Man's 2 Problems: The Condemnation & Power of Sin — Paul Washer

As always, it's a great privilege for me to be here. I have been praying that God would speak to you through His Word. There are always so many needs in a place like this, that the preacher realizes that he cannot say enough words to minister to all the people.

But many years ago, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, took a few loaves of bread and a few fishes and fed a multitude. I pray that He would do the same today. Let me just give a brief summary of what we talked about last night.

The Holiness and Supremacy of God

That God is holy and we are called to be holy. But we must understand the meaning of that terminology. Although the holiness of God does denote that He is separate from sin, but the Word also denotes much more.

He is separate from everything. There is no one like God. He is distinct and supreme. He is above all things. And therefore, He does everything that He does for the great love that He has for His own name and for His own glory.

In philosophy, we understand that every action of every reasonable creature ought to have a purpose or an end to it. If someone is doing something and we ask them why and they say they don't know, we consider that foolishness.

Because reasonable creatures should have a reason for what they do. God, being a reasonable being, has a reason for all that He does. And it is the highest reason. And that is, He does everything for His own glory.

If we are to be holy, we must also see God as supreme over all things. And we must separate ourselves from the passions of this world and give everything that we are to Him. The man who is holy gives himself to God in passion and love for God.

And the reason for everything that he does is the glory of God. Therefore, a man can attempt to keep all the rules and the commands of Scripture. A man can be very moral and very religious. And still not be holy.

Holiness does not simply mean that we are moral or that we keep the rules. Holiness means that we have separated ourselves unto God and we do everything for His glory. That we have a passion and a love for Him.

It is not just doing the right things in order to be right, but we do the right things for Him. Because we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. This morning I would like to speak with you about the practical applications of holiness.

Conversion and the Christian's New Identity

But before I do that, I know that I must speak about something else. Who are you in Christ? What does it mean to be Christian? What happens to the Christian at the moment of his conversion? So many people today seek to follow Christ, but they do not understand what truly happens when they trust Him as Lord and Savior.

So many people today seek to follow Christ, but they do not understand what truly happens when they trust Him as Lord and Savior. And because they do not understand these truths, they cannot walk in the power and the joy and the life of Christ.

And because they do not understand these truths, they cannot walk in the power and the joy and the life of Christ. I want you to open your Bible quickly to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. We are going to read in a moment verses 21 and then verse 17.

But by way of introduction, I need to say something first. We are going to read in a moment 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21 and then verse 17. But first I have to say something else. You must understand that man has only two problems.

Only two. The problem of the condemnation of sin. And the problem of the power of sin. But when you become a Christian, both of those problems are dealt with through the work of God. But when you become a Christian, both of those problems are dealt with through the work of God.

We find the answer to both of these problems in what the Lord does in our lives. In the justification and in the rebirth. Let's look for a moment at the first problem. The condemnation of sin. Prior to coming to Christ, prior to our conversion, our sin stands before God.

Prior to coming to Christ, prior to our conversion, our sin stands before God. We were born in sin. We practiced sin all the days of our lives. We were under the wrath of God. And we deserved eternal condemnation.

Justification and the Righteousness of Christ

All of this is because of our sin. But in the justifying work of Christ, this problem is solved. It is taken away. But in the justifying work of Christ, this problem is solved. It is taken away. The Son of God becomes man.

And as man was, the God-man, He led his entire earthly life in obedience to God. He led a perfect life. He always heard the Father saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. He possessed a righteousness of his own.

He lived in perfect obedience. And he was always perfectly pleasing to God. Now what you need to realize, is that he not only did that for the glory of God, but he did that for you. Now what you need to realize, is that he not only did that for the glory of God, but he did that for you.

As the perfect man, he went to the cross, and on the cross he bore your sin. Now look in verse 21. That we might become the righteousness of God in him. Now we have to ask ourselves the question, How did Christ become sin on the cross?

Did he become corrupt on the cross? Did his nature become sinful on the cross? Absolutely not. On the cross he remained the pure and sinless Son of God. But what did happen is this, our sin or our guilt was imputed to him.

