Today i'm writing on sin. This past weekend my youth group had Winter Camp at our church. Saturday night my youth pastor spoke on Sin according to Hebrews 3:12-14. So I'm going to repeat what my pastor said and also expand on it with my own words.
Hebrews 3:12-14
12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.
The obstacle of sin:
• Know what damage sin seeks to do, in our lives, in your heart
• We can understand sin's strategy (Genesis 3)
There are four points about sin's strategies...
- Sin is deceitful.
- Sin causes you to doubt what God has firmly said.
- Sin makes promises that it cannot keep.
- Sin always makes itself look attractive.
______________________________________________
Sin is Deceitful.
"...Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"..."
Satan here was questioning what Eve actually thought God actually meant when He said, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'
Sin Causes You to Doubt What God has Firmly Said.
"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
God said if you eat the fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil you will surely die. Satan was not lieing when He said you will not die (instantly). And he was not lieing when he said their eyes would be opened and that they would be like God, knowing good and evil. To know good and evil is know what is right, to know what is pleasing to God and at the same time, to know evil is to know what sin is, and what the penalty of sin is.
Sin makes promises that it cannot keep.
To Eve, the fruit looked delicious and tasteful, promising satisfaction to her tastebuds, but eating the fruit Adam and Eve brought a curse onto themselves, their family, and every single generation after that. Taking one bite of that fruit, the fruit of which looked pleasing to the eyes and pleasing to the mouth, changed the whole world until the end.
Sin always makes itself look attractive.
Again, this fruit on the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, though Eve knew she was not supposed to take from it... the temptation of Satan, the desires of the flesh, the unfulfilled promise of the fruit, and the feeling that made the taste more important that her obedience to God caused her to sin against God and even caused her husband to fall into the same sin along with her which then brought the curse of being forbidden from the garden of Eden forever.
________________________________________
As a teenager it is especially hard to not give into temptation, to not give into sin. Temptation can sometimes be an overwhelming power in our lives. With sex, drugs, alcohol, fame, and fortune surrounding it is often hard to avoid the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes and the lust of the pride of life.
1 John 2:15-17
15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
Now, as christians, we do have the power to overcome any obstacle of sin. We, by the power of the Holy Spirit can resist giving into temptation.
Lust of the Flesh.
Man is possessed by a nature that is characterized by its fleshliness: its appetite, desires, cravings and passions. Satan appeals to those desires of the flesh. With Eve, she saw the forbidden fruit was good for food. When Satan tempted the Lord Jesus, his first proposal was that he turn stones into bread to satisfy his hunger.
Lust of the Eye.
The second sphere which characterizes the nature of man is indicated by the phrase "the lust of the eye." Satan appeals to the sense of seeing and awakens desires through the eye. What we see we desire and covet, and then we attempt to obtain it for ourselves. Man is basically covetous or selfish by nature and Satan seeks to lead one way in temptations through the lust of the eye. Satan took Jesus up into the high mountain and offered the power and glory of them to him if he would worship him.In the case of Eve, she saw the forbidden tree and fruit was pleasant to the eyes.
Lust of the Pride of Life.
The third gate through which Satan seeks to enter into the life of an individual is the realm designated as "the pride of life." Pride is characteristic of human nature. Man is basically proud and there are sins that appeal to pride. The fallen nature loves and strives for that which promotes, elevates and pleases the individual. Eve in the garden saw that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of which they were forbidden to eat, was "a tree to be desired to make one wise." The appeal of Satan was to all three lusts and then she took and ate of the forbidden fruit in transgression against the commandment of God (Gen. 3:6).
Please know that it is not a sin to be tempted. There is a difference between being tempted and sinning. Everyone is tempted. There are temptations all around us, and they are normal and to be expected. The big question is this: What will I do with the temptation? It is not a sin to be tempted, but yielding to evil temptations leads to sin.
Where do temptations come from?
They come from Satan.
The devil loves to entice people to do wrong and to lead them into what is sinful and wrong. (2 Corinthians 11:3, Revelation 12:9)
They come from my own sinful heart.
We must not always blame Satan every time we fall into sin! The real problem is with our own sinful hearts! (James 1:14)
They do not come from God.
God does not want to see us sin, He wants to see us win! We have a faithful God who wants us to overcome the temptations (1 Corinthians 10:13). We do not have a God who tries to make His children do evil. God allows temptations to come our way, because He wants to TEST US and see if we will trust Him to help us to overcome these temptations. Every temptation that comes is a wonderful opportunity to trust God for victory and to learn that God is always FAITHFUL!
When I Fall Into Sin
When you fall down, get right back up (Proverbs 24:16). Don’t stay down; get right back on your feet! Confess your sin! Forsake this sin! Learn from your failure. God can teach us many important lessons even from our times of failing and falling. If a fish feels the sharp hook once, it may be a little slower to bite the worm the next time!
When I Have Victory Over Sin
When you conquer the temptation, BE CAREFUL! (1 Cor. 10:12) This is true of all of us. We are strong to face temptation when we are depending deeply on God. When we are surest of ourselves, we are also shakiest. The moment you think that you will never fall--WATCH OUT!
God "allows" us to be tempted by our spiritual enemies, yet even at the same time giving us the graces necessary to resist. Take heart from Paul's writings to the Corinthians and know that God is faithful. While God permits us to experience temptation, it is never more than we can manage. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
Eph 6:13
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of Elohim, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Patience is important! Don't be discouraged. Others gone before us have made it, why can't we?
James 1:12
12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
In Christ,
Courtney♥
