The Seventh Step of Sin-The Act of Sin
James 1:14-15
I- _________________ of sin
A-I John 3:4- _________________ of the law
1-Transgrassion-To overstep a boundary
2-Law
a-James 2:10-Must keep all the law or be guilty of all
b-Galatians 3:10-Must keep all the law or be cursed
c-Purpose of the law
(1) Romans 3:20-Point out sin and show guilt
(2) Galatians 3:24-To drive us to Christ
d-Romans 3:28-Conclusion concerning the law
B-James 4:17- __________ to do and do it not-Romans 7:18
C-Romans 14:23-Whatever is not of __________
Examples
1-Luke 6:30-38-Golden rule
2-Galatians 6:7-Sowing and reaping
II-What is sin? Romans 3:23
A- __________________ the mark of God’s glory
B-What is God’s _______________
III- _________________ to the sin problem
A-In salvation-Philippians 3:9-Righteousness by _________
B-In the ____________________ life
1-I John 1:8-9-Confession of sin
2-James 5:16-To whom?
a-Private sins-To Christ alone
b-Against another person-Must confess to all hurt
c-Public sins-Confess to the church
3-Forsake the sin
4-Make restitution
Conclusion:
We have all violated the 7th step of sin which, while the previous 6 steps of sin are secret sins, the 7th is the actual act of the sin itself.
The solution to the seventh step of sin for the unbeliever, is simply to trust Christ as Savior.
The solution for the believer is to
(1) Confess your sins to all those affected by that sin,
(2) Forsake that sin, and
(3) Make restitution for any damage caused by that sin.
The Seventh Step of Sin-The Act of Sin
James 1:14-15
I-Categories of sin
A-I John 3:4-Transgression of the law
1-Transgrassion-To overstep a boundary
2-Law
a-James 2:10-Must keep all law or guilty of all
b-Gal. 3:10-Must keep the all law or be cursed
c-Purpose of the law
(1) Romans 3:20-Point out sin and show guilt
(2) Galatians 3:24-To drive us to Christ
d-Romans 3:28-Conclusion concerning the law
B-James 4:17-Know to do and do it not-Rom. 7:18
C-Romans 14:23-Whatever is not of faith-
Examples
1-Luke 6:30-38-Golden rule
2-Galatians 6:7-Sowing and reaping
II-What is sin? Romans 3:23
A-Missing the mark of God’s glory
B-What is God’s glory
III-Solution to the sin problem
A-Salvation-Philip. 3:9-Righteousness by faith
B-In the Christian’s life
1-I John 1:8-9-Confession of sin
2-James 5:16-To whom?
a-Private sins-To Christ alone
b-Against another person-Must confess to all hurt
c-Public sins-Confess to the church
3-Forsake the sin
4-Make restitution
Conclusion:
We have all violated the 7th step of sin which, while the previous 6 steps of sin are secret sins, the 7th is the actual act of the sin itself.
The solution to the seventh step of sin for the unbeliever, is simply to trust Christ as Savior.
The solution for the believer is to:
(1) Confess your sins to all those affected by that sin,
(2) Forsake that sin, and
(3) Make restitution for damage caused by the sin.
Preface
Sin has polluted all of mankind and is present in our very DNA, but not only has mankind been corrupted by sin, so has the whole universe, all because of Satan’s sin and his influencing mankind to sin as well.
This chapter demonstrates the seventh step of the eleven steps of sin. While all eleven steps are sinful, this is the first step that expresses the outward manifestation of sin. The previous six steps are all inward and has little physical consequences with the possible exception of talking about evil. The seventh step of sin, which is the open act of sin, carries with it the reaping of the acts of the flesh, and the natural consequences of sin. To be sure the first six steps have their own results, but, as you will see, the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth steps of sin demonstrate a quantum leap from the psychological, spiritual, and emotional results of violating the first seven steps, to the consequential results in the physical realm of action and consequences.
What we need to see in this step is not only the pervasiveness of sin: that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but that in every area of our life and in everything we do, we can sin. In everything we do we have two choices, and we have the opportunity to make the wrong choice to sin in everything we do.
This booklet is not intended to look at a bunch of specific sins. Many preachers make a career preaching on sin, as well they should, but I want this booklet to give us insight into the pervasiveness of sin, the gravity of sin, and, more importantly, how to defeat the impulses of sin in the life of the believer.