The guilt that you carried as an unbeliever. The guilt because of your sins even after believing. All the sin you have ever committed. All the sin you commit now. All the sin you will ever commit. Was imputed to him.

He carried it. That guilt was placed upon the Son of God. And then all the judgment and wrath and anger of God that you and I deserved fell upon the Son of God. When he died under the wrath of God. He paid for all of your sin.

Past, present and future. He took away all your guilt forever. So that the Christian can no longer be guilty. Ever again. And he extinguished all the anger or wrath of God against you. Now what does that mean?

Think about it. It doesn't just mean by believing in Jesus you get to go to heaven. It doesn't mean that because you believe in Jesus God now tolerates you. But look what it says. That we might become the righteousness of God in him.

If you are a Christian. You are not only forgiven. You not only stand before God completely forgiven. But you stand before God in perfect righteousness. He sees you as righteous. He has declared you to be righteous.

Once and for all and forever. You can only be in one of two spheres. If you are in the sphere of Adam you are condemned. But if you are in Christ you are pardoned. Of everything. And you are not only pardoned but you are declared righteous before God.

That's the way he sees you. Now you've heard the terminology of being clothed in Christ. Or bearing the righteousness of God in Christ. What does that mean? Do you remember the perfect life of Jesus Christ that I described to you?

That from the time of his birth to the time of his death as a man, the God man. He lived an absolutely perfect life before God and was always pleasing before him. He lived that life for his people. Not only so that he could go to the cross and die for them.

But so that that perfect life that he lived might be imputed to them. The moment you believe in Jesus Christ unto salvation. You are forgiven of everything by virtue of the cross. But not only that. That perfect life that Jesus lived is imputed to you.

You are dressed in it. You are clothed in Christ. So now by virtue of the cross God looks at you and always says this is my beloved child in whom I am well pleased. Do you realize that to go to heaven you have to be more than pardoned?

You have to be more than just neutral. Who may ascend the holy hill of God, the psalmist asks. He doesn't say just the one who has been pardoned. But the one who is righteous. Who has clean hands. And a pure heart.

In order to stand before God now and be accepted. In order to go to heaven and stand before God one day. You must not only be pardoned. You must be perfectly righteous before him without any sin or spot or blemish.

And that's exactly what justification does. The moment you believe in Christ you are pardoned. But also this perfect life of Jesus Christ is imputed to you or given to you. So that God sees you as the righteousness of God in Christ.

Let me give you an example from Joseph. Do you remember Joseph's father gave him a coat of many colors? Do you remember? And he did not share that coat with his brothers. But we have a savior who is greater than Joseph.

He lived a perfect life of righteousness. As the Messiah he was dressed, he was clothed in his own righteousness. But when you believed in Christ. He gave you his coat. He wrapped you in him. So that now you are right with God.

And you have access to God. And God looks at you. And sees beauty in which he delights. But you say, oh no, no brother Paul, that's impossible. Because I'm still weak and I still sin. But you're looking at you.

He's looking at what he's done for you in Christ. You need to spend less time looking at your failures and more time looking at the perfect work of God in the cross of Christ. You must understand who you are now in the person of Jesus Christ.

You are righteous. God looks at you. And in Christ declares you right with him. And therefore you have access. Therefore you can draw near. Therefore you can draw near without fear. For perfect love casts out all fear.

As I said this morning in the prayer meeting. All of this seems almost too good to be true. That God has taken away all your sins. That God has imputed to you the perfect righteousness of his own Son.

That God loves you with an unconditional, unchanging love. That your standing before him is not based upon your ability or your performance, but based upon what he's done for you. So man has two problems.

The first is the condemnation of sin. But there is therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. We are free. Now we come to the second problem. The power of sin. The power of sin. God has declared his people righteous in Christ.

Regeneration and the New Heart

But has he done anything for us to help us overcome sin? The answer is yes. It is regeneration. Now read in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things passed away.

Behold, new things have come. The moment you believe in Christ, you are justified. But the work of salvation also involves regeneration. Being born again. But do you know what that means? What happens when a person is born again?

Paul tells us. He says they become a new creature. Now is this just poetry? Is Paul just wanting to say something very pretty, but with no meaning? Does Paul want to say something here that sounds very nice, but has no real meaning?

