Why Do We Sin?

Introduction

This morning I want to talk to you about a subject that dominates the Bible story. It is a word that summarizes the greatest crisis in each adult person’s life. It’s a small little word that is full of import. And it is the word sin. To suggest, as so many do, that we should be unconcerned with sin, that we shouldn’t really exercise great and tremendous care to recognize it or identify it in all of its forms. Or that the gospel of grace somehow minimizes its significance is a misunderstanding of grace altogether. I want to take you just a couple of passages by way of introduction. The first is John 16 and verse 8, when Jesus is preparing the disciples for his departure, and he tells them that the Holy Spirit is going to come, the helper, he calls him.

I will send him to you. And here’s what he’s going to do. And so I think it is safe to assume that the rest of the New Testament story is really what the helper came to do. When he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, through the Spirit’s utterance, would tell us, I think, very plainly, this makes my point, that we need to be concerned about sin. In 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 21, examine everything carefully, hold fast to that which is good, abstain from every form of evil. And I know the King James uses the word appearance, but it’s not as we might use that word, the appearance of evil. Oh, it sort of looks like it could be sin.

That was not the idea of the King James translators when they use the just as sin appears is the idea. Every form, every kind of evil, abstain from it. Sin’s a serious thing. Even those who have received the provisions of the gospel of grace, who are urged not to receive the grace of God in vain, 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 1. As we work together with him, Paul says. Examine everything carefully. Abstain from every kind or every form of evil. Those verses forever debunk this notion that sin is not a big deal. And then a couple of other passages in Acts 17, 30 and 31. When Paul was speaking at Athens, he says, the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.

To deal with the problem of sin. That’s what repentance involves: turning from that sort of behavior and life unto the righteousness to which God calls us. Because he will judge the world in righteousness on the basis of behavior and thinking that is right.

Paul says.

And he warns them to pay much closer attention to what you have seen to what you have heard, lest you drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? So these passages warn us how much more responsible we are considering our privileged and enlightened circumstances in the era of grace. So this morning, I want to explore the question. As yes, even believers struggle with sin. Again, that’s the backdrop of Hebrews. Christians struggling with developing an evil heart of unbelief and turning away from the living God, Hebrews 3 and verse 12. As we talk about the struggle that we have with sin, I want to explore the question why is it so appealing?

Why do we want to do it? What are our motives in transgression? Understanding why may indeed help us to yield not to temptation. Our ability to discern what sin is and when it is committed is very important. And I say that because you cannot fix what you cannot see. It’s like your body having cancer inside of it because you may experience no physical symptoms. This happens to people. And by the time it is ultimately discovered, it’s gone too far when the symptoms start showing themselves, and it’s too late for the doctors to repair it to fix it. And that’s what sin can be in our lives. It can be festering inside of us and destroying us, and we not even realize what is happening. That’s why we must identify sin.

And because of insufficient education or training, we can fail to discern. That’s why we have all of these Bible classes. That’s why we have sermons, so that we can better identify and discern sin, as it plagues us, and to deal with it properly, as the psalmist queried in Psalm 19 and verse 12, who can discern his errors, acquit me of hidden faults. There may be things outside of my vision that are affecting me spiritually. I’m not identified. Who can discern his errors, acquit me of hidden things? And if you look at the context of that statement, how are we going to be able to identify those things? Well, the law of the Lord is going to help us. It is perfect, as he says in verse 7, restoring the soul.

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple, so on and so forth. And when you come back down to the end, he prays in verse 14, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Persistent exposure to the word over time can increase one’s ability in this area. The Hebrews, one of the problems they were struggling with, he says, by this time you ought to be teachers. But they are still babes. And he talks about solid food. He said, They’re needing milk. But solid food is for the mature. You need to grow up in Christ. You need to undergo more training so that you can be mature in Christ.

1. Identify Sin in All of Its Forms

He said, solid food is for the mature. And what do they have the ability to do? They are able to discern between good and evil. They have their senses trained, the Hebrew writer says. And so in that vein, I offer these thoughts this morning before we talk about some of the specific reasons why we sin. We need to be able to identify sin in all of its forms. What are the kinds of sins that plague us? I’m not talking about the sins that plague the world at large, that would be too long of a sermon for one Sunday morning. And that’s not my audience. Most of the world is not going to hear this. So I want to talk to us. Those of us who are in Christ, some I know in this audience may well not be and may need to respond.

These are some of the sins that may plague you. And yes, some of the most awful kinds of sins that we read about in the world are committed by believers too. But I want to talk about generally, typically the kinds of sins that Christians struggle with that can almost sometimes be imperceptible to us. And I want to start with the way we view ourselves.

And that leads, this pride leads to an elevation of self. That I am therefore better and more important than everyone else. And the ability to properly assess one’s heart condition as it relates to pride is challenging. And not only is there the problem of pride in our hearts that is difficult to perceive at times, but a lack of love. Manifested by the things that we say, because the tongue speaks out of that which builds the heart, right? Things that we categorize as gossip and slander emanate from a heart that doesn’t love. And because if we suffer from this malady in our hearts of a lack of love, we won’t find ourselves striving to serve others because we’re likely serving ourselves. And then this one, another heart issue that I think believers struggle with is a love of this world.

