Sin is the greatest problem in the universe. Sin was originated by, and is now supported through, the most powerful forces in all of existence, outside of God Himself. Sin has supernatural underpinnings. Sin is such a huge issue that the Son of God had to sacrifice His life to overcome it. Sin is not an “infraction” or a “misstep” or a “misdeed”…sin is the most horrible, monstrous, malevolent condition that can ever occur...and we do it all the time. We believe in Christ, and we are seeking God’s power and blessings, but we sin, because it is our “nature” to do so. We have a “sinful” nature.
Most of what we will study throughout this book is designed to address the problem of sin. This is because sin is not what it seems, and we underestimate its destructive capabilities, frequently ignoring the resources God offers to enable us to deal with it. In this book, we will bring out techniques for overcoming sin. These are clearly described and delineated in Scripture, even though they are often overlooked by preachers and Bible teachers.
(God, be gracious to us...we want to know how to deal with this unleashed dragon that stalks and attacks at every turn. We want to stay clean and live right. Show us in these studies how this is done.)
When we look away from God, we instantly fall into sins of all sorts...sins of the eyes, the tongue, the hands, the feet, the heart, and so on. After all, we’re only human, and when we are most “human”, we are least “divine”. If sin is present in our lives, we cannot access God’s divine assets. Sin must be avoided...or removed. We will look at both of these.
Did we mention that sin is bad? It keeps us away from God’s strengthening provisions. On the other hand, when we are close to God, we have opportunities to love, to trust, to grow, to understand, to witness, to serve, to rest, and many other things. We will study all of these. But when we sin, problems arise: self-destruction, harm to others, divine punishment, frustration, fear, unhappiness, isolation from God, relationship difficulties, etc.
With God: production. With sin: destruction. This is why Jesus taught His disciples to pray: “Deliver us from evil.” We must know more about this force from which we have to be “delivered”. Fortunately, as we said, evil is well-defined in the Bible...to help us identify sin...and to prepare us to overcome it.
Generally, we tend to see sin as something others do...mistakes in behaviors or attitudes that we observe in them. Our own sins are harder to see. In evaluating ourselves, it is easy for us to focus on our own areas of strength, while throwing a shroud over our areas of weakness. We often look away from our own sins to avoid culpability for them. As we shall see, this only compounds our problems with sin. The cover-up is as bad as the crime, and we will explain why very soon.
Sin is not always what we think, and it is much more pervasive than we have realized. Many things in the main stream that we have come to accept through “custom” are not acceptable to God. And many sins go on without our even knowing they are sins. We will distinguish many of these, as well as review the sins that “everyone” acknowledges as evil.
Finally, we must know that we all sin. 1John 1:8 and 10 make it clear that we “have” sin within us, and that we “do” sin. None of us can deny our sinfulness...not even the most mature and saintliest among us. But there is hope for us, and that is what we want to see. Thank God for His grace, and that He has provided the way for us to deal with sin. Keep reading.
Most of what we will study throughout this book is designed to address the problem of sin. This is because sin is not what it seems, and we underestimate its destructive capabilities, frequently ignoring the resources God offers to enable us to deal with it. In this book, we will bring out techniques for overcoming sin. These are clearly described and delineated in Scripture, even though they are often overlooked by preachers and Bible teachers.
(God, be gracious to us...we want to know how to deal with this unleashed dragon that stalks and attacks at every turn. We want to stay clean and live right. Show us in these studies how this is done.)
When we look away from God, we instantly fall into sins of all sorts...sins of the eyes, the tongue, the hands, the feet, the heart, and so on. After all, we’re only human, and when we are most “human”, we are least “divine”. If sin is present in our lives, we cannot access God’s divine assets. Sin must be avoided...or removed. We will look at both of these.
Did we mention that sin is bad? It keeps us away from God’s strengthening provisions. On the other hand, when we are close to God, we have opportunities to love, to trust, to grow, to understand, to witness, to serve, to rest, and many other things. We will study all of these. But when we sin, problems arise: self-destruction, harm to others, divine punishment, frustration, fear, unhappiness, isolation from God, relationship difficulties, etc.
With God: production. With sin: destruction. This is why Jesus taught His disciples to pray: “Deliver us from evil.” We must know more about this force from which we have to be “delivered”. Fortunately, as we said, evil is well-defined in the Bible...to help us identify sin...and to prepare us to overcome it.
Generally, we tend to see sin as something others do...mistakes in behaviors or attitudes that we observe in them. Our own sins are harder to see. In evaluating ourselves, it is easy for us to focus on our own areas of strength, while throwing a shroud over our areas of weakness. We often look away from our own sins to avoid culpability for them. As we shall see, this only compounds our problems with sin. The cover-up is as bad as the crime, and we will explain why very soon.
Sin is not always what we think, and it is much more pervasive than we have realized. Many things in the main stream that we have come to accept through “custom” are not acceptable to God. And many sins go on without our even knowing they are sins. We will distinguish many of these, as well as review the sins that “everyone” acknowledges as evil.
Finally, we must know that we all sin. 1John 1:8 and 10 make it clear that we “have” sin within us, and that we “do” sin. None of us can deny our sinfulness...not even the most mature and saintliest among us. But there is hope for us, and that is what we want to see. Thank God for His grace, and that He has provided the way for us to deal with sin. Keep reading.
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