How Sin Works

Introduction

A game that is sometimes played at parties and get togethers, that everybody gets a card, and they write on that card something that they think is unique about them. That nobody else at that gathering has this or has done this. It’s just kind of a way to introduce people and their unique qualities to one another. What would that be about you? Maybe you’ve bungee jumped or went skydiving and you didn’t think anybody else in the crowd had done that. Maybe you’ve got twelve toes, and maybe it’s some unique exotic location that you’ve traveled or visited. If we all thought about it, we could probably come up with something that’s uniquely different about each and every one of us. But what’s interesting about that exercise is that it would take some time, wouldn’t it?

Because we have far more in common than that which distinguishes us. One thing we could not say that is unique to us is that we’ve been affected by cancer. I won’t ask for a show of hands because I know what the results would be. But if we raised our hands of everybody that’s either had cancer, had a family member or a friend that’s been affected by cancer, I’m confident this morning that every single hand would go up. That’s not unique. That dreaded disease has affected us all.

The good news about that is because it is so prevalent and so widespread that there are literally teams of people a whole lot smarter than me that are working on curing or finding a cure for cancer. Literally billions of dollars are being spent in trying to find an answer for that prevalent disease. My understanding, remember I said this is work is being done by people a lot smarter than me. But my understanding is at the root of much of that work and research is trying to figure out what causes cancer. How it works. Because the theory is that if we know how it works, how it appears and grows in our body, then those same scientists will be able to address now an effective cure, or maybe even a prevention for it.

That makes sense, doesn’t it? If we know how it works, then maybe we can stop it, prevent it, or cure it. You know, something else we all have in common, far more so than cancer itself, is sin. And hopefully everyone who’s in this audience this morning not only has that in common, but has this in common that we want to deal with sin. That we want to deal with sin in two ways. Number one is I want to have my sins forgiven so that I can stand justified before God, and if we just put it selfishly and bluntly, so I can go to heaven. But I think we also have in common, I want to stop sin in my life. I don’t want to just have my current and past sins forgiven, but I want to be able to deal with sin in the future.

And I think if we can do the same or similar research and figure out how sin works, then I’ll be better equipped to know how I can deal with it. And so let’s talk about that this morning. How sin works. Let’s educate ourselves, or really just reacquaint ourselves with the techniques of sin. Our Bible reading this morning was in James chapter 4, verses 7 through 10. Let’s look at that again. James chapter 4, verses 7 through 10. In fact, if you’ll turn to the book of James, put a bookmark or a finger there, we’re going to spend most of our time in the book of James. This short epistle has a lot to say about sin. It’s a very practical epistle, and so it stands the reason that it’s going to have a lot to say about sin, and not just theoretically about sin, but how sin practically affects us and how we can practically deal with sin in our lives.

1. Sin Is Filthy

James 4, verse 7 again says, Therefore submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up. The first point I want us to make before we really get into the mechanics of how sin works, is for us to understand what James points out here is that sin is filthy. He says, cleanse your hands, purify your hearts. The first thing we need to understand about sin is the horror of sin and just how filthy and disgusting and contaminating it is.

Before we ever get really serious about dealing with sin, before we ever get serious about removing the sin and preventing future sin in our life, we have to come to the stark realization of just how unclean sin makes us. Maybe that was the point in the Old Testament. Even a cursory reading of the Old Testament, you see these words clean or unclean. You really probably see the words unclean more. There were so many things under that old law, weren’t there, that made people unclean. And if one was unclean, they were therefore unfit to present themselves before God. What was that teaching us? It’s teaching us the importance of cleanliness and the danger of uncleanliness. Not ceremonially so as in the Old Testament, but spiritually. That sin makes us unclean.

Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 7. The New Testament over and over again emphasizes this point that sin makes us contaminated. Sin makes us unclean. 2 Corinthians 7, verse 1. Therefore, having these promises, the promises that if we come out and separate ourselves, God will accept us. Having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. The challenge for you and I, living in this not only sin pervasive society, but sin embracing society, is for us to see sin for what it really is. To see it as being detestable and dirty and filthy. Let us cleanse ourselves from the filthiness of the flesh. That’s the beauty of grace. It’s the beauty of salvation.

It’s the beauty of baptism. Look over in 2 Peter chapter 3 and talking about baptism. Peter, to many in the religious world, Peter makes a profound and difficult statement. Goldman, 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3, and in verse 21, he says, there is also an antity that now saves us. Let’s pause there. He had been talking about Noah and the flood, particularly the water in that flood. And he says there is an antity which now saves us, baptism. First of all, Peter says, despite what many in the religious world would have us to believe, is that baptism saves us. Now, how does it save us? He goes on to explain. Not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

By negatively saying what baptism doesn’t do, it’s not the removal of the filth of the flesh. It seems to me that what he’s saying there is, is that the water of baptism, he’s saying one of two things. Number one is possibly that that water is not washing away physical dirt off of you. That it’s not like a bath. But it’s removing the filth of the metaphoric flesh or of the spirit, the sin that’s within us. Or he could be saying that the really the act of baptism itself is not what removes that sinful filth, but it’s the blood and the grace of God, the blood of Christ and the grace of God that removes that sin. When we submit to that baptism, we have the removal of that filth from us.

