"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 - 1Jn 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 Ps 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;1Jn 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 - 1Co 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 1Co 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." - Ps 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; 1Jn 1:1-3 3) Paul - 1Co 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 - Deut 17:6 -- In this regard, the strength is very strong - 1Co 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; 1Jn 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 - 1Th 4:1-7 2) Lived their own lives in an unimpeachable way - 1Th 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 - 1Co 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)
Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011
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