What does it mean? It means that the Christian, through the rebirth, through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, has really become a new person. You are not even the same creature anymore. You have been changed.

What has been changed? Your very nature has been changed. There has been an ontological change. Now the word ontology comes from the Greek word ontos. And it refers to the very being of a human. The very essence of who you are.

Now listen to me. Now listen. When the Holy Spirit regenerated you, He changed the very essence of who you are. And you really became something different. A new creature. The Old Testament describes it this way in Ezekiel 36.

He took out your heart of stone. Now what does it mean, heart of stone? Let's say that I have a statue here of the biggest, strongest man in Holland. He is very tall, many muscles. And I have a statue of him, a stone statue.

I can walk up to that statue and I can slap it. And I can kick it. And I can pinch it. And it's not going to do anything. Because it's strong. Because it's stone. It's dead. It cannot respond. But you bring the living version of that stone statue.

And I kick him. And I slap him. And I pinch him. He's going to pick me up and throw me over the room. He's alive. He can respond. That is what has happened to you if you are Christian. God has taken out that dead heart of yours.

That sin-loving heart of yours. And he has taken it out. And he has replaced it with a heart of flesh. That responds to him. That delights in him. He has made you a new creature. Sometimes I'll hear Christians talking like this.

They'll say, Oh, Brother Paul. I'm just a filthy, wretched sinner. My heart is so wicked. I love sin. And I say, Well, let me ask you a question. Just what did God do to your heart when he saved you? What did he do to your heart when he regenerated you?

Because it appears to me he's done nothing. The Bible says that in Adam you were born with a God-hating heart. Do you still hate God? No. No. The Bible says that you were born with a heart that loved sin more than anything.

Do you still love sin? Well, Brother Paul, I sin. But that wasn't my question. I didn't ask you if you still sin. I asked you, Do you still love it? Just what does God do to a man when he regenerates his heart?

Just what does God do to a man when he makes him a new creature? Because I hear a lot of Christians talking as though God's done nothing to them. And I think they've learned some language from other people and they really don't understand what they're talking about.

I think they've learned some language from other people and they really don't understand what they're talking about. But what does the Scripture say? You have become a new creature. He has taken out your sin-loving heart.

And he has put in its place a new heart. You are God. In true righteousness and true holiness. You have been changed. And you say, Well, Brother Paul, if I've been changed, then why do I still struggle with sin?

Some people explain it this way. You have two natures. It's as though you're schizophrenic. According to Scripture, there's only one person who's ever had two natures. That's Jesus Christ. He had a divine nature, a human nature, in one person.

The Bible doesn't speak of two natures in the believer. Ezekiel does not say, I will put a heart of flesh beside your heart of stone. He doesn't say, I'll put a new heart beside your old heart and they two can fight.

He says, I'll take out your old heart. And I'll put in a new heart. Now go to Romans chapter 6 for a moment. Verse 6. Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him. In order that our body of sin might be done away with.

So that we would no longer be slaves to sin. Now he doesn't say, I'm going to put a new self along beside your old self that's still alive. But he says, I have crucified the old self. It was crucified with Christ.

So that the body and power of sin in your life might be done away with. You have been buried with Christ. The old man has been buried. So that you might now rise up and walk as a new man. Because that's what you really are.

Now what is this saying in Romans 6? How is it that we've been crucified, that the old man has been crucified with Christ? I believe he's talking about regeneration again. That is only possible through the cross.

Through the cross of Jesus Christ. The obstacle of sin has been removed. So that God might justly work in you. And through the cross of Christ, he sends his spirit and regenerates you. The moment you were born again, the heart of stone was removed.

That heart that loved sin and hated God was removed. And a new heart was put in its place. One recreated in the image of God that loves righteousness and loves holiness. Before you are in Christ, you are controlled by a sin-loving, God-hating, wicked nature.

And that is who you were. A wicked, depraved, God-hating, wicked nature. A wicked, depraved, sin-loving sinner. But when God did a work of regeneration in your heart, you became a new creature. Loving God.

