Understanding the problem of sin and God's Redemption — Alan Martin

You know it's good to know the purpose of study. What's the goal of a study? Well the purpose of tonight's study is for us to understand life from a spiritual beginning and journey to where we are today.

Because if you don't understand how things are affected in the spirit world, then you're gonna be confused at times where you're at, where someone else is at that you care about. You might even be confused about things that are happening to you because you don't understand things in the spirit world.

Sin as a Corrupted Internal Operating System

So I want to start from the beginning. Every single one of us are born with a corrupted operating system. That's what the Bible calls, you're born in sin. Sin is an internal operating system that's corrupted by evil.

You're born with it. This is why children, even youngest, they grab, they want, they take, they pull, they bite. Because in the inside, this internal operating system has been corrupted by evil. And the Bible calls that operating system the law of sin in our members.

And it's there. Now that law of sin, that corrupted operating system, can be affected by the environment we're in. Some people get some help dealing with that called training, parenting, discipline, and authority.

Because one of the things, the key characteristics of this corrupted operating system is it desires, it craves. It's what the scripture calls lust. And when you want something, that's why you go after it.

And even if you are aware that what you're going after is wrong, that shows that you have that internal operating system that's corrupt. But from the very early on, if you've had the right kind of authority, the law of God is made to help keep that operating system in check with right and wrong.

Training and discipline are a help. This is why you might have heard this verse from Proverbs chapter 1, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And there are those, if you have had that, if you've been fortunate enough to have been raised in the fear of the Lord, then the law of God, training and discipline and guidance from the right kind of authority, helps you deal with the lust and the desires of the law of sin in your members.

Because if you learn the fear of the Lord, and you esteem the law of the Lord, and it's something you see as good, you battle. Even from a young age, you can battle and deny getting in to that corrupted operating system.

Whereas the person, the proverb says this, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but fools despise wisdom and correction. So wisdom and correction are there as a protection to keep us from giving in and catering to this corrupted internal operating system, this law of sin.

Authority, Discipline, and the Formation of Sinful Desires

Now what happens if you, your early experience in life is, you despise any kind of help. You despise correction. Maybe because the authority in your life early was bad, cruel, mean, abusive. And so you associated correction and discipline as abuse.

And so you just back away from it. And now what are you going to have to help you battle that internal operating system? You're going to give in to it even more. You're already at a loss, because those things are not made to cure.

God had something else, we'll talk about that in this study, to cure this corrupted operating system. But the law of God and authority, because the scripture says all authority is of God. It's supposed to be, He designed it to be a help to serve.

But of course, men with this corrupted operating system, they even allowed authority to become abusive. And they lorded it over people. They abused people. They took advantage of people. And their positions of authority were something that became self-serving.

And the effect that that has had on society is, society begins gun-shy and weary of those who say, you must, and you should. But here's the danger. Here's the danger that, if the only thing you're going by, what you decide is right and wrong, is that corrupted internal operating system, then you are completely vulnerable to being deceived.

Because Jesus talked about the deceitfulness of sin. And this is where a lot of people have grown up. Because to keep us from being deceived by sin, God gave the law. And the law is there because that with that corrupted operating system working in us, the clear commandment of the law, give us guidance.

You shall not do this. Stealing is wrong. Killing is wrong. Coveting is wrong. It's guidance. It's not going to cure that corrupted operating system, but it is going to keep it in check. But here's what happens.

The beginning of the fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom, that is, is the fear of the Lord. The person that has the best advantage against that corrupted system, is a person who learns to fear the Lord early.

You guys got children. The law is not going to cure that internal operating system. But I'll tell you this, if you cater to it, you're going to create a monster. And children who aren't trained and disciplined, become monsters from parents that cater to them.

Because they're actually feeding what the lust of that law of sin in their members. And the Bible says this, even about children, folly is bound up in the heart of a child. It's bound up there. And if you don't deal with it through discipline, training, and the right kind of authority, not abuse, but the right kind of authority where they give them an opportunity to learn to accept no.

That there are boundaries. That there are times for things. 24 hours a day is not your right to play. There's a time to play, and there's a time to work. There's a time to stop what you're doing, and come over here and help us.

