SIN AND SINS

 

504 BLANKSTON DRIVE  --  BOGALUSA, LOUISIANA 70427

 

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

9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Adam and Eve were given instructions from God.  They were innocent prior to their sin of disobeying God.  Satan told them that if they followed his advice they would have the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2: 7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

8  And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

   The old sin nature came in when they partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Thus began the Dispensation of Conscience.  They then had a sinful nature that was contrary to God.  Sin came in then and contaminated the entire human race.

Romans 5: 12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

 Now as we look at First John, Chapter One, we will look at some things that perhaps we have not seen before.

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

9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The issue here is that we don’t have a sin nature because we commit acts of sin --- but we commit sins because we have a sin nature from Adam.  In other words — we sin because we have a sinful nature. Misunderstanding that can cause all kinds of problems.  To get save we must recognize that we have a sin nature that causes all the problems.  We cannot confess each individual sin in order to get saved — but we must realize that we are sinners by nature. Verse eight reminds us nof that --- “If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves.”  That means –if we say we don’t have a sin nature we deceive ourselves.

That is the root of the sin problem.  Verse Nine is for Believers.  We must confess our sins to the Lord — not to a man.  The word “confess” does not mean to merely mouth some words but to repent  with the heart.

It is essential to know the difference between verse  eight and verse nine.  Verse eight refers to the sin nature while verse nine applies to the sinful acts.