Loving righteousness. Hating sin. And with the power to walk in the newness of life. Now you say to me, Okay, Brother Paul, then we're new creatures with a new nature. That in the very essence of who I am, I now am a creature that loves God and loves righteousness.

Then why do I still sin? Why do I still struggle with sin? It is not because you are a schizophrenic with two natures. But it is because although you are a new creature, recreated in the image of God, who loves righteousness and loves God, and although you are a person who stands before God in perfect righteousness because of the cross of Christ, you still dwell in a body of unredeemed flesh.

But this body of unredeemed flesh is not who you really are anymore. Let me give you an example. Last August, my mother died. She'd been a Christian for 64 years and she went home to be with the Lord.

She was laying on the bed and I was there holding her when she breathed her last breath. She was no longer in that body. She left it. What we put in the ground was not my mother. The real Barbara Washer, my mother, left that body and went to be with the Lord.

And her body went to the grave to rot. So the person of Barbara Washer was not that body of flesh. The person, the essence, the heart, the nature of Barbara Washer went to be with the Lord. In the same way, you dwell in this body of flesh.

And yes, it is still unredeemed. And it is still corruptible. And it is still inclined to sin. And it will one day die. And it will rot in the grave until the resurrection. But it is not who you are. You live in a fallen body.

But it is not who you are. You live in a body that was born in sin. You live in a body that has ingrained habits of sin. You live in a body of flesh that has been trained in sin. But it is not who you are.

Because in your very essence you are new. You are a new creature. And you do love God. And you do desire righteousness. And because you are a new creature, you struggle against sin now. Before your conversion you hated God.

But now you love God. And you struggle against a body of flesh. Before you were a Christian you loved sin. But now if you are a Christian you hate sin. And the fact that you now hate sin proves that God has really done a work in your life.

And the struggle you have with sin is proof that you really are a new creature. Let me give you an example. Let's say that we have a lost man. And he is leaving for work. And it is raining outside and he is late for work.

And he has got all his books and suitcases under his arm. And he is frustrated and afraid that his boss is going to be mad. And right when he gets ready to leave, his wife comes out, out of bed, with her hair looking like Medusa.

And with those big fuzzy shoes on that women wear after they are married. And she looks like Godzilla with lipstick on. Like who? Godzilla. The Japanese monster Godzilla. And she looks like a Japanese monster with lipstick on.

And she says, honey, will you take out the trash? And he turns around and he says to his wife, what is wrong with you? Can't you see I am late? My boss is mad. You always do this to me. Take out the trash.

And comb your hair. And he walks out the door. And he feels completely justified. He is not bothered. Goes to work. Mad at his wife. No problem. A few months later he is converted. So one morning he gets up as a true Christian.

He has been going to church, going to Bible study, learning the things of God. I mean, he has really been converted. Well, he gets up one morning and he is late for work. And it is raining outside. And he has got all his books under his arm.

And he is getting ready to walk out the door. And his wife gets up. And although he has been converted, his wife still looks like Godzilla. And she says, honey, will you take out the trash? And he turns around.

And he says, what is wrong with you? Don't you know I am late for work? You always do this. Take out the trash yourself. And comb your hair. And put on some make-up. But this time something happens. It is like a sword going through his heart.

Sin. He sees it. It makes him sick. And maybe he apologizes. But maybe he doesn't. And he is going to the car. And he is miserable. And he feels the guilt. And he feels dirty. But he still fights against it.

And he goes to work. And he is miserable. He can't stand it. And finally he picks up the phone. And he calls his wife. And says, honey, please forgive me. I was so wrong. I have sinned against you. And I have sinned against God.

And I am so sorry. Please forgive me. And he gets down on his knees. He says, oh God. I have lost my peace. I feel like I can't even breathe. Take away my guilt. Forgive me. Now what's happened? He is a new creature.

He can't live like he lived before. There has been a real fundamental change to his heart. He is now a saint. He is now a child of God. He has a new heart that loves God. A new heart that loves righteousness.

A new heart that hates sin. But when he sins, he can't bear it anymore. Because God has made him into a new creature. And the power of sin is being broken in his life. Does that describe you? And then as he begins to grow in the things of God, since he is a new creature, he becomes to become more and more sensitive to righteousness and sin.