And that's appropriate. Enjoy your playtime, but you also enjoy helping us. That's training. That is something that the world is losing its grip on, because the scripture says that lawlessness is increasing.

And without godly and wholesome authority, there's disorder. And then what you what you have is dog eat dog. And people abusing people. Think about what happens to, look at the progression of a young person whose experience with authority is negative.

Rebellion Against Authority and the Mindset of Ungodliness

And they're in that, they fit that description of the Proverbs. They despise wisdom and discipline. So they begin to have a negative view toward authority. And so when they're doing something, and someone in authority seeks to come and correct it, their attitude becomes abusive, combative.

And and that creates a cycle. Because then you know what you know what the person, what the child or the young person is listening to? They're listening to that corrupted internal operating system. And the enemy becomes the authority.

The enemy becomes the law. The enemy becomes being told what to do, because it doesn't suit the desire. That person develops something that the scripture calls a spirit of ungodliness. Ungodly. What does ungodly mean?

The actual root word in the original language meant to fall back in respect, to show proper reverence. Okay? Authority doesn't benefit anyone when you're hostile to it. Because then you receive instruction as a threat, and an aggression, as limitation, as oppression, as restriction, instead of order.

Just someone seeking to produce some order. So there are guys here in this neighborhood that they will not go to Haven for Hope. And they will not go to Victory Gospel, because there they're told what time to wake up.

And there they're told what they're going to be doing during the day. And no one's going to tell them that. Someone just, you, there has to be some boundaries. You see, you see where it goes? If you continue down this road, and you won't show reverence and honor to any form of authority, just look at what happened in school.

I, I was in public school. I worked in public school. I served as the in-school suspension supervisor. Anybody know what in-school suspension is? If you've been in minor trouble, it's not, you're not, because you're not been expelled out, out of school.

You're in school, but you have to come to the separate room. You have to do, you have to be monitored. But what if, what if the student in in-school suspension, they're already in trouble for doing something wrong, but now they don't want to listen to me.

They're, they're resisting even me. I'm just trying to do, it's not even my choice. The principal tells me that they're supposed to do their work. So I give them, I'm willing to help them do their work.

And they can't leave in-school suspension until they do their work. And I met, over and over, I met students that said, I'm not doing my work. So what am I, what am I to do? It's not my idea that the work needs to be done.

I'm simply part of a system that has, with rules, for order's sake. And what's happening is, these young men or young women have so given in to that corrupt operating system, that they are hostile to nearly any interaction with authority.

And they, they, and it, what it does is it compounds the problem. And the scripture actually says this. The scripture says it develops, what happens over time, is it develops a mindset. It develops a way of thinking.

And the scripture in Romans chapter 8 calls this the mind of the flesh. Now the flesh is that what Paul described as, that's the condition where the, that corrupt operating system is in control. That's dominating.

And it, what it's interesting is, Paul says that that system is in our members. It's somehow a part of us. It's a, it's a strange concept. I don't even fully understand it. But it's in our members, in this way, that Paul said this in Romans 7.

With his mind, he said with the outer man, he could agree with the law. I agree that that's right. I agree you shouldn't steal. But if, it's right. You know, but there's this desire there. So you can agree with the outer man, but this inner law, this corrupt law, can override the outer man.

And evidently in the outer man is your mind, your will, and your emotions. If, but the, but people who have continually given in to the corrupt operating system, develop the mind that has been formed by that corrupt system.

Paul calls that the mind of the flesh. And listen what he says about it. He says the mind of the flesh is hostile to God. Now why would the mind of the flesh be hostile to God? Because God's the authority.

God's the one that's saying this is what you need to do. This is what's right. This is what's wrong. And the mindset that has been formed by a person giving in to that corrupted internal operating system, is hostile to God.

And Paul goes on to say it does not submit to God, nor is it able to do so. You can get to a point where you are so under the influence of that corrupt operating system, that even what you want to do right, you're not able to do.

And what you know you shouldn't be doing, you keep doing. Anytime you abuse something, you know it's going to be bad. Anyone knows that. So we should, we all know there's a certain amount you can drink that's good, and there's a certain amount that's called getting plastered.