The Seventh Step of Sin
The Outward Act of Sin
James 1:14-15
Introduction
I used to know a very religious lady about whom most people would say that she was a very good person. However, she was trusting her own goodness and lack of sin to gain and retain eternal life. She told me that she did not believe that everything people said was a sin was really a sin.
I think there are many religious people who are depending on their own goodness to get themselves to heaven, so, rather than deal with the fact that they are sinful, they simply deny sin exists in their life.
She came to this conclusion, because she began to realize that she could never be good enough to get to heaven. Nobody can. As she compared herself with others, she would feel a little better about her chances, but as she compared herself to the instructions and prohibitions in the Bible, she would have the nagging feeling that she just did not measure up. Nobody can. So she reasoned that everything that people said was sinful, must not really be sinful. Still she felt like she was not good enough to get to heaven. Nobody is. So she simply reasoned that everything that people said you must do to get yourself to heaven, was not really necessary.
In a sense she had a good point. The only problem is that the Bible does in fact teach that you must have a perfect righteousness to get to heaven, and this agrees with this lady’s conclusion that it cannot be obtained by anything we do.
James 1:14-15
“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
Recap of the previous six steps of sin
This writing is titled the “7th Step of Sin.” However, this is the first outward sin in which we participate and set in motion the natural consequences of sin through sowing and reaping.
Feeding the Flesh
The first of the seven steps of sin was listening to evil. The second step of sin is seeing or watching sinful things. These two sins are the way we feed the sin nature.
Steps Three Through Six
Next we begin to think about the things we have seen and heard about. That is also sin. The fourth step of sin is talking about evil. The fifth step of sin is the desire for that sinful activity. The sixth step of sin is when desire meets opportunity and we become enticed or tempted to participate in the sinful activity. Then the seventh step of sin is when we, actually, yield to the temptation and participate in the sinful activity.
I John 3:4- Breaking the Law Is Sin
In I John 3:4 we see one category of sin: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” There are two points here, and both of them are true. The first one is-when you sin you transgress the law. You are breaking the law. So any sin you do breaks God’s laws. The ten commandments which Moses gave came 403-20 years after Abraham. Does that mean that for over four hundred years from Abraham to Moses no one sinned, because there was no written law? Of course not! Romans chapter two tells us that those without the law were a law unto themselves. So, they were breaking their own laws when they sinned. Sin is breaking the law, and breaking the law is sin. If you break God’s law, it is a sin. If you sin, you break God’s law.
No Trespassing
What does it mean to “transgress”? Transgressing is very similar to trespassing. In the Lord’s prayer we read in Matthew 6 “Forgive us our debts,” while in Luke we read, “Forgive us our debts,” but in some translations we read, “Forgive us our trespasses.” So we might assume that sins are the same as trespasses, debts (we owe the wages of sin, which is death) and transgressions.
A trespass is an overstepping a boundary physically, whereas transgress is more a spiritual overstepping of a boundary.
Julie and I built a house in North Carolina shortly after our first child, April, was born. The lot on which we built was kind of odd shaped, and there was a creek that ran across the back of one corner of the lot. The lot behind us was for sale, and a fellow began to cut down trees to clear that lot. As he cut and cleared the trees, he made a path across the corner of our property. Whether he realized it or not did not matter to me, but if it had, I could have gone out back and put up some “No Trespassing” signs. Then, if he crossed over the boundary line, he would be trespassing, right? No, he was trespassing, anyway. I just did not care. But the sign would not have changed that. It would have made simply made him aware that he had overstepped the boundary.
That is like the law. The law does not make us a trespasser. The law simply points out when we do transgress or trespass. If I had put up that no trespassing sign, that would not have made this fellow a trespasser, it would have simply pointed out where he had trespassed. So, there was “sin” before the law, but the law pointed out the sin and showed us, basically, that we had gone too far. The law was like the sign. Mankind sinned before the law, God had not “posted” it until the law. ““Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”
The Whole Thing-James 2:10
Let us look at the law. In James 2:10 God says, “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” What is that all about?
