Finally, we see the repentant confession for the forgiveness of sin.

Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) warns, “There is no repentance where a man can talk lightly of sin, much less where he can speak tenderly and lovingly of it.”[8]

From 1 John 1:9-10, we read, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

In Galatians 5:19-21 we read, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” After we read the lists of the things God calls sin found in the book of Galatians and other books of the Bible we must remember under certain conditions even plowing and praying can be sin. In Proverbs 21:4 we read, “A haughty look, a proud heart, / And the plowing of the wicked are sin.” From Proverbs 28:9 we read, “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, / Even his prayer is an abomination.” In Psalm 109:6-7, the psalmist writes, “Set a wicked man over him, / And let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him be found guilty, / And let his prayer become sin.”

In his classic Believer’s Bible Commentary, William MacDonald (1917-2007) past president of Emmaus Bible School writes, "Repentance means an about face, turning one's back on sin and heading in the opposite direction. 'It is a change of mind which produces a change of attitude, and results in a change of action.' It signifies a man's taking sides with God against himself and his sins. It is more than an intellectual assent to the fact of one's sins; it involves the conscience too, as John Newton [1725-1807] wrote, 'My conscience felt and owned my guilt.'"[9]

Rev. Matthew Henry (1662-1714) explains, "The Spirit convinceth of the fact of sin, that we have done so and so; of the fault of sin, that we have done ill in doing so; of the folly of sin, that we have acted against right reason and our true interest; of the filth of sin, that by it we are become odious to God; of the foundation of sin, the corrupt nature; and lastly, of the fruit of sin, that the end thereof is death."[10]

Rev. Thomas Watson (1620-1686) said, “Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.”[11]

In the third stanza of the hymn titled, “It Is Well with My Soul”, Horatio G. Spafford (1828-1888) declares, “My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”[12]

Conclusion

Dr. Adrian Rogers (1931-2005) explains, "Sin is a clenched fist in the face of God, and only God can forgive sin. There’s enough Gospel dynamite in 1 Peter 3:18 to blow the sin, the hatred, the sorrow, and the sickness out of anybody’s life, but that dynamite must be ignited by the spark of faith."[13]

President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) issued the following proclamation:

"It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon."[14]

We read in Proverbs 28:13, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, / But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”

Dr. Adrian Rogers frequently proclaimed from the pulpit of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, “Your sin will either be pardoned in Christ or it will be punished in hell.”

Rev. Richard Baxter (1615-1691) confesses, “I thank God for that word ‘whosoever’. If God had said there was mercy for Richard Baxter, I am so vile a sinner, that I would have thought he meant some other Richard Baxter, but, when he says whosoever, I know that includes me, the worst of all Richard Baxters.”[15]

[1]Elon Foster, “# 449,” Cyclopedia of Prose Illustrations Adapted to Christian Teaching, First Series, (New York: Funk & Wagnall, 1872), p.507

[2]Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Decisive: Taking a Stand for Truth: Old Testament Commentary, Jeremiah, (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2010), p. 58

[3]Merrill Chapin Tenney, Handy Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1965),

[4]Harry S. Dent, Cover Up: The Watergate in All of Us (San Bernadino, CA: Here’s Life Publishers, 1986), from cover

[5]Vance Havner, “Foes From Within”, Available from: http://www.standingforgod.com/2011/07/foes-from-within/ Accessed: 07/03/12

[6]The Works of John Owen, D. D., ed. Thomas Russell, With Memoirs of His Life and Writings, by William Orme (London: Richard Baynes,1826), p. 400

[7]C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock (William B. Eerdmans, 1970), pp. 242-244

[8]Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Sermon Notes: "Christ's First and Last Subject", (Matthew 4:17; Luke 24:47), [Delivered on August 19, 1860 at Exeter Hall, Strand], The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 329, Available from: http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0329.htm Accessed: 07/03/12

[9]William MacDonald, Believer's Bible Commentary, edited by Art Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), p. 1681

[10]Matthew Henry, An Exposition of All the Books of the Old and New Testament in Five Volumes: Practical Remarks and Observations, Volume IV, (London: W. Baynes, 1806), p. 648

[11]Thomas Watson, The Doctrine of Repentance, (25 May 1668), p. 7

[12]Horatio G. Spafford, “It Is Well with My Soul” (1873)

[13]Adrian Rogers, Daily Devotional (Cordova, TN: Love Worth Finding Ministries, June 25, 2011), Available from: http://www.christianity.com/devotionals/love-worth-finding-adrian-rogers/11652437/ Accessed: 01/17/12

[14]Abraham Lincoln, Excerpt from: Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day, March 30, 1863, Available from: http://www.everythinglincoln.com/articles/fastingprayerproclamation.html Accessed: 01/17/12

[15]Elon Foster, “# 5181,” Cyclopedia of Prose Illustrations Adapted to Christian Teaching, First Series, (New York: Funk & Wagnall, 1872), p.572

By Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, pastor Fist Baptist Church of Spanish Fort 30775 Jay Drive Spanish Fort, Alabama 36527

Author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice Available on Amazon.com and WORDsearchbible.com

http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Biblical-Preaching-Giving-Bible/dp/1594577684

http://www.wordsearchbible.com/products/Sound_Biblical_Preaching_1476.html