And his spirituality becomes more refined. So that things that didn't even seem like sin when he was a young Christian are now very serious things to him. Because he is being changed from glory to glory.

Conversion as a Fundamental Change of Nature

That is what salvation is about. And I so want you to see this. Let me give you an illustration from Charles Spurgeon. Let me give you an illustration from Charles Spurgeon. Let's say that in the back of the auditorium I have two pigs.

Two dirty, nasty, stinky pigs. Boy, that sounds bad in your language. And I tell you, I say, let the pigs go. And you let them go. And on this side of me I have a big, big table full of garbage and filth.

And over here I have a table of the best food in Holland. And we let the pigs go. Where are they going to go? I was raised on a farm. I know exactly where they're going to go. They're going to go straight for the garbage.

Not only are they going to eat it, they're going to jump in it. And they're going to be eating it and eating it. And they're going to be very happy. They're going to be wiggling their little tails. Why?

Because they're pigs. It's their nature. Pigs love garbage. And they're not ashamed of it. But let's say that I look at those two pigs. And I have the power to change them into men. And I look at one of the pigs and I say, become a man.

The moment that one pig becomes a man what's going to happen? He is going to throw himself out of that garbage. And he is going to begin to vomit up the garbage that he was eating with delight. He is going to be sick and repulsed by what he sees.

And he is going to turn around and look at you and be ashamed. I just described your conversion. Before becoming a Christian we were sinners by nature. By nature we were children of wrath. Sons of disobedience.

Children of the devil. We hated God. We hated righteousness. And we loved sin. We loved moral filth. But the moment we were changed the very things that we loved we began to hate. And the God that we ignored we began to love.

We became new creatures with a new heart. Now, let's say that that man forgets for a moment who he is. And let's say that the other pig talks to him and tries to convince him to come back to eat some garbage.

He knows it's wrong. But he's tempted. And so he sticks his head back in the garbage. And he takes a bite. And the moment he does he is disgusted once more. Because there are things that a pig can eat that a man simply cannot eat.

His nature won't allow him. In the same way a man is converted. Well, let's use you as an example. If you are Christian. There was a time when you loved sin. And you were under the power of sin. But God did a work in your life.

And He changed you. Do you remember that? Has that been your experience? That there was a fundamental change happened in your life through Jesus Christ? It's not that you just decided to live a different way but you really became a new person.

And you started to walk in a newness of life. But although you desire righteousness and desire God, there's still a great struggle. And sometimes you give in to temptation. But when you do sin it disgusts you.

It shames you. It makes you almost sick. Why? You are a new creature. Now sometimes I hear preachers saying this. Oh, sin is fun for a season. And we're just sin loving people. And we've got to resist the delights of temptation and sin.

That's just wrong. Do you honestly think sin is fun? I don't. Do you honestly desire to rebel against God? Do you really? Are you constantly looking for ways to rebel and not get caught? Is sin more delightful to you than righteousness?

If that's true, then I wonder if God's even done a work in your life. Sin is not fun for the believer. It leads to death. It's disgusting. And when the true believer does sin he hates what he's done. And he's miserable.

Why? Because he's a new creature. I was converted when I was 21 at the University of Texas. Prior to that I was a very just bad person. Totally and completely self-centered. I didn't care about anybody but me and I didn't care who I hurt.

I used people for my own plans. Used my friends. Used girls. Used everything. I drank all the time. And I would do things and then wake up in the middle of the night and try to make a resolution to never do them again.

Totally and completely under the power of sin. And totally and completely condemned. But one day someone shared with me about Jesus Christ. And over the weeks to come looking at the scriptures I saw that what God said about me was true.

But then one day Christ became precious to me. I saw my sin. But I also saw Christ revealed in the scriptures. And I believed. I saw that He was my Savior. And everything was just new. It wasn't that I put out a list of rules and decided I was going to try to follow them.

I just became a different person. A young, immature Christian. But inside really different. How could I go from one day loving sin and self to the next day hating sin and self and loving God? It's the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.