2. My Sin Begins With Myself

And so we have to first understand just how serious this sin problem is before we ever get serious about addressing it. And before we can really even talk about how it works and how it’s going to affect us, and therefore how we can address it in our lives. Well, let’s go back to James and let’s see how this sin works. James chapter 1. James tells us, and this is crucial in understanding both how sin works and how we can avoid or prevent it in our lives, is that my sin begins with myself. Now I understand, and certainly James understands, that there is a tempter. But when it comes to sin in my personal life, James says it begins with me. Look in James chapter 1. Begin reading this time in verse 13.

He says, after having said that God is the giver of good gifts, he says, Let no one say, When he is tempted, I’m tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted. When he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. Sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there’s no variation or shadow of turning. God does not give bad gifts. He does not tempt us to sin. Then where does that temptation come from? Where does that enticement that leads to sin that inevitably leads to death comes from?

James says, Me. Everyone is tempted when he’s drawn away by his own lust. And so James, first and foremost, says, don’t blame God. But it seems to me there’s another scapegoat that we need to deal with, and that is we many times blame Satan. And again, he plays a big part in this, doesn’t he? But notice that James doesn’t say the devil made you do it. James says, you’re drawn away by your own lust. We look there in James 4, we won’t turn back over there. Remember, he says, after saying, draw near to God, he says, resist the devil, and he’ll flee from you. Satan, yes, he is the tempter. He is the father of all lies, and maybe ultimately the source of every temptation. But understand this the devil has no power against you unless you’re a willing participant in that temptation and that sin.

That does two things, at least two things. Number one is that puts the blame squarely upon me. There’s no dodging, there’s no obfuscation, there’s no blaming except the person in the mirror. If we’re all honest with ourselves, at times at least we like to blame something or somebody else. It’s far easier, isn’t it? To say, well, it was the other people that did it. Or the other people I was with, or it was the circumstances I was in, or it was the devil, or even as James cautioned against it, even it’s God for allowing sin in this life. But James says no. It’s you. And so that puts the blame in my court. And I finally and ultimately have to say, as David would say, I have sinned.

The second thing that does, and more pertinent to our point this morning, is that helps me see now how I can deal with that. Is I realize that it is me. And I realize that, as Paul told the Corinthian brethren, that God makes a way of escape. And it’s up to me to seek and to find that way of escape. That sin, my sin at least, begins with me. It’s time for me to take personal ownership and personal responsibility. And to take steps, real, concrete steps, and how I can deal with that sin. And so I do an honest evaluation. What is it in my life that I struggle with the most? In fact, ask yourself the question this way. If I miss heaven, what’s most likely to be the reason?

3. Sin Works in Many Different Ways

And then begin to deal with it. How can I really deal with that sin? And with that temptation. What are some real steps that I can take? Not just talking about it, but real steps that I can take to be able to deal with, to overcome, and to avoid that sin that is mine. Because it begins with me. Another point that James wants us to know that if we understand the workings of sin, and that can help us maybe deal with or to avoid that sin in our life, is that we need to understand that sin works in many different ways. The scriptures talk about the wiles of Satan. The deceptiveness of sin. Sin would be far easier to deal with, wouldn’t it, if there was just one sin.

If there was just one thing, and we knew what to look for. And not only one sin, but it only came in one form or one fashion. And let’s simplify it even further if we’re dreaming things up here, that it only comes on one day a week. And we knew that day to be looking out for that one thing. But sin doesn’t work that way, does it? The deceptiveness, the wiles, are because it comes in so many different forms and fashions. And again, in James 1. In speaking of this progression, he says, each one, verse 14 of chapter 1, each one is tempted when he’s drawn away by his own desires and enticed. We talked about the ownership of that. But now let’s talk about the more practical maybe application, the more pointed thing here is we’re drawn away by our own desires.

That tells us it’s going to be different, isn’t it? It’s going to be different for you than it is for me. Because your desires are not my desires. We talked about what we have in common. We all have the sin problem in common. But what we don’t have in common, what we’re uniquely different is how that sin approaches us. We might compare it to the different types of food that entice us. Interesting what some people like to eat that you find disgusting. And you wonder how? How can they eat? And they’re not being forced to. They’re volunteering. And I don’t know if they’re volunteering, they’re laying down good money to eat that. And you can’t conceive of it because it’s just nasty to you. Well, those same people are watching you eat what you eat and saying, how can they eat that?

Sin is that way. Our own desires. It’s real easy for me to settle my self-proclaimed ivory throne. And look at you and the sin and the desires and the temptation in your life and say, How could they? I would never. Never realizing they’re looking at me and my struggles and my sin and my temptation, and saying, How could he? I would never. Look in chapter 2 of the book of James. This warning is issued. James chapter 2, and in verse 8, he says, But if you really fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

The Holy Spirit through James views the law of God as a solid entity. And that when we violate part of it, we have violated the law.

