Putting Sin To Death

The Root and Essence of Sin

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The Root and Essence of Sin

Romans 1:18-32

This morning we begin a new sermon series. I have decided to call it “Putting Sin To Death”.

If there is one thing that is absolutely essential for every Christian, it is his growth in holiness.  The Christian life is supposed to be a life in which we are putting sin to death, and gradually gaining ground against sin.  Romans 8:29 says that God has predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son. 1 Peter 2:11 says that we are to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.  2 Corinthians 7:1 tells us that we are to cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

However, if we are ever going to make advances in holiness, we must understand exactly what sin is.  How can we put sin to death unless we know what it is?!  You say, “Brian, why would you ask such a simplistic question? What is sin? Everyone knows what sin is! It is disobedience to God. It is doing wrong things instead of right things!”  When we share the gospel with people at their doorsteps, and use the Bridge illustration, often we ask them what they think sin is.  The person will often say something like “doing bad things.”  Now, that is true. However, it doesn’t go far enough. It falls woefully short of the Biblical definition of sin.

This morning we are going to spend our entire time on seeking to understand the root and essence of sin. Why are we going to do this? Why should we spend an hour delving into this question about sin that seems so obvious?  The answer to that question comes to us in Romans 8:12-13, “So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh – for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”  Did you hear those words? Live and die. Life and death are at stake here! When Paul says if you are living according to the flesh you must die” he is not talking about physical death, because everyone is going to die physically. He has to be talking about spiritual and eternal death. When Paul says, “but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live”, he is talking about everlasting life. The road that leads every believer to everlasting life is the road of sin killing. Sin is so powerful and deceptive that if you don’t kill it, it will kill you! Hebrews 12:14 puts it like this, “pursue sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord.”  There is a sin-killing, without which there is no eternal life.

How serious is sin?  Now, it may not be very serious at all to most people in the world. And it may not be too serious to you and I. But rest assured, it is VERY serious to God!  It was so serious that He killed every living creature on the face of the earth except for Noah and his family and those in the ark with him.  It was so serious that He destroyed two entire cities, Sodom and Gomorrah.  It was so serious that He sent His only beloved Son to a shameful and accursed death in order to make an end of it. Sin is very serious. We are godly to the extent that we are serious about sin.

So, let’s take some time this morning to meditate on sin.  And, I’m not talking about just sinful thoughts, attitudes, and actions. I’m talking about what is wrong with us that causes us to break forth in so many different evil ways.  What is at the bottom of all our wrong thoughts and actions?  You might ask me, “Brian why do you even think that? Why don’t you assume that sin is what we do? Why do you think it is something deeper than our actions?  Well, go with me over to Romans 7:8.  “But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.”  Now, Paul says that sin produced coveting in him. Everyone admits that coveting is sin. It is one of the 10 Commandments. It is a sin of the mind and heart, not of the deed. But Paul says that sin produced coveting. Sin produced sin. Do you see that there is a sin beneath sin that produces sin? There is a presence, a force, a part of us that causes all these evils to flow from us. All the evil in the world flows out something that is part of the core of every person’s being. Sometimes we refer to this as our sin nature.  So, my interest this morning is to discover what is the essence of this sin nature. And to do that, we are going to spend the remainder of our time over in Romans 1:18-32.

1. Sin Suppresses The Truth About God  (1:18-20)

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

How Does Paul Describe Sin? 

Paul’s most extensive treatment of sin is in Romans 1:18 – 3:20.  Right out of the shoot he tells us that God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.  In 1 John 5:17, John says “all unrighteousness is sin.”  So, Paul is talking about sin here. And the way he describes it is with the words “ungodliness” and “unrighteousness.”  Now, what does he mean by “ungodliness”?  He means anything that is unlike God, or indifferent to God, or hostile to God.  Do you see that sin must always be defined by bringing God into the picture. As long as you don’t mention God, there’s no sin.  Sin is not just “doing the wrong things.” No, sin is being unlike God, indifferent to God or hostile to God.

