THE FALL OF MAN Genesis 1:26-31, Genesis 2:7-9 & 15-17, & Genesis
3:1-24.
SIN & GOD'S LAW Exodus 20:1-17, Matthew 5:21-22 & 27-30, Exodus
34:7,
& James 2:10.
SELFISHNESS & SIN Philippians 2:3-4, James 3:14-16, II Timothy 3:1-5,
James 3:2-10, & Isaiah 64:6.
THE END RESULT OF SIN James 1:13-15, Hebrews 9:27, Psalm 9:17, Luke 16:19-31,
& Revelation 20:10 & 15.
GOD'S SOLUTION TO SIN Mark 1:14-15, Isaiah 55:6-7, I Thessalonians 1:9,
& I Peter 3:18.
THE NATURE OF SIN Bible study is copyrighted ©1989 by William C. Nichols
and is a part of a larger Bible study series. For further information on
obtaining the entire series The Knowledge of God contact International
Outreach, Inc whose address appears at the end of this study.
INTRODUCTION When we use the word "sin" many people have very
different ideas about what sin actually is. Most people think of sin only
as committing very evil crimes. Others don't use the word sin when talking
about their own deficiencies, but instead refer to their sins as "mistakes".
If we are to know God, it is of utmost importance that we understand His
definition of sin and see our condition through the eyes of the Almighty
One.
1. Turn to Genesis 1:26-31. In what likeness or image was man created (vs.
27)? Was man created higher than or on the same level as the animals (vs.
28)? How do we know this (vs. 27-28)? After God saw all that He had made,
what does the Bible say He felt about His creation (vs. 31)? Is there any
mention of anything evil being a part of God's creation in these verses
(26-31)?
Genesis 2 tells us more about the creation of man. Let's look at verses
7-9 and 15-17. How did man become a living soul or being (vs. 7)? What two
trees are specifically mentioned as being a part of God's creation (vs.
9)? What was the job of the first man (Adam) according to verse 15? What
command does God give to Adam (vs. 16-17)? Does God warn the man about the
penalty or consequences of disobeying this command (vs. 17)? What is the
penalty?
Genesis 3 is one of the most important chapters of the entire Bible. We
must understand this chapter in order to understand the nature of sin. In
Genesis 3 we are introduced to an evil being who uses the body of one of
God's creatures, a serpent, to speak to Eve, the woman God had created.
This evil being is called Satan or the devil throughout the rest of the
Bible. Satan was originally a created angel who refused to submit to God's
authority and attempted to overthrow God as King of the Universe. In rebelling
against the authority of God, the devil became a completely evil being and
sin came into the world. Many other angels joined the devil in rebellion
against God and became evil spirits.
Does the woman understand the penalty for disobedience to God's command
(vs. 2-3)? How does the devil speak against or contradict what God has told
Adam and Eve about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (vs. 4)? What
good things does the devil tell the woman will happen to her if she eats
the fruit (vs. 5)? What clear choice is the woman now faced with? What choice
do she and her husband make (vs. 6)? Thomas Watson has written: "Eve
gave more credit to the devil when he spake than she did to God."1
What do Adam and Eve do when they hear God approaching them (vs. 8)? How
does Adam answer God's direct question about whether he has eaten from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil (vs. 11-12)? Who does Adam attempt
to blame for his sin (vs. 13)? A. W. Pink has written: "Here was the
fifth consequence of the fall: self-justification by an attempt to excuse
sin. Instead of confessing his wickedness, Adam tried to mitigate (soften)
and extenuate (lesson) it by throwing the onus (guilt) upon another. The
entrance of evil into man produced a dishonest and deceitful heart. Rather
than take the blame upon himself, Adam sought to place it upon his wife.
And thus it is with his descendants. They endeavor to shelve their responsibility...by
attributing the wrongdoing to anyone or anything rather than themselves,
ascribing their sins to be the force of circumstances, an evil environment,
temptations, or the devil."2 Does Adam's disobedience or sin bring
any consequences or results (vs. 14-19)? Adam and Eve are immediately punished
with spiritual death and they also begin to die physically as well. What
else does God do to punish Adam and Eve for their sin (vs. 22-23)? How does
God prevent the man and woman from reentering the garden (vs. 24)?