Abusing your body, abusing a substance, whether it's a, whether it is prescription drugs or non-prescription drugs, there is an appropriate use. But you, and you can know that in your outer man. Your mind can know that, but that inner law, that corrupted operating system, can overwhelm a person that is continually fed that system all their life.

And that's called the law of sin, and every single one of us were born with it. The people that had, there was a few people in the Bible from godly families, who were raised was someone who feared the Lord.

Godly Heritage: Enoch, Methuselah, and Noah

Like for example, Enoch was a, the Bible says Enoch was a man who walked with God for 300 years. Enoch's, Enoch's son was Methuselah. Methuselah was Noah's grandfather. Noah, the Bible says, when the earth was full of wickedness, and the thoughts of men's hearts and minds were wicked continually, Noah found favor with God because Noah was a righteous man, perfect among his generation.

How? On his own? No. He had godly authority that trained him to resist that corrupt operating system early, early on. He grew respecting the Lord. He reverenced the Lord, honored the Lord, feared the Lord, and so he followed the Lord when everyone around him was following that corrupt internal operating system.

So that's every single person in, that has been born. Every man and woman that has been born on the earth. The Bible says this, all have, say it for me, sinned. All have. Sin entered the world and sin passed to everyone.

The operating system entered in every single one of us have been affected by it, and every single one of us still have that internal corrupted operating system in us now. Every one of us, even Christians.

The Law as God’s Standard, Not the Cure

What, what makes the difference? What happens then when a person is introduced to the, to the, to Jesus Christ? We're gonna, we're gonna go there in this study, but let me back up. Before then, God knowing that this internal operating system had spread to the entire world of mankind, God needed to make sure that a standard was preserved, because I guarantee you that corrupted operating system is not the right standard.

You can't trust it. Sin is deceitful. You don't trust it. So God is going to create a standard of right and wrong, so that a rule, something you can measure by, you know, if you don't have an agreed upon measure, you can't tell me where to cut something, how tall should something be, how much should it weigh.

Only if you have a measure that everybody lives by, and everybody works by, can you actually build things to spec, and make them right and straight. And for order in society, God gave a standard, a measure, called the law.

And he was, it, he didn't give it so to cure the internal law of sin. He gave it so that a standard could be preserved, because the whole world was just doing what they thought was right in their own eyes.

And one nation would just take over another nation. Women, children, crops, you know, the world was dog-eat-dog, who's the strongest, who's the fastest, who's the richest. Abuse was rampant. And God gave a law, and that law is a standard.

And the law, the Paul said himself, that the law was given to be like a personal attendant, like a tutor, a tutor, someone to go with you, like you were a child not old enough to be an adult, you needed supervision.

And believe me, left to ourself, we're not good. All right, left, that's what the Bible says, there is no one who does good, no not one, there's no one who understands that which is right. So God, in his kindness, created the law to keep us in check, to set boundaries of right and wrong, and even guide in ways of correction.

How, what is appropriate correction, what is appropriate response. He even set boundaries that people are not supposed to be abused. You're not to abuse strangers, you're not to abuse widows, you're, he, those things were set so that people would have a rule and a measure to go by.

Jesus Christ and the Spiritual Cure

And, but that was not the cure. The standard was in the world, but it was there as a protection until his son, Jesus Christ, came. And Jesus Christ did not come to enforce the standard, Jesus Christ came to cure the problem.

Now how does that happen? Well, when, when you're born physically, you're born with that corrupt operating system, you're corrupted. And it's called sin in your members, and in that sin in your members is what makes you a prisoner.

Sin in your members causes all kinds of desires that make things difficult. Sin in your members corrupt emotions and wills and responses. Yeah, Louis? Yeah, you're affected by it. So that's how we're born naturally.

Every single one of us, and here's what the Bible said, it described this condition, dead in trespasses and sin. What does the Bible mean by that? What does it mean that we were all dead in trespasses and sin?

Okay, dead in this sense, if there's an outlet on the wall here, and you can tell there's electricity in the room, and we know that something's working, and we plug it into that outlet, and it doesn't turn on, but we know that there's electricity in the room, what do we, what do we call that outlet?

It's dead. It's lost connection. Dead in transgression and sin means this, we had the law of sin, that corrupt operating system in us, but we had no spiritual connection with God. Sin had broken the spiritual connection with God, and so the cure for the one corrupted system is for God to reboot his spirit into our spirit, so that we have the right operating system, a heavenly operating system from him, and so now that only happens for a Christian.