What Does Ungodliness and Unrighteousness Cause People to Do? 

Paul tells us that it causes people to suppress the truth in unrighteousness.  The word “suppress” means to “hold down.” I picture a bully stuffing a little kid in a garbage can, and then slapping the lid on top, and sitting on top of it, while the little kid cries out for help, while the bully just laughs.  The bully is holding down his tormented victim, just as people everywhere are suppressing the truth.

What Truth Do People Suppress? 

This is key. It is the truth of God! That is made clear in verse 19. “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”

How did God make truth about Himself known to people? 

Paul tells us in verse 20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”  God revealed truth about Himself through His creation. It was very easy for people to look around at the mountains, sky, valleys, oceans, trees, and animals and understand that there has to be a Creator. Just as a building requires a builder, and a painting requires a painter, so creation requires a Creator. They understood that there must be a Being who was Divine and could exercise massive power. They would also understand that He must be a being of great wisdom and creativity, as they viewed all the various kinds of plants and animals.

Why Does Paul Say People Are Without Excuse?

It is because they willingly suppress the truth. They want to hold down the truth. In John 3:19, John says, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” John does not say men are victims of the darkness. No, he says they are lovers of the darkness!

2. Sin Does Not Honor or Give Thanks to God 1:21

What Did People Do With This Truth About God?

We might think they would bow down and honor and glorify Him or that they would thank Him for the life He had given them. Verse 21 says, “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

Why Did People Suppress the Truth About God? 

Sin does not like to honor God. Sin does not want to thank God. Sin hates the idea of glorifying and thanking God.  It hates the truth that God is infinitely worthy of all honor and thanks. Therefore sin seeks to suppress it.

3. Sin Worships the Creature Instead of God (1:22-25)

What Did People Do Instead of Honoring and Thanking God?

Twice we are told that they exchanged something for something else.  In verse 23 they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image. In verse 25 they exchanged the truth of God for a lie. What’s going on here? They are exchanging the true and living God, for a god substitute. They are giving up the true God for a replacement god. And that is the lie that they have exchanged the truth of God for – it is the lie that these images or people or things are more glorious and satisfying the Creator God.  As Paul says at the end of verse 25, “they worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

How does Paul describe God? 

He refers to the glory of the incorruptible God in verse 23, and the Creator who is blessed forever. Paul sees God as altogether glorious.  In contrast, the people dishonor Him by choosing images or people or things over Him. They have suppressed the truth about God so that they can feel good about exchanging Him for lesser substitute gods. And that is what an idol is. It is a substitute God. It is someone or something that we believe is more glorious and more satisfying that the true God of the Bible.

4. Sin Does Not Approve of Acknowledging God (1:28)

What Does Verse 28 Mean?

I think the NKJV puts it best, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge…”  What is Paul saying?  He is saying that people do not like God. They do not approve of retaining a knowledge of God. They don’t want God. They would rather that the true and living God did not exist, because they love the creature rather than the Creator, and the lie instead of the truth.

How Did God Respond?

We find the answer in verse 24, 26, and 28. God gave them over. God goes hands off. He lets us go unrestrained into all manner of sinning.  God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. Paul goes on to explain what he means here in verse 26. God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. Of course Paul is describing homosexual acts, and saying that it is the dishonoring of their bodies, unnatural and indecent.

How Did People Respond When God Stopped Restraining?

Verse 24, 26, and 28 tell us that men ran headlong into impurity, degrading passions, and a depraved mind. What flows out of a depraved mind?  “To do those things which are not proper.”  Certain sinful actions flow out of a depraved mind. Where does the depraved mind come from? It comes from a nature that wants to worship the creature rather than the Creator. Paul goes on to list of 21 different outward sins, that flow from this inward sinful nature.

What Then Is The Root Of Sin? 