Often people don't understand why such severe punishment should result from
so little a thing as eating a piece of fruit. Again the words of A. W. Pink
are helpful: "But they can see no harm in so trifling a matter as eating
of a little fruit. Nothing, however, is more fallacious than such reasoning:
the essense of sin is the transgression of a law, and whether that law forbids
you to commit murder or move your finger, it is equally transgressed when
you violate the precept. Whatever the act of disobedience is, it is rebellion
against the lawgiver: it is a renunciation of His authority...The injunction
therefore to abstain from the tree of knowledge of good and evil was a proper
trial of our first parent, and the violation of it deserved the dreadful
punishment which was denounced and executed. He (Adam) was put to the test
whether the will of God was sacred in his eyes, and he was punished because
he gave preference to his own will." 3
2. Adam's disobedience to and rebellion against God had drastic consequences
for all mankind. Adam either stood or fell before God as the federal or
legal head of the human race and all mankind would either stand or fall
with him. The results are seen all around us every day in the sins of men
everywhere. Because of Adam's disobedience (he being the federal or legal
head of the race) his guilt was imputed (transferred) to the entire human
race. When Adam fell his very being or nature also became corrupt and wicked.
All of the children of Adam and Eve (since they had none before they fell)
would be born both legally guilty before God and born with a corrupt heart
or nature as well.
In order to reveal to men God's holy and righteous standards and at the
same time show men their guilt before Him, God gave to us through Moses,
a prophet of God, His moral laws. Moses lived about 3400 years ago and received
from God what has come to be known as the Ten Commandments. These commandments
are found in Exodus 20:1-17. The first of these commandments deal with man's
relationship to God. The latter commandments deal with man's relationship
to man. What do verses 4-5 tell us not to do? What other things do people
worship instead of God? Do people ordinarily think more about themselves
or more about God? Jesus summarized the first part of the Ten Commandments
by saying, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with
all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). Have you always
done this?
What commandment is given to us in verse 12? Have you ever not honored your
father and mother? Carefully examine each one of God's laws in verses 13,
14, 15, and 16. What is prohibited by each command? What does it mean to
give false testimony or bear false witness (vs. 16)? In many societies today
it is considered all right to lie in order to save face or help your own
self interests. God's laws are very different from man's laws. God considers
all lying to be sin. How do you feel about the demands made by God's laws?
When you compare your own life to God's laws, what is your reaction? In
your opinion, what should God do to those who break His laws? What commandment
is given in verse 17? What does it mean to covet? Have you ever desired
to have something for yourself that a friend or neighbor had?
God's laws affect not only our outward actions, but our inner thoughts as
well. Therefore, when we think what is wrong, we commit sin also. Jesus
explained the inner, spiritual meaning of the law of two of the Ten Commandments
in Matthew 5:21-22 & 27-30. Turn to Matthew 5:21-22. What does Jesus
talk about here (vs. 21)? What does Jesus say is a violation of the command
not to murder (vs. 22)? In verse 27 Jesus talks about another commandment.
What does this commandment deal with? How does Jesus define adultery (vs.
28)? After seeing the extent of God's laws as defined by Jesus, now how
do you feel about God's laws? Do you feel you have ever violated or broken
any of God's laws? What do you feel God should do to you because of that?
Jesus gives us a warning in verses 29-30. What does He say? What does this
say about the seriousness of going to hell? We will examine the results
of sin more fully in section 4.
Most people seek to ignore God and His laws. By breaking God's laws we are
guilty of fighting God. Until we are willing to acknowledge the wickedness
and evil of our own sins, God cannot help us. Turn to Exodus 34:7. What
does this tell us that God will do to those who are guilty of breaking His
law?
James tells us more about God's perfect standards in James 2:10. What does
James say about the person who keeps all of God's laws except one? So if
a person commits just one sin in their entire lifetime, in God's eyes, they
are just as guilty as if they had broken every one of God's laws.
3. There are many other things which God considers to be sin also. One of
the best definitions of sin is found in the concept of selfishness. Selfishness
is really one of the primary roots of sin in our lives. Most people do not
realize that selfishness is sin. Selfishness is operating my life on the
principle that I will do whatever is best for me. When I am faced with two
choices, I will choose the one which helps me or benefits me the most. Let's
look at what the Bible says about selfishness and sin. Turn to Philippians
2:3-4. What does verse 3 say we are not to do? What should our attitude
be toward others (vs. 3-4)? How often do you live that way?
Each person primarily lives to satisfy his or her own selfish desires. Our
attitude is "I am going to do my thing. I am going to have my own way."
But the Bible says that this is sin, because I have made myself king of
my life instead of God. I have denied God His rightful place as Ruler and
Lord of my life and exalted myself in the place of God. James speaks more
about selfishness in James 3:14-16. When we are jealous and selfish, what
does James say we are guilty of (vs. 14)? What three words does James use
to describe jealousy and selfish ambition (vs. 15)? Wherever we find jealousy
and selfishness, what else does James say will be present as well (vs. 16)?
