1. Follow along at: southsidepca.org/CE/index.html or
What is sin?
Where did sin come from?
Do we inherit a sinful nature from Adam?

3. Sin disrupts everything.
We don’t live the lives we were originally
designed to live.
We don’t live in the world we were originally
designed to live in.

4. Sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God
in act, attitude or nature.
Since God is eternally good in His character;
all that He is conforms perfectly to His moral law.

5. Where is this moral law of God defined?
The Bible, specifically, the Old Testament
The Bible not only prohibits sinful actions,
but sinful attitudes.
Exodus 20:17, Matthew 5:22, Matthew 5:28

6. Sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God
in act, attitude or nature.
This definition of sin emphasizes the
seriousness of sin.
Sin is directly opposite to all that is good in the
character of God, and so accordingly, God hates sin.
Sin contradicts God’s holiness, so He must hate it.

7. Sin is in complete contradiction to God. God
Where Sin Comes From
Sin is in complete contradiction to God. God
cannot sin, and we should never blame God for sin
or think that He bears responsibility for sin.
God decided that He would allow moral creatures
to willfully and voluntarily choose to sin.

8. Where Sin Comes From
Is God the author of sin?

9. Where Sin Comes From
How do we know that God is not the author of sin?
It’s easy. We read His word.
Deuteronomy 32:4
Genesis 18:25
Job 34:10
James 1:13

10. Where Sin Comes From
Sin existed in Satan and the demons before the
disobedience of Adam and Eve. It then entered
the human world through their decisions.
Genesis 2:17 (God’s command)
Genesis 3:6 (Man’s decision)
Neither God nor Satan forced Adam and Eve to
eat from the tree; they did so willingly, and so,
willingly sinned against God.

11. Where Sin Comes From
As a result, Adam’s nature became sinful.
Adam’s sin also caused us to inherit a sinful nature.
Romans 5:12
Romans 7:18
Jeremiah 17:9
Psalm 51:5

12. Where Sin Comes From
Although our inherited sinful nature does not mean
that we are as bad as we could be, it does mean
that we, like Adam after he sinned, are unable ON
OUR OWN to do anything that pleases God.
This is known as: Total Depravity
From a human standpoint, we may be able to
do things that seem to be good, to God, “all our
righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.”
(Isaiah 64:6)

13. The Gospel is this:
“We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than
we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time,
we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ
than we ever dared hope.” (Tim Keller)

14. Where Sin Comes From
Our disobedience can be made right through
the obedience of another.
Romans 5:19
Even if we don’t believe that we are guilty
because of Adam’s sin, we have all broken
God’s law and therefore must be made right
with God.

15. Original Sin
Romans 5:12 – “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.
Romans 5:18-19 – “Therefore, as one trespass led
to condemnation for all men, so one act of right-
eousness leads to justification and life for all men.
For as by the one man's disobedience the many
were made sinners, so by the one Man's obed-
ience the many will be made righteous.”

17. Age of Accountability
Some teach that Scripture speaks of an “age of
accountability” before which young children are not
held accountable for their sin, and thus are not
counted as guilty before God.
Psalm 51:5
Psalm 58:3

18. Age of Accountability
What about infants who die before they are old
enough to believe?
If those infants are to be saved, it cannot be on
their own merit, but it must be entirely on the
basis of Christ’s redemptive work and the work
of the Holy Spirit within them.
1 Timothy 2:5, John 3:3, Luke 1:15
We must affirm very clearly, that this is not
the usual way for God to save people.

19. How Sin Affects Us
All men stand guilty before God.
1 Kings 8:46
Psalm 14:3
Romans 3:23

20. How Sin Affects Us
The penalty for sin is death.
Romans 6:23
Genesis 2:16-17
However, just as God did not bring the penalty of
death immediately upon Adam and Eve, neither does
He bring the penalty of death immediately upon us.
1 Peter 2:4
Romans 8:1

21. How Sin Affects Us
Therefore, when we sin as forgiven Christians, our
legal standing before God is not affected.
We are still forgiven.
Even though all Christians still sin, they should not
participate in long-term pattern of disobedience to
God’s moral law, for “no one born of God makes a
practice of sinning.” (1 John 3:9)
When Christians sin, they should earnestly and
quickly confess their sins to God.
1 John 1:9

22. Memory Verse
1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.