You may have seen the illustration where heaven is on one side of a chasm and we are on the other side. We try to build a bridge by or works to get to heaven, which is on the other side. The illustration shows that, while some do better than others, we cannot do enough works and stop sinning enough to get ourselves to heaven. As Romans 3:23 says we fall far short. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
James 2:10 could be illustrated by the cliff, the chasm, we being on this side of the cliff, and heaven on the other. But instead of showing Christ’s complete provision for our salvation, and the pitiful efforts we try to do by our own works and goodness, the way to the other side is depicted by a chain with a handle on the bottom hanging over the chasm by which we must swing across. The chain represents the law, and every link in the chain stands for a law. As long as you do not break one of the laws, you might think that you could get to the other side, if you could hang on long enough. If you break all of the laws, then the whole chain would crumble in your hands. However, if you only break one law, represented by one link in the chain, you would fall just as far as you would had you broken all of the laws. You have broken God’s law. You are not righteous.
There is None Righteous
Romans 3:10 puts it this way: “There is none righteous, no, not one.” We have all sinned. We have all done things wrong. That is what James 2:10 is telling us. Then God explains further in the next verse. “For he that said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ said also, ‘Do not kill.’ Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.” So Any law you break is going to make you a lawbreaker or transgressor.
We Must Be Righteous to Get to Heaven
The problem is, we must have a perfect righteousness to get to heaven. We have to be as righteous as God to exist in His presence. Anything short of that would be destroyed in the brightness of His glory.
The Unrighteous Are Cursed
In Galatians 3:10 God says, “As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” We must keep all of the law or we are under a curse. That is why it is important to understand the law. We have all transgressed the law, so we have all come under the curse.
What the Law Cannot Do
There are at least three things the law cannot do. The law cannot save us, because we have all broken the law; it cannot keep us saved, because we all continue to break the law, and the law cannot make us spiritual. You cannot live the spiritual life by keeping the law. You cannot have fellowship with God by keeping the law, and you cannot gain the fruit of the spirit through keeping the law. To be sure, if you break God’s laws will not have any of those things, but keeping the law will not gain those things for you either. Nor can keeping the law make you a fruitful Christian and help you to lead other people to the Lord. To be sure, if you break God’s laws, that will prevent you from being fruitful soul winner, but keeping the law will not make you a soul winner.
The Law Demands Our Death
There is no way that we can satisfy the demands of the law, because the wages of sin is death, and the law, therefore, demands a death payment. Therefore, we are hopelessly lost.
Since God did not give us the law to save us or to accomplish any of these other things, then why in the world did God give us the law?
Purpose of the Law
In Romans 3:19-20 God tells us very clearly what the purpose of the law is. “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Verse 20-Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.” No one can be justified or be declared righteous before God (That is what justified means. It means to be declared righteous). The word “righteous” is very important. Being justified refers to being declared righteous in God’s court of law.
“There shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for…” There is your purpose word. Here is the purpose for the law. “for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
Why did God give us the law? He did not give us the law to keep us from sinning, because we sinned before we even knew the law, and we sinned after we knew the law; but God gave the law to point out sin. It is a sign that shows us that we have overstepped a boundary. It did not make the boundary, nor did it make us overstep the boundary, it simply educated us that we had overstepped God’s boundary.
Remember the illustration of the mirror? When you go out in the yard, and work real hard in the flowerbeds, and you get the black necklaces, and sweat streaks down your face, when you see that in the mirror, don’t get mad at the mirror. The mirror did not make your face dirty. Nor do you take the mirror down and scrub your face with it. You must use something else to wash away the dirt. You need some soap and water.
That is the way it is with the law. The law points out our sinfulness, but it cannot make you clean. It cannot make you righteous. So the law points out our sinfulness, then we must go to Jesus Christ to be washed clean by the Spirit of God and be cleansed. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.
Galatians 3:19-“Wherefore then serveth the law?” Why did God give us the law? “It was added, because of transgressions,” because people kept overstepping God’s boundaries. So God added the law so people could better see the boundary. “Till the seed should come,” speaking of Jesus Christ. “To whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
Verse 20-Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
Verse 21-Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
Verse 22-But the scripture hath concluded…” The law concludes what? “The scripture hath concluded all under sin.” So the law concludes its job when we realize we are under sin. That is the purpose of the law. It finishes its job when we realize that we have sinned. It points out our sin like the mirror. Then the job of the law is finished.