The only person that even has that operating system is a Christian, and how does that come about? You know, the law doesn't do that. The law doesn't do that. When you hear the law, what you know is, well, I should do this, and I shouldn't do this.

That's what the law tells you, that the God's spiritual operating system in Christ is beyond that. It's more than that. It's not just what you ought to do. That's not what Jesus came to do. God's spirit can only come into a person as they begin to hear of the cure, and that's called the gospel.

The word gospel literally means the good news. What is the good news? Now, some people misunderstand this part of the good news. They think the good news is simply God forgives you for the things you do under the influence of your corrupt operating system.

They think Jesus came and brought forgiveness, which is part of the truth. That's partly true, but he came to bring about an ability for you and I to be set free from being under the influence of that corrupt operating system all the time.

How does that happen? When you hear the good news of Jesus Christ, that in him he had the life of God, the fullness of God was in Jesus Christ, and he came to restore our connection spiritually to God.

So that when you hear the gospel of Jesus, the good news about Jesus, and you believe, you take that step of faith, and you receive the Jesus himself, this is what begins. At that point, the spiritual connection with God is restored through the Holy Spirit.

And now, now you have that corrupt operating system is still there, but now you have God's own internal operating system through his spirit dwelling in you. And that's where you start as a believer. So you still have the old to deal with, but now you have God's spirit sharing his nature, which is right, and pure, and good, and holy.

The question is, which system are you going to allow to have control? Now it's your choice, because at first you're still used to operating under the influence of the old system, which is called the flesh.

And here's what Paul said in Romans, and it's interesting the term he used. He said, those who are being according to the flesh, they think in the way the flesh taught them. Those who began to be according to the spirit, they are now thinking in the new way of the spirit.

Yeah, Anthony?

I think I just got inspired to give a tiny bit of testimony around what you're saying. So I'm a recovering addict, you know, and I only found God recently. I've been a man who's been kind of more science-based most of the time.

And every time I go into recovery in the past, my substance of choice was something that I avoided, but it was still something I craved. It was still something that part of me wanted. Once I found God, all of a sudden, it's a point, it's literally, even the thought of it makes me gag a tiny bit.

And so what you said before about it being a choice, I just think God helps us a little bit by maybe changing the way we think about some of our sins as well. It makes it easier for me to not want that anymore.

Yielding to the Spirit and Overcoming the Flesh

It does. This is what Paul goes on to say, for whether we're going to be living under the influence of the old corrupt system or the new heavenly sent, godly system through the Holy Spirit, is what we learn to yield to and to feed and to cooperate with.

Paul warned this, and this is true for the believer as well as really, well, it can only be true for the believer because only a believer has the two systems. A person without Christ does not have God's Spirit in them.

Paul said that in Romans chapter 8. If any man does not have Christ, if the Spirit of God is not in them, they don't have Christ. So only a Christian with the Holy Spirit even has the option of living above and free from the influence of the old corrupted operating system.

So what determines whether we walk according to the old corrupt system or the new Spirit of God, God's new and whole operating system in us, is what we choose to follow and think upon. And here's what Paul said.

Those who chose to cater to the flesh, the old system, what they're going to do is, what do they reap from that system? What are the wages of sin? What does the Bible say the wages of sin are? Death. Now, and this is what Paul said.

Those, if you walk according to the flesh, you are sure to die. And I've often wondered, what do you think Paul meant by what kind of death? What kind of death are you to die? I think it's simple. The same kind of death the Bible talks about.

Dead, in, trespass, and sin. That death. If you walk according to the flesh, you're going to end up dead, in, trespass, and sin. The same state that you were saved out of. That's the state you were in before the Spirit of God came to live inside you.

And if you serve the old corrupt operating system, you will end up in death, is what Paul said. But if, and it's history, if by the Spirit, if by the new operating system, you put to death the practices, what you did under the influence of the old system, then you begin to live by the Spirit.

What does it mean by putting to death those old practices? Well, when I struggled, let's say a person struggles with some anger issue, and when they get angry, what can often happen? You begin to run at the mouth.