All of them humbly.

Even though I may declare it so.

He goes on to say in verse 11 of chapter 2, for he who said do not commit adultery also said do not murder. Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you’ve become a transgressor of the law. Do you see what he’s saying? Somebody says, Well, I didn’t do that. Yeah, but you did that. Every sin is different. But yet every sin’s the same. Because it separates me from God. Look in chapter 4. James chapter 4. And in verse 17, he says, Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. We talk about it when I was a kid, almost every public prayer that was offered. Asked for the forgiveness of sins of omission and sins of commission.

That’s really what’s being talked about here. That I can sin by, as he talked in chapter 2, by committing adultery or by murdering those overt acts where here was a law of God, a prohibition, and I stamped on it and I committed that sin. But James says I can also commit a sin by not doing what God has told me I need to be doing. I know that may feel overwhelming. To realize that we’ve got so much to be looking out for. But understand that God put within us all the capacity to love him and to love him enough to be able to love his law enough so that we’re serious about this problem of sin. And thankfully, he has infused the grace and the blood of Christ, so that when we fail, that when we fall, there’s still a remedy.

Again, hold your finger in James, we’re coming back. But go to Galatians chapter 6. Maybe y’all could help me in interpreting James chapter 6, verse 1, a very familiar passage of scripture. It talks about our responsibility to those who have lost this struggle, at least temporarily, to sin and to temptation. When he says Galatians 6 verse 1, brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Now, where I need the help is that Paul says to the Galatians that here’s a brother, and he’s been overtaken in a trespass. Let’s say he stole something. He’s a thief. What’s my responsibility to my brother the thief? Well, Paul spells that out pretty easily, doesn’t he?

Go to it. Go to him. But go to him in gentleness, or your translation may say meekness. And then the reason for that is where I need the help, he says, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. What does he mean by that? Does he mean I go to him in gentleness, considering myself, because I might also be a thief? I may have already stolen something, or I might be the next one that steals something. Is he that specific in this considering yourself lest you also be tempted by that very particular sin? Or is it a broader application? Considering yourself lest you also be tempted to sin regard to how you go to that brother, or how you fail to go to that brother.

But maybe the temptation is for me to sin in a different way by how I deal with that brother. And the irony of irony is that in going to restore that thief, I’ve become a sinner myself. You see the wiles of the devil and the deceptiveness of sin. But the good news is we know how it works. And so the warning is given to consider yourself. Lest you also. We know how this works. We know how the tempter works. We know how temptation works. We know how sin will seize upon every opportunity. And so be prepared. Back to James 1. Here’s one thing I need to keep firmly in mind. In knowing how sin works, that hopefully will help me to avoid, prevent, and deal with it.

4. Sin Ends in Death

And that is that since in death.

James 1 verse 14, each one is tempted when he’s drawn away by his own desires and enticed. And then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin when it is full grown brings forth death. Don’t ever forget where this pathway ends.

One that’s narrow and difficult. One that’s broad and easy. One that leads to life, and one that leads to death.

And what’s interesting is people on both pathways are looking over at the other people on the other pathway and wondering, why would you ever choose that pathway? The people on the broad, easy way are looking at those on the narrow and difficult way and saying, why are you taking the more difficult path? Why aren’t you over here? It’s much easier. The people on the pathway to life are looking at the people on the pathway to destruction and saying, why in the world are you on a pathway that’s leading to death and destruction? The answer to both questions is answered by considering what they’re looking at. Those that have chosen the broader path chose that because they’re looking at the path. Those that are on the narrow path have chosen it because they’re looking at the destination.

So when you’re dealing with sin, and you’re thinking about how sin works in your life, look up and see where it’s leading.

Conclusion

It’s an ugly disease I can say this morning, without fear of offending anyone, that I hate cancer. Selfishly because the way it’s affected me. I watched my grandpa suffer and die. I watched my mother suffer and die.

And you know as well as I do, death’s not like it is in the movies. It’s not romantic, it’s not easy. It’s violent, disgusting, and horrible to watch. If I know what sin’s doing to me, and what it will do to me and to my soul. And I know how it works. Why won’t I do everything that I can to avoid it, to eradicate it, and to have it removed from my life. That’s how sin works. The research has been done. It’s now up to us to deal with it. Would you pray with me? Dear God and Father in heaven, we’re so thankful that you’re a God of love and compassion. That you’ve informed us, Father, about the danger of sin and of Satan, the tempter.

How that temptation and sin can overcome us, but yet you’ve given us the tools to overcome it. We’re thankful for that love. Thankful for your mercy and grace. We’re thankful for your son and his sacrifice and for that blood that can help us to ultimately deal with the sin and the death in our lives. We’re so thankful that though we be rebellious and sinful and so filthy and unclean, that you love us still. We’re so thankful for the forgiveness that we have in you. Continue to love us, Father. Don’t give up on us. Give us the time and the opportunity to be your children. All these things we pray through our love for you and your love for us through your wonderful Son. Amen.