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"THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST AND THE PROBLEM OF SIN"
The Gospel's Answer To The "Love" Of Sin
(Faith In Jesus)
INTRODUCTION
1. In the previous lesson, we introduced "How The Gospel Addresses The
Problem Of Sin"
2. In this lesson we focus our attention to that part of the problem
which is the "love" of sin...
a. We saw that sin does have its pleasurable side - He 11:24-25
b. This pleasure makes it easy for men to love sin...
1) Such love often blinds men to the truth - Jn 3:19
2) Such love definitely alienates one from the love of the Father
- 1 Jn 2:15
3. The gospel of Jesus Christ answers the problem of the "love" of sin
by commanding us to have "faith," in particular, to "believe in
Christ"
a. E.g., notice Mk 16:15-16
b. Faith can be defined as "a strong conviction, assurance"
c. When we come to have the right kind of faith, we will come to no
longer love sin, but even to hate it!
d. As the Psalmist expressed in Psa 119:104
4. In this study, I want to do two things:
a. Define the kind of faith the gospel requires to really hate sin
b. Briefly consider the evidence the gospel presents to create that
kind of faith
I. THE FAITH NECESSARY TO HATE SIN
A. FAITH IN JESUS AS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD...
1. That the gospel requires such faith is clear - Jn 20:30-31;
1 Jn 5:13
2. I.e., a strong conviction that Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary,
was indeed:
a. The Messiah foretold by the Jewish prophets - Ac 2:36
b. More than just a good man, but the only begotten Son of God
- Jn 1:14
B. FAITH THAT JESUS DIED FOR OUR SINS BECAUSE GOD LOVED US...
1. Believing that Jesus died for our sins is a necessary part of
the gospel - 1 Co 15:1-3
2. Understand...Jesus died for OUR sins!
a. Just as the Scriptures foretold He would - Isa 53:4-6
b. Why, because God loves us! - Jn 3:16; Ro 5:8
C. FAITH THAT GOD RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD...
1. This fact is also an important part of the gospel
2. Consider 1 Co 15:3-4; Ro 10:9
D. HOW SUCH FAITH CAUSES US TO HATE SIN...
1. If we are strongly convicted that...
a. Jesus was truly the beloved Son of God
b. He was really the Christ, the promised Messiah
c. God loved us so much (and hated sin so much) that He sent
His Son to die for us
d. God raised Him from the dead to prove to us that His death
was an acceptable sacrifice for sin
...then how can we not hate sin?
2. With such faith, we now hold sin responsible for...
a. Making the death of Christ necessary in the first place!
b. The anguish God must have felt when He:
1) Saw the separation between Him and us!
2) Deemed it necessary to have His Son die for us!
c. The pain and agony suffered by Jesus!
1) In the garden of Gethsemane - Mt 26:39
2) On the cross of Calvary - Mt 27:46
3. When we understand and really believe these things, then we
will say with the Psalmist: "Through your precepts I get
understanding; therefore I HATE every false way." - Psa 119:104
[This is the kind of faith called for in obedience to the gospel, and
the kind of faith which effectively deals with the love of sin! But how
does one gain this kind of faith?
Faith comes from the Word of God (Ro 10:17). Indeed, as the apostles of
Christ proclaimed the gospel, they presented evidence designed to
create faith in the hearts of their listeners...]
II. THE EVIDENCE THAT CREATES SUCH FAITH
A. EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY CONCERNING JESUS' RESURRECTION...
1. An important foundation upon which faith in Christ was based!
a. Jesus knew this was how people would come to believe on Him
- cf. Jn 17:20
b. Therefore, in their preaching and teaching, the apostles
appealed to this line of evidence...
1) Peter - Ac 2:32; 3:14-15; 4:33; 10:39-41
2) John - Jn 20:30-31; 1 Jn 1:1-3
3) Paul - 1 Co 15:3-8
2. How strong is this evidence? Consider...
a. The number of witnesses
1) This affects the strength or weakness of any testimony
2) E.g., the OT required at least two or three - Deu 17:6
-- In this regard, the strength is very strong - 1 Co 15:5-8
(over 500 people!)
b. The character of these witnesses
1) Some had not believed in Christ prior to His resurrection
a) Like His brothers in the flesh - Jn 7:3-5; Mk 3:21
b) But after the resurrection, they too became disciples!
- Ac 1:14
2) Some were disciples who had been skeptical after His
death
a) E.g., Thomas - Jn 20:24-25
b) Only after hard, empirical evidence did he believe
- Jn 20:26-28
3) Some were former enemies who had violently opposed Christ
(e.g., Paul)
-- They were not gullible people willing to believe
anything!
c. The nature of their testimony
1) Hard, empirical evidence - Jn 20:25; Ac 10:40-41; 1 Jn
1:1
2) Objective, not subjective evidence
-- Testimony that cannot be attributed to hallucinations,
dreams, etc.
d. The transformation which took place
1) Prior to the resurrection, they were cowards who had lost
hope!
a) They fled at His arrest - Mk 14:50
b) Peter denied Him
c) They hid for fear of the Jews - Jn 20:19
2) Yet, after the resurrection, they were praising God and
proclaiming Christ boldly as having been raised from the
dead!
a) Praising God in the temple - Lk 24:52-53
b) Proclaiming Christ, despite persecution - Ac 5:28-32,
41-42
3) Even an honest Orthodox Jew admits that the
transformation in their lives is strong evidence for
their testimony:
a) "If the disciples were totally disappointed and on the
verge of desperate flight because of the very real
reason of the crucifixion, it took another very real
reason in order to transform them from a band of
disheartened and dejected Jews into the most self-
confident missionary society in world history."
