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- What is sin? Well, Romans 3 .23 says, All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
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- Not only is that verse talking about our state before God, but it also gives us the definition of sin when we understand the text.
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- Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text promotes sound doctrine while exposing the faulty.
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- Here's your host, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We are in Romans 5, beginning in verse 12.
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- If you want to open up your Bibles and join with me there. This week, talking about the doctrine of original sin.
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- Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. Sin came into the picture and so did death as a consequence for sin.
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- Romans 6 .23, for the wages of sin is death. All who are descended from Adam are born into sin.
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- We are physically alive, but we are spiritually dead. And then it is the Spirit of God that regenerates the heart.
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- We receive the gospel and it is the message of Jesus Christ. The power of God that raised him from the dead is the same power that works in us to bring us back to life.
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- We read that in Romans 8, Ephesians 2, and some other places. And so we are brought to life by the power of God.
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- And then we are both physically and spiritually alive when our physical body dies as a consequence for sin.
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- Because again, wages of sin is death. Sin has entered the picture. We have still sinned and so the consequence that we will face for that sin is a perishing of the body because all things have been subjected to futility as it talks about in Romans 8.
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- So though the body dies, the spirit will go on living forever because it has been given life by the
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- Spirit of God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It wasn't just enough that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but also that he came back from the grave so that we can know that our sins have been forgiven and we will also live forever with him.
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- So let's come to our passage here today and then I'll tell you where we're going to go from here. Romans 5, beginning in verse 12, we'll read the paragraph that we read yesterday through verse 14.
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- Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned, for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.
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- Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
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- But the free gift is not like the trespass, for if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man
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- Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin, for the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.
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- For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man
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- Jesus Christ. So we kept going there, we went all the way through verse 17, but that's the next section we're going to be talking about here.
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- So let's come back to verse 15. But the free gift is not like the trespass, for if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man
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- Jesus Christ abounded for many. So it's almost like we've shifted gears here, and we've gone from talking about sins to trespasses.
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- What is the difference between a sin and a trespass? Well, first, I think it's necessary for us to define what sin is.
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- As we have mentioned, Romans 3 .23 says, For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
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- And that's not just talking about our state before a holy God. It's also the definition of sin.
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- For all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. Sin is falling short of God's perfect standard,
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- His righteousness, His holiness. The Greek word for sin is hamartia.
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- It means to miss the mark. Every once in a while, I'll get emails from somebody, a what viewer or listener, who will say,
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- Hey, can you do a what video on how sin doesn't mean to miss the mark? I hear that all the time.
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- Pastors saying sin means to miss the mark. Well, can you do a video about how sin doesn't mean that? I'm not going to, because that is the definition of sin.
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- It means to miss the mark. But here's the thing. While the word hamartia can be used to talk about an archer that is shooting at a bullseye, right?
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- And he tries to shoot an arrow at the bullseye, and it just misses that center dot by a little bit.
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- Hamartia, he missed the mark. When you apply it to sin in relation to God's perfection, we're not anywhere near the target.
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- Like we've turned around and we're shooting arrows in the complete opposite direction. That's how much we're missing the mark by.
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- We're nowhere close. When scripture tells us in Isaiah 64, 6, that even our best deeds are as a soiled garment before God, that's missing the mark, and it's pretty bad.
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- So we all are liars. We have all lied. You have told lies before.
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- If you're sitting across from me shaking your head, no, I've never told a lie. You're lying right now. All right? And God's perfect law has said to us, do not bear false witness against anybody.
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- In fact, in the Sermon on the Mount, you just go there. In Matthew 5, where Jesus says, if you have lusted after a person in your heart, you've committed adultery with them in your heart.
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- Now, see, in my testimony, as I was growing up and my parents raised me on the discipline and the instruction of the scriptures,
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- I never gave my body to another woman. I remained pure all the way until marriage.
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- But understand, I still sinned. I still committed that sin, even though I may not have ever slept with another woman before.
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- I had lusted after women in my heart and in my mind. In fact, I had a porn addiction for many years.
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- So there was still that sin in my life, though never had slept with another woman before.
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- So I had committed that sin. I'd committed adultery in my heart. The law also tells us that we are not to commit murder.