In II Timothy 3:1-5 God gives us some characteristics of people in the last
days before Jesus Christ returns to earth. How accurately do these verses
describe people today? What three things does Paul tell us people in the
last days will be lovers of (vs. 2 & 4)? According to the Bible, when
we love ourselves, money, or pleasure more than God we are guilty of idolatry
(transferring to another object the worship due only to God). Idolators
are among those whom the Bible says will not enter the Kingdom of heaven
(I Corinthians 6:9-10). In essense, what the selfish person does is to totally
ignore the God who made him and enthrone himself as the "god"
of his own life. Many people who love themselves, money, pleasure, or something
else more than God may seem to be very religious. Verse 5 tells us that
such people may hold to a form of godliness, but it is not the real thing.
(See the tract True Godliness from International Outreach for a closer look
at these verses).
People not only sin by breaking God's laws outwardly, by thinking evil thoughts
inwardly, by honoring themselves above God, but also in what they say as
well. James 3:2-10 talks about this. What does verse 5 tell us about the
tongue? How does James describe our tongues (vs. 6 & 8)? What example
does he give of how we misuse our tongues (vs. 9-10)? Is God pleased when
we do this?
Often when we see things which we have done which are wrong, we tend to
compare ourselves with other people we know who are worse than we are to
settle our consciences. This may help us to feel better, but it does nothing
to change our guilty condition before God. Some people imagine that God
grades on the curve or weighs our good deeds against our bad deeds and therefore,
will not punish us, even though we have grievously sinned. Both of these
concepts are wrong, according to the Bible. Turn to Isaiah 64:6. What does
the first part of this verse say we are like? What is God's view of the
things we do which we consider to be good?
4. We have looked at how sin came into the world, at the law of God, the
inward spiritual meaning of the law, our own selfishness, and the way we
misuse our tongues. When we break God's laws in either our actions or our
thoughts, we are guilty of rebellion against God's authority over us. We
are guilty of fighting God. When we selfishly choose our own desires and
ways instead of God's, we thus honor ourselves above God and are guilty
of playing God. Each man's guilt before God is very great. Now we will look
at the end result of sin within our hearts and lives. Turn to James 1:13-15.
Does God tempt us to do evil (vs. 13)? What is the real cause of our temptations
(vs. 14)? When sin has occurred, what is one of the results for man (vs.
15)?
Some people feel that death means the extinction of or the end of everything
for man, but the Bible teaches that death is a transition to a different
stage of life. The Bible also tells us that at death the soul and spirit
are separated from the body and continue to live in either one of two places--heaven
or hell. Hebrews 9:27 tells us of one thing which will happen to every person
after death. What must every man face after death?
Psalm 9:17 says, "The wicked shall be turned back unto hell, even all
the nations that forget God." (KJV) The term "wicked" as
used in the Bible refers to all who have not fully committed their lives
to God and had their sins forgiven. Thus all who have not surrendered their
hearts and lives to God and lovingly submitted to His authority will be
cast into hell. This includes many people who would be considered by the
world to be "good people" and even many who are "very religious".
Jesus often spoke about hell and warned of the dangers of going there. In
Luke 16:19-31 Jesus told about two men who died. One of the men went to
heaven and the other went to hell. We can learn much about the end result
of sin from this passage. How is hell descibed in verses 23-24? What does
the man say about his own condition (vs. 24)? What physical senses (hearing,
seeing, etc.) does the man in hell still possess (vs. 23-25)? Can the man
who has gone to hell get out of hell (vs. 26)?
Hell is described in the Book of Revelation 20:10 & 15. Turn to these
verses. What words are used to describe hell (vs. 10)? How long will those
who go to hell be there (vs. 10)? What will be their physcial condition
(vs. 10)? Who are those who go to hell (vs. 15)?