They are just simply more enthralled with all that the world can offer than we are God’s things. And that’s evident as it comes to spiritual neglect. A lack of enthusiasm for God’s things or a lack of zeal. Now, if I mention these first three things, let me tell you what we’re prone to do. We’re prone to just look at ourselves and say, I’m humble, I’m loving, and I serve God. And just wipe it all over with our hands. That’s easier. That feels better. Than to say, I need to deal with the problem of pride. I need to deal with the lack of love in my heart for others, but I need to deal with the fact that sometimes I’m more enthralled with the world than I am with God.

Listen, we are prone to seeing what we want to see.

And I know this is about to be a little humorous, but this is not really a humorous matter, but it illustrates the point. I played words with friends with a few of you. And one of my main combatants is Alyssa. She played the word brat against me this week. And I thought, well, I just need to message her, and I did. I said, yes, you are. And she responded calmly, as she always does about everything. Very calmly. Me? I was thinking it was you. And that just illustrates how we see things. We can see others a certain way, but how do we see ourselves? And beyond all of this, perhaps, oh, Tony, that’s not the complete list. And I’m not saying this is going to be a complete list, but we’ll just throw everything else in the category of lust.

2. The Influence of Others

The problems that we deal with. And inordinate affection for things. Illicit passion, coveting what one has no right to. It is just desire gone among. These are the things that believers struggle with. But why? What are the factors that contribute to those kinds of sins in our hearts and lives? We talked about Moses in our Bible class this morning. Certainly others and their influence, the nation of Israel provoked him, but it did not excuse him, as we noticed from his conduct. Let us acknowledge that what other people do, how they have failed us, whether real or perceived, how they have treated us, how they have behaved so improperly that this affects our response to certain situations and circumstances and our behavior before God. I don’t think there’s any one of us who could say that my transgressions were completely something that I did as I rebelled against God.

3. To Hide From the Demands of Conscience

Sometimes other people and their behavior and actions have influenced us to act in a certain way. That is a violation of the will of God. Let’s acknowledge the powerful sway of the influence of others. More on that in the conclusion of the lesson. But there is yet another reason why people sin. Sherry shared with me a piece written by Maria Popova called Why Do Men Stupefy Themselves? That’s not a word we use very much anymore, but it relates to drinking. Why do men stupefy themselves? Leo Tolstoy on why we drink. Now, Leo Tolstoy is the guy who wrote the famous work War and Peace. But he also had some things to say about drinking 125 years ago in a preface that he wrote for another book on drunkenness.

But what I liked was Maria’s first quote was from Isaac Asimov from 1969. When he said, the people of the United States spend exactly as much money on booze alone as on the space program. I would say in recent days those numbers have changed, and that we spend more on booze than we do on the space program as a nation in the United States, especially with the cuts in the budget in regard to such things. But Leo Tolstoy is styled as a sage of the human spirit. And when he asked with that why people drink, he says, most people will simply say, and it’s funny how people haven’t changed 125 years. Oh, I like it. And everybody drinks. It cheers me up. Wine is good for the health.

We were making those arguments 125 years ago for drinking. But Tolstoy concluded. When observing his own life, a man may often notice in him in himself two different beings. The one is blind and physical, the other sees and is spiritual. The blind animal being, he calls it. The blind animal being eats and drinks, rests, sleeps, propagates and moves like a wound up machine. The seeing spiritual being that is bound up with the animal does nothing of itself, but only appraises the activity of the animal being, coinciding with it when approving its activity and diverging from it when disapproving. That spiritual being that Tolstoy is talking about is the conscience. Men drink, Tolstoy argues, as they desire to cater to what he calls the animal activity so as to hide from oneself the demands of conscience.

4. Looking for a Diversion and a Feeling

People pursue sin and sometimes the specific sin of drinking and drugs because they don’t want to hear the sting of conscience. As it says and indicts us in regard to our behavior. But I think there are other reasons. I think people do what they do because they’re looking for a diversion. They’re looking for an escape from the routine and the ordinary of their lives. They’re looking for some kind of feeling. I mean, why do people drink and do drugs to begin with? Why do they engage in sexual immorality or some kind of passion like that? Because there’s a feeling associated with that. There’s a high, there’s a thrill, there’s a rush, some kind of passion that they want to feed, the animal being that they want to feed.

I think that’s the majority of the reason for most people as to how sin happens in our lives.

Now that’s a lot of money. $95 billion will be wagered on the NFL this year. Football. $95 billion. Not just addictions, chemical addictions like drugs and alcohol, but what about behavioral addictions? Gambling. Pornography. Why do we speak of those things in the same breath as something that is chemical? It’s because of the high that is produced in that behavior. That is very similar to the high that is produced by that which alters our bodies chemically. In fact, there’s even studies that have suggested that our bodies change chemically in response to these behavioral addictions, just like they do in regard to these actual drugs. So why are people what’s what’s the attraction? It’s that simple. It’s feeding the animal being. And the New Testament talks about that over and over again.