Now that does not mean that now that I realize that I am a sinner that now I can go out and break the law. There are, actually, a lot of Christians that think that now that the law has done its job that we can go out and break the law.
Enter Grace
They say, “We are no longer under law, but under grace.” But wait a minute! What does grace teach us?
Titus 2:11-12-The Purpose of Grace
Titus 2:11-12 tells us: “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Verse 12-Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”
Life Without Law
God addresses that heresy that you can trust Christ as your Savior and then live as you please in Romans 6:1:
Verse 1-“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Verse 2-God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”
Galatians 3:19-26 tells us this:
“Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
Verse 21-Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
Verse 22- But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”
By faith of Jesus Christ
What did we learn that the phrase “By faith of Jesus Christ” means? Some have tried to change that statement to “By faith IN Jesus Christ. That is good. That makes a lot more sense. However, while that is simpler, that loses some of the sense of the statement. That statement means the “faith of (that belongs to) Jesus Christ.” Christ has given all men faith, and it is our choice who or what we trust to save us. If we place our faith in Jesus, then that faith belongs to Jesus, but it is our free will in whom or where we place our faith.
The Law as Our School Master
Verse 23-“But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Verse 24-Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
Now the law does teach us what sin is, and that we are sinful. That is certain. However, being our “schoolmaster” is not really pointing to what the law teaches. What the schoolmaster was the servant that took the child to the synagogue and dropped him off under the authority of the Rabbi to be taught by him. The school master was really more like the school bus driver, or, actually, was more like a governor or governess.
So the law was the bus driver that God gave to drive us to Christ. The law literally drives us to Christ when we realize that we are not righteous, and that we have to be perfectly righteous to get heaven. The law points out that there must be a sacrifice when we are not righteous. God requires that blood be shed when we are not righteous. Sin requires a death. We deserve that our blood be shed and for us to be separated from God. So, we are hopelessly lost. If you care what will happen to you when you die, that will drive you to seek a solution. The solution is Jesus Christ.
The Solution
What do we do about that. Should we trust the law to get us to heaven? “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that (Here is your purpose) we might be justified (Declared righteous) by faith.” So we are justified by faith, because the law drove us to Christ for salvation. Then we trust Him and are saved.
Verse 25-“But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Verse 26- For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 3:28 brings us to a conclusion concerning salvation. “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”
The conclusion of the purpose of the law is the law cannot save you. It cannot help you get saved. It cannot keep you saved, and it cannot help keep you saved. The law was given to point out that you are not saved or kept saved by what you have done or hope to do.
Under Grace, Not Law
So we are under grace and not under the law. So we are saved by faith without the works of the law, but that does not mean that we can go out and start breaking the law. You see, God still expects us to keep the law, but the law did not go far enough. Grace goes much further than the law. The law says, “Thou shalt not kill. Grace says, “love your enemies.” The law says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Grace says, “Do not lust.” Grace always requires more than the law, but we are told to do these things out of love rather than out of fear. Grace does not relieve us from keeping the law, it simply gives us a different motivation.
The purpose of the law was fulfilled when we realized that we are sinful, but that does not mean that now we go out and break the law without impunity or consequences.
Sins of Omission
James 4:17 What else sin is. “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” If you know the right thing to do, and you do not do it, that is a sin, also. Sin is not only doing what God does not want you to do, but it is also not doing what God wants you to do.
There are over six hundred commands in the Old Testament. In fact anything God tells us not to do is a command, but also anything God tells us to do is a sin if we do not do it. Since God is God, any instructions He gives to us should be considered a command. God does not give suggestions.
What many people do is look at what the world says to do about a particular problem. We may ask a friend, or a counsellor. Then if they do not agree, we have to make a decision. What should we do? Find out what God has to say about it. Most people will not consider that as an option, because they are too lazy to find out what the Bible has to say. Then if they should find out, they add it to the list of options, they simply choose the one they like best.
Where to Find the Solution
In Proverbs 3:5-6 God tells us how to how to find the way we need to go. He says, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Why is that statement so important? It is because your own idea of the solution to a particular problem is usually diametrically opposed to God’s instructions. That is largely because we get our information from the world view which, and the world view is an enemy of God.