At that moment did I become sinless? Absolutely not. But my relationship to sin changed. What I had loved I now hated. And the sin that I wanted to do before I no longer wanted to do. But when I did sin it almost killed me.

It broke my heart. What happened? New creature. So God solved my first problem through justification. Christ died for my sins. Christ lived a perfect life for me. The moment I believed all my sins were forgiven.

And I was declared the righteousness of God in Christ. My legal standing before God in Jesus Christ. So I was no longer condemned. But also He solved the second problem. I was totally and completely under the power and in bondage to sin.

I loved sin and I discovered new ways of doing it. But at the moment of conversion that power was broken. I no longer wanted sin. And although I still live in a body of flesh and I still sin it is very different than before.

Christian Victory Without Claiming Sinless Perfection

Sometimes people will ask a Christian Well, let me say this. When a Christian begins to talk about victory in the Christian life some people will go Who do you think you are? You think you're perfect, don't you?

You think you don't sin. Did I say that? No, I didn't say that. So if you think that's what I'm saying either you don't understand English or your own language. Or you just don't understand anything. Listen to me.

I got up this morning the moment I got up did I love God as the Scriptures demand? No. Did I, when I got up this morning glorify God with every thought as the Scriptures demand? No. Throughout this day have I struggled and prayed against sin?

Yes. But there is a great difference today than Paul Washer 27 years ago. I did not wake up this morning desiring to sin like before. I did not wake up this morning looking for new opportunities to sin like before.

I did not get up this morning looking for ways to appear religious while at the same time maintain a wicked life. I woke up this morning desiring to love and serve my God. I woke up this morning desiring to be obedient and pleasing to Him.

And I woke up this morning with a little bit of failure with a little bit of fear that I might fail Him. But my fear was taken away by the grace and the salvation I have in Jesus Christ. And I woke up this morning a little bit sad because last night I did not live for Christ as I wanted to.

I did not reflect His glory as I had hoped. But I was not in despair because I know that He who began a good work in me will finish it. There is a sense, my dear friends, in which we should be serious about our sin as Christians.

And the Bible says, blessed are those who mourn. But blessed are those who mourn because they shall be comforted, not because they mourn. Mourning is not the goal in the Christian life. But the comfort and joy we receive through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

The Believer's New Allegiance and Assurance

Now, one last thing. If I believe, like some people say, that I am still just a wicked, sin-loving, depraved human being, then when the devil comes, and he tempts me, here is sin. What am I to do? Well, okay.

You're right. I'm still a wicked, sin-loving, depraved sinner. You're right. If I follow you, I'll have a better time because, you know, that's just what I am. There's not much power in that, is there?

But if the devil walks in and says, here's sin. And I look at him and I say, you have no place with me. I am a child of God. I have been recreated. I am a new creature. I belong to him. And that sin that you're offering me, if I am deceived, and I do take a bite of it, I will be sick.

I will be nauseous. I no longer belong to that world. I live in a different realm now. I am a different person. And I belong to a different Lord. See the difference? It's a real difference. Let's pray.

Prayer for Justification, Regeneration, and Final Sanctification

Father, what a great salvation is ours that you would take away all our condemnation and lay it upon your Son. That He would die once and for all for the sins of His people. That He would expiate our sin.

That He would carry it outside the gates of the city so that it would be ours no more. That You have taken our sins and removed them as far from us as the east is from the west. That Father, we stand before You clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

We are not boasting in our own righteousness, but we are boasting in what You have done for us. And we accept it. And we rejoice in it. And we stand in it. And Lord, we thank You for the work of regeneration whereby You changed us.

You took out our heart that hated You and replaced it with a heart that loves You. You took out our heart that loved sin and hated righteousness and You replaced it with a new heart. Recreated in Your image in true righteousness and true holiness.

And we thank You, Lord, that we no longer belong to the kingdom of darkness, but we have been translated into the kingdom of Your dear Son. And we so appreciate, dear God, that we no longer are slaves to sin, but can offer the members of our bodies as slaves to righteousness.

And that we have victory even over sin, even over the devil, even over this fallen world, not by our own hand, but by the power and the glory and the honor and the greatness of Jesus Christ. And we stand in this inheritance that You have given us.