5. Trying to Make Sense of Life

That we have to deny our lusts and passions to exercise self-control. But I think there’s something even deeper here as to why we do what we do. Yes, all sin is ultimately an act of rebellion against God, but I don’t think people are saying, you know what, I’m just, I want to rebel against God. That’s why I’m going to do this. I just really want to rebel. Some people are by nature rebellious. But I really don’t think that’s the major motivating factor. I think people sin because they’re looking for something.

Perhaps it is that feeling or passion. But I think we transgress the will of God because we’re trying to make sense of life. What is the significance of my life? What does life mean? Because, folks, there is a vacuum in our souls that only God can fill. God has put eternity in our hearts. And of all that might mean in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 11, I think it is saying that God has made us to want something beyond ourselves, and that people look in all the wrong places to fill that empty hole. And they’ll try anything and everything to fill it. And we think we ought to go a certain direction so that we can find the meaning and satisfaction that is escaping us, but we can look at sin in all of its forms and partake in it all, and we will never find what we’re looking for.

Have you tried it? How long did that feeling last? How long did the satisfaction last? You know that gambler who has the rush? He does it again and again and again and again and again. You think he won it big one time? He’d stop. No, he just keeps going. The same end, the same result. Nothing’s going to fill our souls other than God. Not the perfect relationship. Is there any such thing? Really? The perfect relationship. The most awesome gadget that’s ever been invented. Disney World. Maybe Disney World. Just talk to me. I don’t even like the place. It’s great for kids. I know families love it. I know some of you guys just said something sacrilegious, but even Disney World doesn’t fill the soul. Or football.

But most people falsely conclude that the life recommended by Jesus, Paul, and Peter is way too difficult, way too demanding, unfulfilling, and unrewarding. And if you conclude that, may I suggest you’re not looking at it in the right way. Because that’s not how Paul looked at it. Philippians chapter 3 and verse 8. He said, I count all things to be lost. Everything. For the sake of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

6. Become Sober-Minded and Stop Sinning

By knowing Christ, I gain everything. Or as Jesus said, what is a man profited if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? Okay, so this is why. Some of the reasons, maybe not all the reasons why people sin. But I want to talk to you about a verse. This is about one verse, the rest of this sermon, really. I’m going to mention another section of verses, but I want to talk to you about one verse that I think summarizes this whole sermon. What every sin has in common. And it’s found in 1 Corinthians 15. Right after he says, bad company corrupts good morals. Be not deceived about that, the influence of others on our behavior. He says, become sober-minded as you ought. And stop sinning.

For some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. Now, this is in the context of Paul’s treatise on the resurrection, on the truth of the resurrection. Because of Christ’s resurrection, which is at the core of all that our faith is about, we anticipate a resurrection of our own. And he says, others can sway you away from these important truths. Verse 33. A significant key to overcoming the temptations that Satan throws in our paths has to do with the way that we’re thinking. This isn’t some real big mystery here. Oh, I’ve got some this great really secret solution to overcoming sin in your life. Paul just says, would you stop it? Be sober-minded. You’ve got to think about things the right way. Become sober-minded as you ought and stop sinning, for some have no knowledge of God.

They had allowed to lapse in their thinking the import of the resurrection of Christ and their own resurrection. They have neglected it, they have forgotten it has been removed from their thoughts, and thus they’re struggling with sin. And I want you to notice that spiritual awareness is essential. The presence of God, confidence in his word, the hope of glory, our holy mission to be a godly example before the world. If we lose sight of these things in our thinking, we’ll be susceptible to sin. Be sober-minded as you ought. Don’t let God and His presence be removed from your mind for very long. Don’t stray too far from the Word of God or the hope of glory or what your mission is in the world. Because if you stop thinking about those things, you are susceptible to transgression.

Conclusion

There’s the solution, folks. It’s not hard. But he says, Because you’re practicing sin, he says, I speak this to your shame. Sin is shameful. Temptations lose their power when you are nigh. That’s a great phrase in the song I Need Thee every hour. Temptations lose their power when you are nigh. Sin is shameful. I speak this to your shame. Sin lessens the quality of our lives. And sin is costly.

And if it is not remedied, it will exact the greatest cost of all.

Eternal torment. Away from the presence of God and the glory of his power. And thus sin needs a fix. And Romans 6 helps us to find that fix. Because of what Jesus did at Calvary, we can be immersed in his likeness, in his death, and we can rise to walk in newness of life. We can be set free from sin. We are to consider ourselves dead to sin, verse 11, and alive to God. Slaves of sin no longer, but slaves of Christ, sanctified, receiving as the outcome, he says in verse 22, eternal life. The incomparable benefits that are promised if we will say no to sin and yes to God. Fight sin in your heart and in your lives with all of your might. It is not good for you.

It will not do you well. But righteousness always will.

Of Jesus Christ while there’s time and opportunity. We sing a song of encouragement for you to respond.