Verse 6-In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Sinful Imaginations
You see, in Romans 7:18 “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” That is why when you yield to your own desires of the flesh for guidance you will make the wrong decision. When you rely on your own understanding, it will not be good. God tells us to beware of imaginations. It was because of Israel’s imagination that judgement came on them. They went after their own understanding instead of what God had to say in His commands. Yet there are many in our society today that want us to cultivate imaginations. Interestingly enough, the Bible almost always condemns imaginations.
Whatever Is Not of Faith Is Sin
Romans 14:23 tells us another definition of sin. “He that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
What God is talking about in this verse is eating meat. God inspired Paul to write that if eating of flesh would be offensive to a fellow believer, then he would eat no flesh while the world stands. Now there is nothing wrong with eating meat—unless it offends our brother or influences a brother to do something that he believed might be wrong, then it is a sin to eat meat in that case.
So “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
What Is Faith?
What is faith? The definition of faith is found in Romans 4:19-21:
Verse 19-“He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Verse 21-And being fully persuaded that, what he (God) had promised, he was able also to perform.
Verse 22-And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.”
Faith is not believing that what you want you’ll get. Faith is not believing that if you believe without doubting you will get what you believe you will. Faith is believing that what God promised He will do. If God says it in His Word, believe it even if it is contrary to logic.
In Luke 6:30 we see an illustration of this. “ Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.” In other words, when someone asks you for something, give it to them, and do not ask them to give it back.
Verse 31 says, “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” That is what we call the golden rule. Or at least we used to. We were taught this in school. It was on the pencils we bought in the school book store. Now we seem to live by the rule, “Do him before he does you.”
Verse 32-“For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
Verse 33-And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
Verse 34- And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.”
Jesus is saying that the philosophy to lend to people expecting to get what you lend back is no big deal, but grace goes much further than that.
Verse 36-“But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward…” That is what you are working for. You are not working for salvation. You are working for reward. “Your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” Notice that God is kind to the unthankful and evil. What this is saying is if we are children of God we ought to act like it. If we are children of God we ought to act like Him, and those things are what God does.
When Did God Love Us?
You might say, “He does not really do that does He?”
Remember, we were evil, and God in His kindness died for us. “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” (Romans 5:8). It was not when we were seeking God. It was not when we were being good. “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.”
So God loved His enemies, and He gave to them. What did He give to His enemies? He gave His life. I guess you might say that He gave everything He had. If a man does not have his life, what else does He have?
I heard one fellow put it this way: “God bankrupted heaven to save us.” So God is kind to the unthankful and evil.
Verse 36 says, “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
Verse 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
Verse 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
Giving and Receiving
Very few believers believe that verse. God is not suggesting that this only is true at church. This is a general principle. “Give and it shall be given unto you,” but we do not believe that. If you want great returns, then you must invest right. I am not saying that we should not invest, nor am I saying that we should not put some money into savings, but that is not how you get your increase or your reward. God says, “Give and it shall be given unto you. However, we do not really believe that giving really works in life. However, it is very easy to prove this principle simply by comparing this statement with the laws of nature, and the laws of sowing and reaping in particular. What law is that? If you sow bountifully you will reap bountifully. If you sow sparingly, you are going to reap sparingly. If you want the blessing or if you want the return, give more. That is clearly what it is saying here, but we simply do not believe it when it comes to money.
Are you having a cash flow problem? Then give more. The more you invest in the Kingdom of God, the more return you are going to have in eternity. One big problem is we are pretty impatient when it comes to our money.
God promises to give us an hundred fold for whatever we invest in the Kingdom of God. When would you want to receive your return on that investment? Would you rather receive a very small return on you investment in the Kingdom of God right now, and lose it all when you die; or would you rather receive an hundred fold for what in invest in the Lord’s work, (which amounts to about 10,000 %), after you get to heaven, and keep them for all eternity? That is a no brainer to me. That is too much to gain to lose. So He says, “Give, and it shall be given unto you,” But if God is giving it to you, then He may wait until we get to heaven so that we will never lose it, it will not become corrupted by moth and rust, thieves will not break through and steal, and, most importantly, it will not corrupt us. That principle goes along with the laws of sowing and reaping mentioned in Galatians 6:7-9: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. V8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. V9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
The Solution
So what is the solution to the problem of sin?
