Westville - South Africa / www.coptrust.org.za
The objective of this section, is to show that it is our sin that separates us from God. This sin is caused by our corrupt human nature, and this sinful condition will prevent us from participating in God's Master Plan, unless we have it changed.
In the previous section we concentrated on the effect that sin has on our bodies, but now we need to understand more clearly the mind behind this sin. This is important because the state of our minds now will determine the nature of our minds and bodies both now and in the future. As an introduction, then, we will look at who the sinners are that are prevented from participating in God's Master Plan. Then we will look at what sin is, where it comes from, and what causes it. Finally we will consider what the devil and Satan have to do with this subject, and how they can be defeated.
"There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." Rom 3:10-12
Who may not participate in God's Master Plan?
The Apostle Paul is quite emphatic that no unrepentant sinners of any kind will be permitted to "inherit the kingdom of God" Galatians 5v19-21. He consequently warns Jesus' disciples not to be deceived again by their sinful nature, because such wicked people cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.
Who are Sinners?
Sadly, every single human being who has ever lived (except Jesus) falls into this category, for "there is no one righteous, not even one" Romans 3v10. It is interesting to note that Paul says that because of this, we "fall short of the glory of God,"Romans 3v23. It is clear then that when we sin, we don't show the glory of God's character, and that's why unrepentant sinners are not part of God's Master Plan.
What is Sin?
Sin can simply be defined as disobedience to God's laws or commandments. Every time we do what God says we shouldn't do, or we don't do what God says we should do, we break His law, and commit a sin James 4v17, 1 John 3v4. This is doing our own will (the mind of humanity), instead of God's will for us (the mind of the Spirit). Sin is only possible because people have been given the gift of freewill.
This is the ability that a person has to choose between:
Freewill is also the unique characteristic we have that gives us the potential to show God's glory. Without freewill we could not reveal qualities such as love, mercy, and patience. Love cannot exist where freewill does not exist. God gave us freewill so that we would have the choice to reveal His glory or not.
Jesus said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man." Mark 7:20-23
Where does Sin come from?
Sin originates from inside the heart (mind) of people. The Bible refers to the heart as the source of our thoughts, and says that its natural way of thinking is "only evil all the time," making it "deceitful above all things and beyond cure" Genesis 6v5, Jeremiah 17v9. It is important to note that we are each responsible for our own sins, because Jesus says "all these evils come from inside and make a man unclean" Mark 7v20-23.
We sin when we are tempted, that is enticed, by our own evil desires. James in his letter describes it as a process, explaining that it all starts with temptation by our own evil desires, then when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin, which when it matures finally results in death James 1v13-15. Another word the Bible uses for our evil desires is the devil, and this term is explained in more detail below.
What is the Devil?
The word devil only occurs in the New Testament, and is the Greek word diabolos, which means a slanderer or malicious talker (It is translated this way in 1 Timothy 3v11, 2 Timothy 3v3 and Titus 2v3).
The devil is an example of biblical personification, i.e. the portrayal of a concept as a person so that we can understand and fight it more easily. This concept is our corrupt human nature that naturally tends towards sin. It is also a term used to refer to those overcome by their evil desires John 6v70. It is this devil that must be destroyed for us to participate in God's Master Plan Romans 8v3. The devil has been conquered by Jesus (refer to Section 5), but we still have to fight against it in this life through the power of God Romans 7v18-23, Matt 12:28, because the world and God pull in opposite directions, "for everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world" 1 John 2v16.
While it is possible for our minds to be transformed by the power of God now 2 Cor 3:18, it is only when Jesus returns that we will have the mind of Christ as well as immortal bodies Ezekiel 11v19-20, Hebrews 8v10-11. Peter summarises this hope in his letter when he says, "God has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires" 2 Peter 1v4.
The symbol of the devil is best understood by reading the following pairs of passages in parallel, where the terms sin and the devil are used interchangeably, and can thus be seen to be synonymous. Understanding our battle against the devil is important as it is only Jesus who can destroy this devil (our sin) in our lives today.
Sin Devil
• Details of context Romans 7:23 , Ephesians 6:11
• What we fight against Romans 6:23 , Hebrews 2:14
• What causes us to die Hebrews 9:26 , Hebrews 2:14
• What Jesus conquered Hebrews 12:4 , James 4:7
• What we must resist John 8:34 , 1 John 3:8
• Who sinners submit to 1 John 3:5 , 1 John 3:8
• Why Jesus appeared 1 John 3:5 , 1 John 3:8
What about Satan?
Satan is a Hebrew word that means an opponent or adversary. This person can be either good or bad, depending on whether they are an opponent of God or doing his will. Examples of good "satans" are an angel opposing Balaam Numbers 22v22, and God himself acting as an adversary (satan) to king David and the nation of Israel, (1 Chronicles 21v1 compared with 2 Samuel 24v1). An illustration of a bad "satan" is the Apostle Peter, because he was resisting God's will for the Lord Jesus Christ that he should die on the cross Matthew 16v23.
Our own sinful nature stops us from participating in God's Master Plan.