A Bible lesson by Ivor Jefferies
1. How would unbelievers finish the following sentence, and what does God say is our biggest problem?1
Read Rom. 1:18-32, 6:23a, 2 Tim. 3:1-5.
2. What is sin?
Read John 16:9, Rom. 3:23, 14:23, 1 John 3:6, 5:17, Jas. 4:17, Jer. 17:9.
3. Where does sin come from?
Read Deut. 32:4, Jas. 1:13, Gen. 1:31, 3:1-6, John 8:44, 1 John 3:8.
4. How does Adam’s sin affect us?2
Read Rom. 5:12, 14, 18-19, Ps. 51:5.
Many would call it unfair for God to punish us for a crime we didn’t commit, especially since none of us were around when it happened. But as the father of humanity Adam sinned on our behalf (cf. Heb. 7:9-10 for the same logic). Likewise, the last Adam (Jesus Christ) lived and died on our behalf. Would anyone call that unfair? And who would deny that we are responsible for Christ’s death even though none of us lived at the time? And yet Rom. 5:8 says that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
5. How is original sin made visible?
Read Ps. 58:3, Prov. 20:11, Eph. 2:1-3.
A lion is not a lion because it kills; it kills because it is a lion. Likewise we are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. This goes for every one of us (Rom. 3:10-12, 23). Anyone who denies this is a liar (1 Joh. 1:8, 10).
6. What is God’s attitute toward our sin, and how does He punish it?
Read Ps. 5:4-5, Prov. 6:16-19,3 Gen. 2:17, Rom. 5:12, Rev. 21:8.
There is such a thing as big- and little sins (Ezek. 8:6, 13, 15, John 19:11, Luke 12:47-48). Yet even little sins seek to dethrone God, therefore He has a holy hatred for it (Gen. 3:5). The least sin is an offense to his holiness and majesty, and deserves to be punished (Gal. 3:10, Jas. 2:10-11).
7. How can we escape being punished for our sin?
Read Jer. 13:23, Rom. 8:7-8, Heb. 7:26, 1 Pet. 2:22-25, John 5:24, Tit. 3:3-7.
8. Although a believer’s sin cannot condemn him (Rom. 8:1), what can it do and how should we respond?
Read Prov. 15:10a, Rev. 3:19, 1 John 1:9.
1 Sin is worse than Satan and hell. Satan is under the power of sin, and sin is the cause of hell. Without sin there would be no hell.
2 Also known as original sin.
3 Note that God does not only hate the sin, but the sinner. By his great grace He also loves hateful creatures like us, and sent his only-begotten Son to die for us (cf. John 3:16, as well as Rom. 5:8 quoted above).