What is sin? Romans 3:23 tells us: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” The last part of that verse is the definition of sin. Sin is coming short of the glory of God.
The Glory of God
What is the glory of God? We view God’s glory as a ball of fire, and that ball of fire is made up of all of God’s attributes being exercised to perfection in the greatest degree. There is never any lack of perfection there. Now some of those attributes are things that we cannot do. His omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, and His character attributes are not things that we can attain or obtain, unless we are in Him. But His love, mercy, and grace are available to us. What make those attributes glorious is they are exercised to the greatest degree. When God loves, He loves to the greatest degree. So to be righteous or without sin, we, too, must be loving to the greatest degree. What does it mean to love to the greatest degree? John 15:13 tells us: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Unless we love enough to lay down our life, we have not loved to the greatest degree. But Jesus did. So love, mercy, grace, and perfect righteousness must be exercised to the greatest degree. Justice, also, and hatred and wrath against sin.
Coming Short of God’s Glory
If we do not have these attributes, have sin. How can we have those things? That is the problem. That is where we come short. There are certain attributes of God’s glory that we cannot do, but of those things we can do, we still come far short. According to James 4:17 God explains: “To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
We Must Be Just
We must be just. That means we must keep the law. We come short in this area, also.
So what is the solution? What is the solution to the sin problem?
In salvation the solution is very simple. You must simply trust Christ as your Savior.
You see, to conquer the sin problem we must have a perfect righteousness. We need to be as perfectly righteous as God Himself, or else we have come short of the glory of God. Now we see that we cannot be saved by the works of the law. You have to be perfectly righteous, and we are not.
So how do we gain that perfect righteousness? Philippians 3:9 tells us: “Be found in him, (Speaking of Jesus Christ) not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ (The faith we have given to Jesus), the righteousness which is of God by faith.” In view of that fact, if we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, then we have the righteousness it takes to get to heaven, so we have the right to heaven. So if God would not allow us into heaven after we have trusted Christ as our Savior and we then have the perfect righteousness required to get to heaven, then God would be unrighteous. God would be unrighteous to bar us from heaven after we have trusted Christ as our Savior, because we then have the righteousness of God.
Solution to Salvation
So that is what the unbeliever needs to do. He needs to place his faith in Jesus Christ’s His death, burial, and resurrection in order to obtain the righteousness required to get to heaven. How does he obtain that righteousness? It is “imputed” to him. That means God gives it to Him. God places it to his account, therefore they have the righteousness it takes to get to heaven.
Solution to Sin
However, after we become a Christian, the solution to the sin problem in a Christian’s life is a little more complicated. The eleven steps get more and more difficult. All you have to do in the first two steps of seeing and hearing is to simply stop watching and listening to sinful things. The solution to evil thinking is simply renewing your mind by thinking different thoughts. Instead of talking about evil things, talk about wholesome right things. When the lust comes, then it becomes a little harder. Then you have to run from it. When the temptation comes, you must flee from it and stay away from the people, places, things, and ideas that tempt you. That takes more effort.
Now, when a Christian commits sin, that takes some action on the sinning Christian’s part. God tells us what we must do when we commit sin. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us,” I John 1:8-10.
Confession Is for Fellowship
The cleansing spoken about in this verse has nothing to do with gaining or maintaining the righteousness God gives us when we trust Him for it. We receive that the moment we trust Christ as our Savior. God is not talking about salvation. He is talking about fellowship. How can we know that? We know that, because God tells us so in verse three. “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full (speaking of the fruit of the Spirit). If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: Verse 7- But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” He is talking about how we have fellowship with God, and with other believers. He is speaking to believers.
So if you want to have fellowship with God, and receive the fruit of the Spirit, which is joy, then you need to confess you sins to God. But there is more to it than that. As we saw in verse three, this fellowship is not just with God, but this fellowship also includes fellowship with other believers. Consequently, the confession also includes the requirement to make confession to fellow believers.
What Does It Mean to Confess Our Sins?