I would put it this way. Sinful actions flow from a sinful nature. And the bottom of the sinful nature is that we don’t like God. We don’t want God. We suppress the truth about God. Exchange that truth for the lie that the creature is more glorious and satisfying than He is. We worship and serve the creatures He has made instead of our Creator.  We do not approve of retaining the knowledge of God. The bottom is that we have a deep, compelling preference for other things rather than for God. At the very root, sin is the preference for something other than God. John Piper put it this way, “Sinning is any feeling or thought or speech or action that comes from a heart that does not treasure God over all other things.”  Sin is anything that flows from a person’s heart that does not treasure God in Christ above all things.  Period.

Conclusion

Look at Romans 3:23 with me.  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Now when a person falls short of something he lacks it. He does not have it. What exactly is it that sinners fall short of?  I used to read this verse and think that Paul was saying that every person has sinned and so therefore has come short of heaven (the glory of God).  However, there is another way that sinners may have fallen short of the glory of God. They may have fallen short of glorifying God. After reading through Romans 1:18-32, I don’t think that was what he had in mind. Why? Because that is exactly what Paul has been telling us in Romans 1 over and over. We have all fallen short of having God’s glory as our supreme treasure. He said in Romans 1:21 that sinners did not glorify God or give Him thanks.  He said in Romans 1:18 that sinners suppress the truth about God. He said in Romans 1:23 that sinners prefer images rather than the glorious God.  In Romans 1:25 he said that sinners worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator. In Romans 1:28 he said that sinners did not want to retain the knowledge of God.  Over and over and over Paul has told us that the bottom of sin is the preference for something other than God. Thus, it seems to me that this is what he is getting at in Romans 3:23.  All people have sinned and come short of the pursuit of God’s glory as their highest good and end.

So, what does this mean for you and me?  I think it has massive implications for all of us.  If we want to put sin to death in our lives we have to deal with the truth that what we need to put to death is our preference for anything other than God.

• Holiness is not just deciding to stop doing certain bad things (smoking cigarettes, or drinking alcohol, or committing fornication or gossiping) and start doing certain good things (go to church, help sick neighbors, pay fair wage to employees, etc). You can do all of that and still prefer something else over God. You can stop smoking cigarettes but still prefer clothes or TV or food or sugar or chocolate or caffeine or friends, or fame to God.  You can help the poor and still prefer other things to God. What this means is that holiness is making God our greatest Treasure.  And the process of making God our greatest treasure is slow and painstaking. We repent of worshiping this idol, only to find that we have another idol that has become our God-substitute.

Holiness has to do with who you love than what you do. It flows from your affection for God. It flows out of a relationship of love. Holiness is not a matter of merely law-keeping.  You can keep certain laws and not prefer God.  Holiness is obedience to God because you prefer His smile to anything else in life. Holiness flows from a person whose greatest treasure is God.  He loves Him, adores Him, esteems Him, values Him, likes Him. You get the picture? If you want to grow in holiness, you need to grow in preferring God above all things.

• We should be able to look at any sin our lives, and ask ourselves “what am I preferring over God when I commit this sin?” When I am critical of others, what am I preferring over God?  When I am proud and boasting, what am I preferring over God?  When I am impatient with people, what am I preferring over God?  When I am irritable, what am I preferring over God?  When I lose my temper and strike out at others, what am I preferring over God?  I want you this week, to seek to get to the bottom of what you are preferring when you sin. Your preference for that thing over God is your real sin. These outward attitudes and actions are just the flower that is growing from the root of this great sin. Find what you are preferring, and repent of it.

• This explains why God can say in Romans 3:12 “There is none who does good, there is not even one.” You say, “wait a minute! I know a lot of people who do good! They build hospitals, and help the poor and needy.” Many people are morally indignant when they hear about poverty, abortion, rape, sexual abuse, and prejudice. Yet they can have little or no indignation that God is disregarded, disbelieved and disobeyed, and belittled by billions. How can this be? Sin! Sinners can be indignant about moral evil, but still prefer other things to God.  We need to start seeing the Christian life, not as doing the right actions or having the right attitudes, but as loving and treasuring and glorifying the True God!

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