"THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST AND THE PROBLEM OF SIN"
The Gospel's Answer To The "Love" Of Sin
(Faith In Jesus Christ)
INTRODUCTION
1. In the previous lesson, we introduced "How The Gospel Addresses The
PROBLEM Of Sin"
2. In this lesson we will 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," or to "BELIEVE"
a. E.g., notice Mk 16:15-16
b. Faith can be defined as "a strong convinction, 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 exactly what KIND OF FAITH we need to really hate sin
b. Consider briefly the EVIDENCE that ought to create that kind of
faith
I. THE KIND OF FAITH NECESSARY TO HATE SIN
A. ONE THAT BELIEVES THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD
1. That the gospel requires such faith is clear from passages
like:
a. Jn 20:30-31
b. 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. ONE THAT BELIEVES THAT THIS 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 - Is 53:4-6
b. Why, because God loves us! - Jn 3:16; Ro 5:8
C. ONE THAT BELIEVES THAT GOD THEN RAISED HIM 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 DOES BELIEVING IN THESE THINGS CAUSE US TO HATE SIN?
1. IF WE ARE STRONGLY CONVICTED...
a. That Jesus was truly the beloved Son of God
b. That He was really the Christ, the promised Messiah
c. That God loved us so much (and hated sin so much) that He
sent His Son to die for us
d. That God raised Him from the dead to prove to us that His
death was an acceptable sacrifice for sin
2. ...THEN HOW CAN WE "NOT" HATE SIN?
a. Sin is responsible for making the death of Christ necessary
in the first place!
b. Sin is responsible for 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. Sin is responsible for 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
[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? Ro 10:17 tells us that
faith comes from the Word of God. Upon closer examination, that Word
reveals that the apostles of Christ tried to create faith in the hearts
of their listeners by providing two primary lines of evidence...]
II. EVIDENCE THAT CREATES THE KIND OF FAITH WHICH HATES SIN
A. EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
1. THIS WAS AN IMPORTANT FOUNDATION UPON WHICH FAITH IN NEW
TESTAMENT TIMES WAS CREATED!
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 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?
a. Consider 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
3) In this regard, the strength is very strong - 1 Co 15:
5-8 (over 500 people!)
b. Consider the character of these witnesses (they were
certainly not gullible)
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., the apostle Paul)
c. Consider 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 that could possibly be
attributed to hallucinations, dreams, etc.
d. Consider 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)
e. Consider 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. Consider 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. TO DENY THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS IS TO IMPUGN THE HONESTY AND
INTEGRITY OF THESE WITNESSES!
a. Every single one of them 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, which contains the highest
standard of morality the world has every 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 ALSO WAS AN IMPORTANT FOUNDATION UPON WHICH FAITH IN NEW
TESTAMENT TIMES WAS CREATED
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. Therefore, in their own teaching and preaching, the apostles
appealed to this line of evidence...
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?
a. It has been calculated that there are at least 330 prophecies
in the OT that were 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 has been used to show that it is
nigh to impossible that Jesus fulfilled these prophecies out
of 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
2) Would you "willingly" jump and take such a chance?
3) Yet to reject JESUS because because you think His
fulfilling 330 prophecies was coincidental is INFINITELY
MORE RISKY than jumping out of an airplane at 10,000 feet
without a parachute!
a) 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
b) 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 kind of evidence found 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. One 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. One that LOVES God...
1) For what He has done
2) For what He is doing
3) For what He will do
c. One 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)
3. 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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