In one of the most famous sermons ever preached, "Sinners in the Hands
of an Angry God", Jonathan Edwards said, "God is a great deal
more angry with great numbers that are now on earth: yea, doubtless with
many of those who are now in this congregation, who may be at ease, than
He is with many of those who are now in the flames of hell...The unseen,
unthought-of ways and means of persons going suddenly out of this world
are innumberable and inconceivable. Unconverted men walk over the pit of
hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering
so weak that they will not bear their weight, and those places are not seen...the
fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them, the flames
do now rage and glow." Hell is indeed an awful place. "Hell is
a furnace of unquenchable fire, a place of everlasting punishment, where
its victims are tormented in both their bodies and their minds in accordance
with their sinful natures, their actual sins committed, and the amount of
light given to them, which they rejected. Hell is a place from which God's
mercy and goodness have been withdrawn, where God's wrath is revealed as
a terrifying, consuming fire, and men live with unfulfilled lusts and desires
in torment forever and ever."4 More is recorded about what Christ said
about hell while He was on earth than what He said about heaven. Christ
constantly warned men about the danger that awaited them in hell if they
did not turn to God. Again from Jonathan Edwards' sermon: "Thus all
you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power
of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born again,
and made new creatures...The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much
as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you,
and is dreadfully provoked: His wrath toward you burns like fire; He looks
upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; He is
of purer eyes than to bear to have you in His sight; you are ten thousand
times more abominable in His eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent
is in ours." Do you believe that you have experienced that great change
of heart that Edwards and the Bible speak about? If not, do you realize
that God is fiercely angry with you at this very moment? Does that bother
you? Hear the words of God: "Now I will arise', says the Lord, 'Now
I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up. You have conceived chaff, you
will give birth to stubble; My breath will consume you like a fire. And
the peoples will be burned to lime, like cut thorns, which are burned in
the fire. You who are far away, hear what I have done; and you who are near,
acknowledge My might.' Sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling has seized
the godless. 'Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us
can live with everlasting burning?" (Isaiah 33:10-14). Do you really
think you will be able to endure hell? But Christ also, with His warnings,
instructed men on God's remedy for sin. That is what we will look at next.
5. God could have done nothing about our problem of sin and justly sent
all humanity to hell, but instead, out of His great love and mercy, He chose
to help men. Some of Jesus Christ's first recorded words when He began to
teach people about God are found in the Book of Mark 1:14-15. What does
Christ call on people to do (vs. 15)? The word "repent" may not
be very familiar to people today. Isaiah 55:6-7 helps us to understand what
it means to repent. What instructions are given to those in verse 6? Seeking
God must become the top priority of those who would find Him. Jesus once
told a group of people, "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many,
I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able" (Luke 13:24).
What further instructions are given (vs. 7)?
In I Thessalonians 1:9 Paul reminds the Thessalonian Christians of the process
by which they came to know God. What three things does Paul say happened
to the Thessalonians when they came to know God? A. W. Pink has defined
repentance as "a supernatural and inward revelation from God, giving
a deep consciousness of what I am in His sight, which causes me to loathe
and condemn myself, resulting in a bitter sorrow for sin, a holy horror
and hatred for sin, and a turning away from or forsaking of sin. It is the
discovery of God's high and righteous claims upon me, and of my lifelong
failure to meet those claims. It is the recognition of the holiness and
goodness of His law, and my defiant insubordination thereto. It is the perception
that God has the right to rule and govern me, and of my refusal to submit
to Him."5
Repentance is a deep recogniton of the wickedness of my heart and life.
The truly repentant person hates and abhors all sin, especially his own.
It is a turning away from or forsaking of all sin with a corresponding desire
to turn wholeheartedly to God and to love and serve Him forever. Unless
a person is convinced that they personally are guilty before God and of
the dreadful seriousness of their sin, they will not see any need to repent.
The purposes of God in His solution to sin come together in the Person of
Jesus Christ. Christ came into the world offering God's forgiveness to those
who would repent and turn to God. But Christ did far more than just urge
men to repent. Turn to I Peter 3:18. What is the only way a person can come
to God, according to this verse?
Jesus Christ is the focal point of God's plan of salvation from sin. If
Jesus Christ had not come into the world, there would not have been any
possibility that man could be redeemed or saved from his sin. Since the
work of God in providing for those who truly repent is through Jesus Christ,
it is very important that we understand more about Christ, His life, His
death, His coming alive again from the dead, and His teaching about Himself,
and why it was necessary for Him to come. Please continue on to the next
study entitled, "The Person & Work of Jesus Christ".
©1990 by William C. Nichols
1 Thomas Watson, Body of Divinity, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House,
1979), p.
2 A. W. Pink, Gleanings From the Scriptures: Man's Total Depravity, (Chicago,
IL: Moody Bible Institute, 1969), p. 65.
3 A. W. Pink, Gleanings From the Scriptures:Man's Total Depravity, (Chicago,
ILL: Moody Bible Institute, 1969), p. 25.
4 William C. Nichols, The Narrow Way, (Ames, IA: International Outreach,
Inc., 1993), pp. 25-26.
5 A. W. Pink, The Doctrine of Salvation, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House,
1974), p. 58.
Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962,
1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, by the Lockman Foundation. Used
by permission.
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