The two key views or aspects of the cross

View #1 of the cross (We are perpetrators) inherited condemnation The view of the cross that focuses upon the significance of what Jesus accomplished in relationship to how we would stand before God. (Atonement, Propitiation, Justification)

View #2 of the cross (We are victims) inherited corruption This focuses upon the significance of what Christ accomplished in relationship to the bondage that the powers of sin, death and the devil have over us. The fact is we come into this world enslaved to sin and here the cross presents to us the important work of Christ’s death. It is His death on the cross which has redeemed and delivered us from these evil powers. (Redemption, Ransom)

What is sin?

Sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude or nature.

We all know that sin is harmful to our lives and that it brings pain and destructive consequences to others and us. However, it much more serious than what it does to others because it is a direct contradiction, violation and rebellion to the very holiness of God.

Scriptural support for the definition of sin

1 John 3:4 - Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.

James 4:17 - Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin

Romans 14:23 - “…and whatever is not from faith is sin.

Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Biblical evidence for the doctrine of sin Genesis 6:5: "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Jeremiah 13:23 (NIV): "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.” Romans 3:10-11: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” Romans 8:7-9: "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." Ephesians 2:3b: "[We] were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

1 Corinthians 2:14: "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."

Genesis 8:21 - The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done

1 Kings 8:46 - “When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near

Psalms 51:5 - Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.

Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

Romans 7:18 - For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not

1 John 1:8- If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

Summary Point:

Man is not basically good - Man is bad, evil, wicked and corrupt

Even though we learn in Genesis 1:27 we were created in His image something went terribly and tragically wrong in Genesis 3 when Adam sinned.

From that time until now - man is not a sinner because he sins, rather man sins because he is a sinner!

Romans 5:12-21

The Scriptures teach that sin causes a two-fold problem in our lives. By the way these two sin problems are what all people inherit from Adam.

1. We have inherited condemnation – our original guilt and condemnation is not rooted in our first individual sinning but in our connection with Adam and his sin. Since we are regarded as having sinned in Adam then we are subject to the same punishment as Adam. This imputed sin is the ruin of our standing before God in which we are reckoned as guilty in the courtroom of God. Romans 5:12 - Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned

The Scriptures teach that sin causes a two-fold problem in our lives. By the way these two sin problems are what all people inherit from Adam.

2. We have inherited corruption – Because of Adam’s sin then we all enter the world with a sinful or fallen nature. This sin nature, which we have inherited from Adam, manifests itself in our thought, ways of speaking and behaving such that we violate the moral commands of God. We are not sinners because we sin rather we sin because we are sinners!

The point of this Scripture is HUGE because in my corrupted condition and my sinful behavior I have a much deeper problem. That problem is rooted in my union with Adam, my father in whom I sinned, was condemned and died. We need to see where in this paragraph Paul is writing to show us that it is our connection to and with Adam that is our main problem.

Romans 5:15 – “…by the transgression of the one many died…” The one here is AdamRomans 5:16 – “…for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation…”Romans 5:17 – “For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one…”Romans 5:18 – “…through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men”Romans 5:19 – “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners…”

Now that we understand the two-fold problem what is the solution?

The problem of our condemnation in Adam, God remedies through justification in Christ.

His reckoning to us the righteousness Christ solves the problem of our legal guilt and condemnation before God.

In other words if we are to stand before God and be declared “not guilty” then we must have the righteousness of Someone else.”

That someone else is Christ and His righteousness is imputed to us by grace alone, through faith alone.

This event is outside of me and is judicial - (declared righteous) This event happens in an instant

Now that we understand the two-fold problem what is the solution?

The problem of our corruption God remedies through regeneration by the Spirit.

And the problem of our moral defilement and habitual sinning is solved by His purifying us by the work of Spirit. This process is what we call sanctification.

This event is inside of me and moral This event happens progressively over time

Five Observations from Scripture regarding sin

1. Sin affects every human.

Romans 3:23All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

1 Kings 8:46There is no man who does not sin.

Psalm 143:2And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight no man living is righteous.

1 John 1:8If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

2. Our rebellion or hardness against God is total, that is, apart from the grace of God there is no delight in the holiness of God, and there is no glad submission to the sovereign authority of God.

Romans 3:9-11, 18What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD . . . THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

John 3:19-21This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.

Romans 1:18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

3. In his total rebellion everything man does is sin.

Romans 14:23Whatever is not from faith is sin.

Hebrews 11:6And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Romans 7:18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

4. Man’s inability to submit to God and do good is total.

Romans 8:5-9For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh [literally: “the mind of the flesh”] is death, but the mind set on the Spirit [literally: “the mind of the Spirit”] is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh [literally: “the mind of the flesh”] is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

John 3:5-7Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”

Romans 6:17-18But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Ephesians 2:1-5And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).

Ephesians 4:17-18So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.

John 6:44No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

1 Corinthians 2:14But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

Jeremiah 17:9The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately [incurably] sick; who can understand it?

5. Our rebellion is totally deserving of eternal punishment.

Ephesians 2:3Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9[God will] deal out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.

Matthew 25:46These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

In summary:

Total inability means that apart from the grace God, our hardness and rebellion against God is total, everything we do in this rebellion is sin, our inability to submit to God or reform ourselves is total, and we are therefore totally deserving of eternal punishment.

It is hard to exaggerate the importance of admitting our condition to be this bad. If we think of ourselves as basically good or even less than totally at odds with God, our grasp of the work of God in redemption will be defective.