LWFITC: Meeting 18 22/8/2015
Title:
The power of sin
1. What is sin?
The
scriptural definition of sin is found in the book of James 4:17(ESV) which says, “So whoever knows the
right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin”. With this broad definition we can see
how things such as procrastination can be classed as being sinful- it fits this
definition perfectly! This also means that sin extends beyond being an immoral
act, our thoughts; speech etc can also be sinful, verses 11 & 4 cover the
areas of speech and friendship with the world being sinful.
·
11Do not
speak evil against one another....
·
4You
adulterous people![a] Do you not know that friendship with the
world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of
the world makes himself an enemy of God. (Spiritual adultery- serving more than
one God).
2. What is the origin of
sin?
Romans 5:12 answers this question by saying that “Therefore, just as sin
came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so
death spread to all men[a] because all sinned— So sin came into the
world through one man’s act and as a result of it we have all sinned. Sin is so
powerful that we are all born inherently with a sinful nature which gives us a
tendency towards sin; especially of mind and will. Therefore, we’re either
wanting to sin or thinking to sin.
Psalms 51:5 confirms this, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother
conceive me”.
2b. who
is the man that Paul speaks of in Romans 5 and what was the original sin?
Go with me to Genesis 3:1-7(kindly ask people to read for us please).
From this chapter we see that it was through Adam that sin entered into the
world and his offence was obedience to God’s word (v6). They were very aware of
the instructions God gave them to ‘eat of the fruit of every tree in the garden
except the fruit of the tree which was in the middle of the garden’ (v3), Eve
repeated them to the serpent. Verse 6 tells us the 3 components that led to the
fall of man:-
·
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food-(the
lust of the flesh)
·
and that it was pleasant to the eyes-(the lust of the eyes- the
forbidden fruit looked appealing)
·
a tree to be desired to make one wise- (the pride of life, they wanted
to be as “gods”)
Key point: These 3 components are always present when
the devil tempts us with sin.
READ Luke 4:1-9
Summary Points:
·
Jesus had just finished fasting for
40 days and 40 nights and was hungry afterwards(v2)
·
The next natural step to take is to
something to eat
·
Satan was aware of this fact and knew
that Jesus’ flesh was weak at this point
3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
·
The first temptation is one of the lust of the flesh
because Jesus was hungry and if He had obeyed Satan, he would have appeased his
flesh by satisfying his hunger.
5 And
the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him
all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And
the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee,
and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to
whomsoever I will I give it.
·
Showing Him all the kingdoms of the
world and saying he’ll give him all this power and glory of them was lust of
the eyes- the devil wanted Him to see all that He’ll gain if He worshipped him.
9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the
temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast
thyself down from hence:
10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to
keep thee:
11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou
dash thy foot against a stone.
·
Tempting Jesus to prove whom he was (as
the Son of God, was one if the pride of life. Satan basically said that if
Jesus was truly who he says he was, then this little exercise wouldn’t be a
problem.
·
*NB: The devil also knows the bible, he
quoted Psalms 91:11-12; it is faith that differentiates us from him, unlike him
we actually believe the bible it is the source of our life and strength- the
Word of God lives in us
11 For he shall give his
angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot
against a stone.
This pattern for the devil still hasn’t
changed- he tempts us to sin with things that he knows we want and he comes to
tempt us when we are at a weak point be it physically, emotionally or
otherwise. When we have our guard down, the devil comes to tempt us.
For the rest of these notes, please email us at ladieswhofellowship@gmail.com for the full copy!Many thanks and God bless,
#LWFITC
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