I. Introduction

A. Illustration – John Stott, in his book The Cross of Christ, wrote, The concept of substitution lies at the heart of both sin and salvation. For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man (as cited on PreachingToday.com).

B. Today we’re talking about why sin is so destructive to us, and what we can do about it. We’ll be looking at several passages from Romans 5 and 6, and I’ll reading from the New American Standard Bible.

II. Sin Destroys, God Restores

A. Romans 5:12-14 from the NASB – 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 – 13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. Genesis 3 tells us that physical death is a direct consequence of Adam’s sin. Man was designed and created to live forever with God. Sin changed everything. Sin brings death – physical death and spiritual death. Sin destroys the most important thing in the world – personal relationship with God. Let me read a part of this passage from The Message – You know the story of how Adam landed us in the dilemma we’re in – first sin, then death, and no one exempt from either sin or death. That sin disturbed relations with God in everything and everyone, but the extent of the disturbance was not clear until God spelled it out in detail to Moses. So death, this huge abyss separating us from God, dominated the landscape from Adam to Moses. Sin is our enemy because it destroys what God created us to be. It doesn’t matter if we don’t sin exactly like Adam did – sin still kills us. Since we know that none of our physical bodies is going to last forever, the most devastating effect of sin for us is that it separates us from God, the One we were created to be like. Sin destroys us by bringing spiritual death.

B. Let’s continue by looking at Romans 5:18-21 - So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. 19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. 20 The Law came in so that the transgression would increase, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What does all this mean? God gave Moses the Law so that we would become more aware of our sin, so that we would become keenly aware of our need for salvation. That’s why we get so uptight when someone else points out sin in our lives, because we can get along with it fine and pretend it’s not there as long as nobody says anything about it. And that’s also why so many people in our world today become very angry when biblical truth is pointed out to them, because it sheds light on areas where they instinctively know God isn’t happy with. We’ll all continue to struggle with the temptation to ignore the message because it shows us where the sin is in our hearts and lives. So Paul gives us the bad news, but there’s good news. Sin destroys our relationship with God and condemns us to eternal death, but the obedience of Christ to physical death on a cross gives us eternal life. Sin destroys, but grace restores. Grace through Jesus Christ frees us from bondage to sin. Sin destroys our relationship with God and enslaves us, but grace restores our relationship with God and breaks the chains of slavery to sin.

C. That’s why Paul goes on. Romans 6:1-7 – What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. Last week we talked about regeneration, how God makes us spiritually alive when we were dead to Him. Regeneration also makes us able to be dead to sin. Because our sin-destroyed relationship with God is restored through Christ, we can keep sin from running our lives. We can break the power of habitual sin over our hearts and lives. Matthew 16:24-26, from the New Living – Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to keep your life for your self, you will lose it. But if you give your life for me, you will find true life. 26 And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul? That’s the issue at hand. Paul and Jesus are saying the exact same thing. We’ve got to take the dreadfully hard step of giving up our rights to our selves if we’re going to defeat the power of sin in our lives. That’s an incredibly tough thing for us to do, because we’re not really sure we can trust anybody but ourselves to run our own lives. Can we trust God with everything we are? Let’s put it a little differently – Won’t the God who shows us grace and mercy and kindness and love only allow those things into our lives that will bring us closer to Him? Won’t the God who graciously sacrificed His own Son so that our relationship with Him can be restored give us only what is best for us and for His Kingdom? What’s the answer to those questions? Yes! The problem is that what He wants for us and what we want for us don’t always line up. So we have to trust Him. Paul writes that we can trust Him because He went through suffering and death for us. To God, our relationship with Him and becoming like Him is of utmost importance. He wants that for every person on earth. We can trust Him with everything we are and have, so we can follow Him in dying to ourselves and breaking the power of habitual sin over our hearts and lives.

D. Romans 6:15-23 – What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17 But 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, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Lots of words, but lots of truth in them. Paul is reiterating truths that we’ve got to take to heart if we’re going to become like Christ and share His love with others. Grace frees us from sin, but God wants our heartfelt response to be obedience. We’re free from the ultimate outcome of sin – eternal death – if we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. God expects us to be obedient in return. It’s that whole grace-obedience balance thing we talked about last week. If we commit our bodies and our hearts to obeying Him and getting rid of sin, then the ultimate result will be sanctification. We will be made holy like God. God created us to be like Him in character, and His character is holy love. So He wants to build His holiness and His love into us so that we become what we were created to be. And as we become more like Him, we will draw others to Him. Becoming like God benefits us, but that isn’t why He wants to do it. Becoming like Him enables His will to rule over us, and His will is that everyone comes to know Him through His Son Jesus Christ and becomes like Him.

E. 2 Peter 3:9 from the New Living says – The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent. Ezekiel 33:10-11 – “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: You are saying, ‘Our sins are heavy upon us; we are wasting away! How can we survive?’ 11 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?” That’s why Paul, the apostle to the lost Gentiles of this world, including us, has written Romans 5 and 6. The desire of Paul’s heart is that believers of all time would realize how destructive sin really is, and how transforming grace really is. We who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ have been saved by grace so that we can become like Him and so that we can help others know Him and become like Him. We bring God glory by fulfilling His will in this. We demonstrate the fullness of His salvation by fulfilling His will in this. Sin destroys everyone spiritually, which is why everyone needs to hear this good news of Jesus Christ. Because sin destroys, we’ve got to dedicate everything we are and have to getting rid of sin in our own hearts and lives and sharing that wonderful possibility with those we meet. That’s our calling in life. Grace overcomes sin, and our loving response to God has got to be obedience. I’m very thankful for what Paul has written here, because it encourages me and challenges me. May we all dedicate our lives to this challenge!

F. Illustration – In his commentary on the book of Romans, William Greathouse writes, The new man in Christ is therefore actually living a holy life in Christ and in the power of the Spirit. The old man he once was in Adam has ceased to be. An incident in Augustine's early Christian life illustrates this. Before his conversion he had a mistress named Claudia. Shortly after he found Christ, Claudia saw him on the street in the city. "Augustine! Augustine!" she cried after her old paramour [lover]. Augustine paid no heed. "Augustine! Augustine!" she cried out again. "It is Claudia!" "But it is no longer Augustine," he replied, as he continued on his way (as cited on PreachingToday.com).

G. May all of us realize how destructive sin is and how powerful grace is. And may we all grab hold of this truth and run with it!

III. Conclusion

A. I’d like you to please bow your heads and close your eyes out of respect for each other’s privacy. Does sin have a grip on any part of your heart or life? Jesus is waiting to free you with arms open wide. His power can set you free, not yours. Or has a wrong understanding of sin and grace and obedience kept you from experiencing life to its fullest in Christ? Let’s spend a few quiet moments thinking and praying about these questions.

B. Let’s pray together.