But the new operating system from God says, no, no, no. One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control. And now there's an influence of gentleness, and patience, and kindness. So now you have this new influence, the Spirit of God in you, enabling you to respond in a way that hasn't been your practice.

Your practice was to put someone in their place and let them know where they are, and just run at the mouth of what you say. If by the Spirit, you put that to death, then you begin to live in a new and different way.

You begin, and here's what eventually happens. Two systems, the old corrupt system and the new Spirit of God living in you, producing the desires of God, are two laws. The Bible calls the old corrupt operating system the law of sin and death.

The Bible calls the new operating system the law of the Spirit of life in Christ. So now you have two laws, like the law of gravity. Does the law of gravity dominate everything entirely? No. Airplanes take off every day.

Thousands of them defy the law of gravity, overcome the law of gravity. How do they do so? A greater law, a more powerful law. It doesn't make gravity stop existing, because if planes lose power, gravity takes over.

This is the reason sometimes we find ourselves, even as a Christian, in a bad place. Because you wonder, what am I doing? And what I'm doing is because the power of the Spirit of God in you is not what you've been cultivating and growing in and developing.

And instead, you started catering again to the old corrupt system. And so what happens? The old corrupt system is only pulling you down because you're not walking in the power of the new. This is why the scripture talks about, and the early Christians try to encourage one another, to be filled with the Spirit.

The Spirit is the new, higher, and greater law. It's the life of God in Christ. Now, in this world, remember the world we live in, the Bible talks about that there are principalities and powers, there are evil forces that we have to deal with.

Spiritual Warfare and the Exploitation of Sin

What do you think they seek to exploit? Do you think these evil forces are trying to exploit the new operating system? No, no, no. They seek to exploit the old corrupt operating system. And they encourage you to think anti-authority, doubting God, doubting the benefit of being a follower of Jesus Christ.

That's their strategy, to lead you away from discovering the dynamic power of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ, that each of us can learn to walk in. And so this epithet, in trying to think through this tonight, I want you to see it as an overview, so that you can kind of plug yourself into your own journey.

I don't know your story, all of your story, but in my own history, I have seen people who were cultivating the law of the Spirit of life of Jesus Christ in them. And then suddenly, it just seemed like they stopped.

And as soon as they stopped doing that, the old operating system began to take back over. It was there all along, and it is there. I can tell every one of you, if you are not walking by the Spirit of God and receiving that power, the old system is going to take over.

It's going to win out. And that's why the Bible says, and actually it was Jesus himself said, everyone who is sinning, if that's what you're doing, you're listening to the old operating system, you're a slave of sin.

You're not even free. You are under the influence of the old corrupt operating system. Sure, slaves get to eat, slaves get to sleep. It's not like they have to do following a specific task all the time.

They have some time, but it means that when that dominant authority takes over, then they have to do things that they don't even want to do. It's not their own choice. And that's where addictions come in, where men don't even want to do what they're doing, but they're just captivated by it.

They can't get free from it. In some way, they don't even enjoy it as much anymore. They're caught in this trap, this snare of sin in them, and we're supposed to be the people that help them find freedom.

Freedom Through the Life of Christ and Love for Others

And here's where freedom is. You're not going to find freedom. The law doesn't bring freedom. The law is a standard. It's the measure. It helps us know whether we're doing right. But the answer is the power of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit working in us, creating this newness, this new desires to overcome the old.

New feelings where suddenly what you once craved, now you have an aversion to because you are receiving God's own nature, helping you love what is good. God is good. And therefore, His nature is drawn to what is good.

And there's a powerful part about this nature that helps begin to set a person free. God's nature is a giving nature. Now, I want you to think with me. What's probably the best way to keep me from doing something wrong?

Being involved in something I'm really enjoying that's good. You know what I'm saying? Having something good to do. I don't get in trouble in here on Wednesday nights cooking. I love doing this. And when I'm doing this, I'm not doing something else I'm not supposed to be doing.

Jesus said it's more blessed to give than receive. What about the person who's not involved in doing anything good? Every single one of us know that some of the most vulnerable times we have is when we're bored, alone, and not doing anything good.

And we are sitting ducks. And Jesus comes along and it's not about the law. Jesus made it very clear. Here's the answer. You do this. You love others like I love you. And the spirit, the very nature of God, his spirit inspires us to love.