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- Now, that might be something that everybody listening to this program right now can say, I've never done that, never committed murder before.
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- Well, there in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that if you have had contempt against somebody else, then you've murdered them in your heart.
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- If you have said you fool or you have called them names, then you are liable to the fires of hell. And Jesus was saying these things, contesting with those who are trying to say,
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- I've never done this. I've kept God's law perfectly. Jesus is going, no, you haven't. The condition of your heart is far from God, and it has nothing to do with what you've done in view of any man.
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- It's the standard of perfection and righteousness that God demands that you do not meet in your state, in your thoughts.
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- I've heard Matt Chandler say this. If we could take a projector and hook it up to your mind and display all of the thoughts that you've had all week, you want to sit in here and watch that and see what everybody else is thinking of what's going on in your mind?
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- See, God knows those things. He is the one who tests the heart and mind of every man.
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- And by the perfect righteous standard of God, we fall short of that every time.
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- We are never going to be able to attain it. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
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- That is the definition of sin. John Piper also defines it this way. What is sin? The glory of God not honored.
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- The holiness of God not reverenced. The greatness of God not admired. The power of God not praised.
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- The truth of God not sought. The wisdom of God not esteemed. The beauty of God not treasured.
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- The goodness of God not savored. The faithfulness of God not trusted. The commandments of God not obeyed.
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- The justice of God not respected. The wrath of God not feared. The grace of God not cherished.
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- The presence of God not prized. The person of God not loved.
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- That is sin. And as I've shared with my congregation, sin is anything that goes against the perfect righteous, holy standard of God and His law.
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- All have sinned and fallen short of His perfect standard. So there's our definition of sin.
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- What is the definition of trespass? We really see a better contrast in verse 20.
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- Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.
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- The trespass is a deliberate violation of the law of God. So sin was in every man violating
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- God's moral code, which He had written on the heart of every man, prior to the giving of the law.
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- But then once God gave the law, the trespasses increased, because then we had a written law that had been given to us, and we were violating specific commands.
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- So we know what God's Word says, and now when we sin we are also committing trespasses because we are going against what has been said in God's Word.
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- So a little bit simpler definition for trespass than one that was given for sin. But the free gift of God is not like the trespass.
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- For if many died through one man's trespass... Now hang on a second. If we're talking about trespasses being a violation of the law, how could
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- Adam have trespassed if no law had been given? Well, there was a law given. It was the command not to eat of that fruit of the tree.
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- One command! God gave Adam, and he couldn't even follow that one. And so he ate of the fruit.
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- Eve, of course, tempted by the serpent, gave Adam the fruit. He ate of it. They transgressed God's law, and death entered into the picture.
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- So many died. All of us have died through the one man's trespass. Much more have the grace of God.
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- Much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many.
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- And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation.
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- It brought guilt and shame into every person because of his sin.
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- But the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. In other words, there is no guilt and shame for sin if we are in Christ, because we know that those sins have been forgiven, so there's nothing for us to be guilty about.
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- We know that Christ has forgiven us those things, and now we are able to worship Him in a right and just way, where previously we could not.
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- We are accepted by God because of the sacrifice of Christ, where previously God's eyes were not even looking at us in our sin, as it says in Habakkuk 1 .13.
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- So, justification. We are declared innocent before God because of the sacrifice of Christ.
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- There's no guilt and shame. It has been taken care of by Christ. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through that one man,
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- Jesus Christ. Tomorrow we're going to be talking about something called federal headship. Come back for that one.
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- Our great God, we thank you so much for this word and the promise of eternal life that has been given to us through Jesus Christ our
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- Lord. Indeed, death has entered all of mankind because of Adam's sin. We all stand condemned before God because of our sin.
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- We're willing participants in that sin. But God, because of Christ, we can know that our sins have been forgiven and we are justified, declared innocent before God because Christ paid that price.
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- So please, cleanse us of all of this guilt and shame, our sin that we have committed against the perfect righteous standard of God.
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- Make us holy and shape us in the image of Christ and teach us what that means and how to do that according to the direction given in your word.
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- We pray and ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. This is a production of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas.
