TOPIC:‌“This Damaging Word - Sin”

                  by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap

 

TEXT:‌Romans 6:14-23

 

‌‌“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life” (Romans 6:23)

 

‌Sin is the most destructive and damaging influence in the entire universe. Its corrupting presence is felt by every person in this world causing them untold misery and unthinkable grief. It has poisoned man's life and ruined his character.

 

‌Now there are those who dispute and even deny the actual existence of sin. These people think of sin as simply a defect, a mistake, a fault, an unavoidable weakness within man. Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science, wrote: “Belief in sin is an error; in reality, there is no evil; the soul cannot sin, sin is not real, sin is an illusion.”

 

‌But the Bible totally disagrees with such thinking. The Word of God speaks of sin as a hideous and horrible reality which separates man from God. Some glamorize sin, hiding the ugliness and viciousness of it, by dressing it up in bright lights. Others popularize sin by saying that since it is so widely practiced there must be nothing wrong with it. Still others naturalize sin by arguing that everyone is just doing what comes naturally. They say it is man's nature to sin and he can't help it.

 

‌In this message I want us to discover what the Bible teaches about the subject of sin.

 

I.

 

‌First of all, consider the EXAMINATION of sin. Notice the words of the text: “For the wages of sin…” (v. 23).

 

‌The question is raised, what is sin? The Word of God teaches that sin is a moral evil in that it is a direct transgression of God's law and a deliberate violation of God's will. The Greek word for sin is “hamartia” which means “a falling away from” or “missing the right path.” Other words used to describe sin are unbelief, wicked, error, unfaithfulness and iniquity.

 

‌Sin takes many different forms and there are many different words to describe it in the Bible. Let me try to throw a little light upon sin by listing some of the meanings it has in the Bible.

 

‌Transgression means “to pass over the boundary.” It is a willful overstepping of the boundary that God has set up. It is going beyond the limits that God has established by divine command. The Apostle John wrote: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresses also . . .