(PINCHAS LAPIDE, former chairman of the Applied
Linguistics Department at Israel's Bar-Iland
University)
b) Lapide concluded that a bodily resurrection could have
possibly been that reason! (TIME, May 7, 1979)
-- The change in the apostles gives strength to their
testimony
e. The high moral standard they taught and lived
1) Exhorted the disciples to live holy lives - 1 Th 4:1-7
2) Lived their own lives in an unimpeachable way - 1 Th 2:
10-12
-- Does this sound like people who would propagate a lie if
they knew better?
f. The sacrifices they paid in life and death
1) They endured much hardship because of their testimony
- 1 Co 4:9-13
2) All but one of the apostles died violent deaths because
of their testimony of the resurrection
3) Even James, Jesus' brother, was thrown off the temple and
clubbed to death for his refusal to recant his eyewitness
testimony of the resurrection of Jesus!
3. Deny the resurrection of Jesus, and you impugn the honesty and
integrity of these witnesses!
a. They would have had to been rank liars and frauds, out to
deceive the world!
b. Yet, these are the very ones...
1) Who tell us what we know of Jesus, whose life and
teachings has transformed the history of the world and
the lives of millions!
2) Who gave us the New Testament, containing the highest
standard of morality
the world has ever known!
-- Does it make sense to call such men liars and frauds?
[To accept their testimony and the fact of the resurrection is not
only rational, it is the beginning of the kind of faith which will
come to hate sin! But there is even more evidence which creates this
kind of faith...]
B. FULFILLED MESSIANIC PROPHECY...
1. This was also an important foundation upon which faith in
Christ was based
a. Jesus used this to strengthen the faith of His disciples
1) The two disciples on the road to Emmaus - Lk 24:25-27
2) The apostles - Lk 24:44-47
b. In their own teaching and preaching, the apostles appealed
to fulfilled prophecy
1) Peter - Ac 2:29-31; 3:18,24
2) Philip - Ac 8:35
3) Paul - Ac 17:2,3
2. How strong is this evidence? Consider...
a. There are at least 330 prophecies in the OT fulfilled in
Jesus Christ!
1) Twenty-nine (29) were fulfilled in one day!
2) Such prophecies were spoken at various times by many
different people during the ten centuries from 1500 B.C.
to 500 B.C.
b. The science of probabilities demonstrates that it is nigh to
impossible Jesus fulfilled these prophecies by coincidence
1) In one study (by Peter Stoner), eight (8) prophecies were
considered:
a) The likelihood of anyone fulfilling just these eight
by chance was calculated to be 1 in 10 to the 17th
power
b) This would be like finding on the first try, while
blindfolded, a marked silver dollar in a pile of
silver dollars two-feet high covering the entire state
of Texas!
2) In another study (also by Peter Stoner), forty-eight (48)
prophecies were considered:
a) The likelihood of a coincidence was 1 in 10 to the
157th power!
b) How big a number is 10 to the 157th power?
1] Counting at the rate of 250 a minute...
2] It would take you 19 million times 19 million times
19 million years to count such a number!
c) Remember, that is just calculating the chance of any
one man coincidentally fulfilling 48 prophecies -
Jesus fulfilled 330!
c. Look at it another way...
1) Your chances of surviving a fall from 10,000 feet without
a parachute is 1 in 10 million - would you "willingly"
jump and take such a chance?
2) Yet to reject Jesus because one thinks fulfilling 330
prophecies was coincidental is infinitely more risky than
jumping out of an airplane at 10,000 feet without a
parachute!
3) We would say that anyone who jumped out of an airplane
with such odds against survival is either stupid, crazy
or ignorant of the risks
4) What about someone who takes the chance of rejecting
Christ in view of the overwhelming odds he is wrong about
Christ???
CONCLUSION
1. This is the kind of evidence in the Word of God to create faith in
Jesus as the Son of God:
a. Eyewitness testimony of the resurrection of Jesus by numerous,
reliable witnesses
b. Fulfilled messianic prophecy that overwhelmingly convinces any
informed, rational and objective person!
-- Yes, "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."
- Ro 10:17
2. What kind of faith?
a. A faith that hates sin...
1) For what it did (separated us from God)
2) For what it cost (the death of God's only begotten Son)
3) For what it can do when engaged in by the unrepentant Christian
(crucify again the Son afresh - He 6:4-6)
b. A faith that loves God...
1) For what He has done
2) For what He is doing
3) For what He will do
c. A faith that will...
1) Do whatever God desires me to do, to rid my life of the guilt
of sin (e.g., faith, repentance, and baptism)
2) Utilize whatever blessing God offers to overcome the problem of
sin (e.g., remission of sins, gift of the Holy Spirit, the
promise of eternal life)
Do you have that kind of faith which the gospel both gives and
requires...a loving and obedient faith?
"If you love Me, keep My commandments." (Jn 14:15)
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Executable Outlines, Copyright
© Mark A. Copeland, 2001
www.ChristianLibrary.org