Bible Studies for Life for October 5: Everyone is lost in sin

Bible Studies for Life for October 5: Everyone is lost in sin focuses on Romans 1:16-3:20.

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Sin is an ugly topic. We can’t deny the reality of it, but we don’t really want to accept it either. The idea of our own imperfection is unpleasant, and we’d rather move on to happier thoughts. But today, we’re going to wallow in unpleasantness, because without a full understanding of our true condition, we can never appreciate the redemption God offers us through Jesus.

Fact: We are all sinners

Ignoring the truth will never change it. Like it or not, we are sinners. The Bible says sin entered the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the garden. Their disobedience brought sin into the world, and the sin nature has been passed down by inheritance ever since. Even when we become aware of sin and try to fight it, we fight a losing battle.

“There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10).

Fact: Sin separates us from God

God, in his holiness, cannot allow sin into his presence.

“You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell” (Psalm 5:4).

“Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you” (Isaiah 59:2).

Fact: Sin turns us against God
 
Sin starts in the heart, but then moves to our minds. It twists our thinking and destroys our attitudes. It causes us to deny God and his truth. Then, without God as our focus, we who were made to worship, turn to idols rather than the one true God.


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“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles” (Romans 1:21-23).

Fact: Salvation doesn’t fix the sin nature

Even Christians are sinners. Salvation is the beginning, not the end. It simply gives us the tools to resist our sin nature. But resisting sin requires a lot of self-discipline because our nature leads us to sin.

“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Romans 7:14-15).

The sin nature may not change, but the way God sees us does. Whereas before salvation, God saw only our sin, afterward he sees Jesus.

Unfortunately, because of our sin nature, we often take advantage of God’s mercy. Knowing he sees Jesus’ sacrifice rather than our sin, it becomes easy to justify sin and continue our old patterns of behavior.

Fact: God never forces himself on us

God asks us to obey him, and he makes it as easy as possible to do so. In the Old Testament, he gave the Ten Commandments. In the New Testament, Jesus distilled the 10 into two: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ … and … ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39).

It is our sin nature that leads us astray. It hardens our hearts, making even the simplest of God’s rules seem too difficult. It also keeps us from spending time with God so we can know him better. We don’t read his word, and we don’t do the things that are right. Instead, we do what feels right. Remember, our sin nature makes sin feel right and obedience feel wrong.

“Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done” (Romans 1:28).

Fact: We have no excuse

But not knowing God’s word is no excuse. We are all held accountable for our actions— whether they are right or wrong —because creation testifies to God’s presence, his order and his power. His word is evident in everything he made, and it is written in the Bible. It’s our choice to respond.

“For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities— his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

Fact: A judgment day is coming

We all are accountable to God. We think we are getting away with sins, but God does not plan to punish sin now. Instead, he is storing up his wrath for the day of judgment.

“But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done’” (Romans 2:5-6).

Fact: Unless we accept our desperate condition, we can’t be saved

We are commanded to obey, yet we all fall short. We will never be good enough to earn a relationship with God.

Sound hopeless? In a way, it is. Unless we are fully conscious of our problem, there is no answer. Denying our addiction to sin only makes us greater sinners. But accepting that sin is real and realizing the terrible consequence of sin—separation from God now and forever—we make ourselves eligible for God’s back-up plan.

For the next several weeks, we will be studying our beliefs about salvation. Hard as it is, the first lesson is the most important:

•    We are all sinners, lost without God’s mercy.

•    And all sin is worthy of eternal punishment.

This week, we’re left with the burden of truth. But next week, we’ll study the love of God, which is our salvation.

Discussion questions

•    We all can feel bad about ourselves at times, but have you ever accepted the fact that without God’s help, you are a hopeless sinner?

•    Why do you think God can’t allow sin into his presence?

•    How do you think God feels about that?


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