And so a person, the more a person cultivates living by the new spirit, God's operating system in them, the more they just seek to bless people. Well, the more they're involved in blessing people, the less they're doing that's getting themselves in trouble all the time.

It cleans your life up. Wholesome things take over unwholesome things. Blessings overtake cursings. The good overtakes the bad. And it's not about not doing things because you can't live your life saying, well, I know I'm not supposed to do that, but I really want to.

That's miserable. That's miserable. And sadly, the church has almost made Christianity seem like that. Come here. We'll tell you all the things you're not supposed to do. You know, that's not what it's about.

We're supposed to be introducing people to the very life of Christ who saves us from this rat trap of trying to satisfy self with the latest and whatever it is, whatever it is we take or whatever it is we do.

This trying to satiate some pleasure that is a death trap and becoming a follower of Jesus Christ and living by the Holy Spirit and becoming a blessing to other people is living to do what you want to do, what you get to do.

Testimony of Freedom from Addiction

Now and then, the guys that would come into my in-school suspension class, they had to be quiet. So toward the end of the day, I would let up on them a little bit, you know, just a little. And they'd ask me, Mr. Martin, did you ever smoke pot?

I said, yeah, I did all that stuff. I said, I could still do it now. I live in the woods, man. There's nothing but woods behind my house. I could do it now. I've done it. And so I know what it's all about.

And guess what? I've done it. I know what it's about. I could do it now. And I don't. Why do you think that? I don't know. Because you're afraid of getting caught? No, no, no, no, I don't think I'd get caught.

And I would try to lead them to this. It's because you don't want to. Why don't you want to? Because I have found something so much better. I told them I get to do what I want to do every day. I love serving the Lord.

And I get to serve the Lord. And I get to look to see what other people's needs to be done. And I get to help them. And I get more out of doing that than anyone gets out of a bottle or a needle or a toke or anything else.

And I'm not saying any of those things are wrong. Don't misinterpret me. I'm saying serving others is always better than satisfying self. That's what I'm saying. That's the law of Christ, where you find your joy.

Because God doesn't need. God has everything he needs. He doesn't need the earth to be a certain thing for him. He's seeking to bless us with himself. He's trying to save us from destroying ourselves through our own stupidity and ignorance.

But that corrupted operating system that makes us anti-authority and suspicious of rules and regulations and guidelines and boundaries. Ah, that makes it a difficult life. That makes it a painful life.

The Easy Yoke and the Goodness of God

You know, remember what Jesus said. And sadly, there's not enough Christians to actually experience this. Jesus said, you guys need to learn of me. You need to take my yoke upon you. A yoke was something that was, you know, that's what you put on an oxen to plow in the field.

He says, you need to take my yoke upon you because he goes, my yoke is easy and my burden is light and you'll find rest for your soul. And what did he mean by that? You know, you know why the life of Jesus was so easy?

Because he knew the father so perfectly. He knew the father's everything the father thought was a perfect thought. Everything the father said was a perfect word. So, you know, the only thing he did is what the father thought and what the father said.

And that's why life was so easy for him. We're the dumb ones. We make it hard on ourselves because we haven't settled the matter. We wrestle with what's right or wrong. We continue to try to do things that God is trying to save us from.

Not restrict us. He's not arbitrary. God being perfect would not say don't do this if he knew it was going to be good. The only reason God says don't do something because he doesn't want you to be hurt by it.

But you see, that's the new spirit in me. You know, the old operating system said, how do you know that? How do you know that? It's that wrestling. Remember, the mind of the flesh is hostile to God. It doesn't submit to God, nor can it do so.

Only the law of the spirit of life in Christ, only that, only God's new operating system working in me causes me to want to know what God's will is. I want to know because I believe he's good. I believe everything he has for me is good.

And I believe that if I will let him guide me, my life will be better than anything I could try to find on my own. That's what Jesus came to bring. He came to do that, not just reestablish the law. Yeah, say that again.

Yeah, it is. Sanctification is this being being set apart. God is set apart from evil. You know, the word for evil in the Bible, it just means it's bad. It's bad for you. Doesn't it make sense if God is good, that he would call something is bad for you evil?