Confession simply means to name it by name and to agree with God. It does not mean saying you are sorry. To say, “I’m sorry if I …” is not confession. Confession does not include an excuse or a justification for what you have done. It never includes the words “if I…” For example if you lie to someone, you have sinned against them. So, confession simply states, “I lied to you…” but you must also agree with God, so the confession should include the agreement with God such as “… and that was sin.” It must not include the words, “…but I…” such as “I lied, but I was afraid of hurting your feelings.”
Confession also does not describe the sin. Some people love to confess their sins, because they want to relive what they did.
Sometimes confession is made to the wrong person. If the person is uninvolved in the situation, they have no business hearing the confession. Some Christians like to confess their sins publicly as a kind of boast to show off how worldly they are as a kind of bragging.
Sins should only be confessed to the people that are involved or hurt by the sin. A public confession should be made for public sins, but a private sin should only be confessed to the other person who knows about it.
There should be about three elements in the confession. You must admit what you have done to the person you wronged. You must admit that it was a sin (Not poor judgment, a mistake, or discrepancy), and it should be followed by the request for forgiveness. If they cannot forgive you, that is as much as you can do. You have no right to require them to forgive you or get mad if they do not.
You must never offer to share the blame. “I did this, but you did that,” is not confession. That kind of action is completely unacceptable to God, and is not helpful in mending a relationship.
There are about three types of confession. There is secret confession for secret sins. When the sin was only in your thoughts, then you confess that sin to God alone. When the sin is against another person, then you must include a confession to them. If you have spread that private sin by telling others about it, then you must confess to each one of those who knows about it. If the sin has developed into gossip, then you must make a public confession before the church.
Public confession is not airing dirty laundry to unsuspecting neighbors, but simply admitting to those who already knew about the sin that you know it is a sin that has disgraced you, another person, and the church.
In James 5:16 God says, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.”
The healing is talking about avoiding the consequences of sowing and reaping. If you sow to the flesh, you are going to reap corruption. In other words your body is going to age, die, and rot. Corruption refers to the deterioration of the body due to sin. So, to avoid that we must confess our sin, forake our sin, and then make restitution for our sin if there is any damage caused to others by our sin. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
So when we wrong somebody, we must confess to them as well as to God, and we should ask for their forgiveness not making any excuses for the sin that you have done. If you refuse to obey God in this matter, there is no forgiveness. Do not expect God to forgive us, if we have not obeyed His command in this thing.
Results of Confession
Remember, however, confession cleanses the plate, but that does not put the fruit of joy on the plate. The fruit comes through obedience.
Also, the proper response to sin is not “That’s all right.” It is not all right to do wrong! To say it is a lie. The proper response is, “I forgive you.”
Let Us Recap
If it is a secret sin, like sins 1-6 of the seven steps of sin like listening to the wrong things, watching the wrong things, thinking the wrong things, lusting, or temptation; those things should be confessed privately to God alone. Do not educate anyone else about your secret sins.
But when you act upon those secret sins by talking about or doing evil things, you must confess to those who are aware of your sin or that you have sinned against in addition to confessing it to God.
Then you must forsake that sin.
Thirdly, you must make restitution.
In conclusion: We have all violated the seventh step of sin, which, while the previous six steps may be secret sins, the seventh step of sin is the action of sin.
The solution to the seventh step of sin for the unbeliever is simply to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.
The solution for the believer is quite a bit more difficult. We must confess our sins to all those who are affected by that sin or are aware of it. Then we must forsake that sin, and thirdly we must make restitution for any damage caused by that sin.
If you are an unbeliever, and you are wondering what it means to trust Christ as your Savior, all you must do is trust Jesus’ death payment for your sins. He has already done everything required so that you can go to heaven, and the only thing He requires of you is that you must trust what He has already done to get you to heaven.
You see, we have all sinned. We have all done things wrong. The payment for all sin is death. Since the wages of all sins is death, when Jesus died, He died for all sins. You have to be perfectly righteous to get to heaven, but nobody is. So Jesus removed our sin and took it onto Himself. Then He died and paid for it. All we must do is trust what He did. When you trust what He did, then you can know that you have eternal life. God says in I John 5:13: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.”
What must you do? You must believe on the name of the Son of God, or as he said in John 6:47, “I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
We have everlasting life the moment we trust Jesus to get us to heaven.
Dr. Jerry Lloyd