Sin Is: Always Wrong Sin Is: Always Wrong Sin Is: Always Wrong

Introduction Sin is transgression of God’s law. 1 John 3:4 “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness”. The word “sin” comes from the Greek word that means “to miss the mark”. Literally: to miss the bulls eye of a target. Spiritually: to miss the standard God has appointed for us.

Introduction God hates sin. God takes note of those who sin. God will judge those who are in sin when they die. God will punish those in sin when they die. Let us take this time to see some of the ways in which a person sins.

We Can Sin: Even If We Do Not Know Better Ignorance is no excuse Acts 3:17 “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also”. Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord:” Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priests, Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

We Can Sin: Even If We Do Not Know Better 2 Chronicles 34:14-21 For over three hundred years, the children of Israel had not done what God commanded. Two hundred years later, Ezra and Nehemiah would read the same book and the people would realize they had not been keeping the laws of God.

We Can Sin: Even If We Have A Clear Conscience Acts 23:1 “And Paul, looking intently at the Council, said ‘Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day’”. Acts 22:1-5; Paul’s defense before the crowd. I Timothy 1:15 “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all”.

We Can Sin: Even If It Is Legal Acts 5:29 “But Peter and the apostles answered and said, ‘we must obey God rather than men’”. Divorce for any cause: Matthew 5:32: 19:9 Drinking Alcohol, Drugs, Legal Drugs, Marijuana Lawsuits against brethren. Etc

We Can Sin: Even If Someone Respectable Approves It I John 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world”. 1 Timothy 4:1 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons…” There are teachers of error “My preacher said so” “The Pope declared this”

We Can Sin: Even If "No One Gets Hurt" Numbers 32:23 “But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out”. So many sins do not cause physical harm to others, But they might cause spiritual harm. Romans 14:20-21 “Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. For although all things are clean, it is wrong to cause anyone to stumble by what you eat. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble”.

We Can Sin: Even If We Do Not Get Caught Hebrews 4:13 “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do”. The policeman is at the donut shop and does not see you run the stop sign. But God sees. Psalm 139:7-9 “where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence…:—”behold Thou art there”

We Can Sin: Even If It Is Not As Bad As What Someone Else Did James 2:9-10 “But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all”. So, who are we to compare ourselves to? Ourselves? Proverbs 16:2 “All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the LORD weighs the motives”.

We Can Sin: Even If It Is Not As Bad As What Someone Else Did Can we compare ourselves to others? Galatians 6:4 “Let each one examine his own work. Then he can take pride in himself and not compare himself with someone else”. 2 Corinthians 10:12 “For we would not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who recommend themselves. But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding”. This is so easy to do. “I’m not as bad as ______________________”.

We Can Sin: Even If We Were Trying To Do Good David sinned trying to bring the ark home. Uzzah paid the penalty for this sin (2 Samuel 6:1-7). Does the end justify the means? A lot of people think so, but does it make it right? Truth can be hurtful—Truth can turn people off if handled wrongly. Need for wisdom. James 1:5 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him”. Ephesians 4:15 “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ,.”

We Can Sin: Even If Someone Else Influenced Us Genesis 3:12,13 “And the man said, ‘the woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate’. Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, ‘the serpent deceived me and I ate”. The blind leaders Matthew 15:14 “Leave them! They are blind guides. If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, both will fall into a pit”. Teachers of error—error will still cause a soul to be lost no matter how sincere they are.

We Can Sin: Even If We "Can't Help Ourselves" II Peter 2:12-19 Addiction is very powerful and takes a lot of willpower to overcome it. Influence of drugs, alcohol even though legal still sends us down the wrong path. We are not speaking of physical imbalance that causes people to do strange or bad things. We are speaking of doing things by choice knowing the danger involved.

We Can Sin: Even If Everyone Else Does It Remember what Mama said when you used this argument? Matthew 7:13: “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it”.

Conclusion So many reasons offered for participating in sin still does not make it right. God will judge us. Many passages that warn us about the consequence of sin, especially if it is not repented, turned away from, and acknowledged in confession. A total effort is necessary on our part of overcome sin. Revelation 2:7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death”. Why not remove the sin from YOUR life?