Sin -- It's More Than Missing the Mark

Sabbath School Class—Life as Discovery and Hope 

May 9, 2009

Larry R Evans 

Introductory Reflections 

Have you ever heard of Saint Anthony (251?-356)?  He is among the most famous solitary monks.  His aim was to live in solitude and do nothing but think about God.  He was sincere and he was willing to pay whatever price necessary to accomplish his objective! For 35 years he lived  in the Egyptian desert.  For 35 years he fought a non-stop battle with the devil by fasting, depriving himself of sleep and even tortured his own body.  

“Writing of the great conflict that constantly took place between the forces of good and evil in Anthony’s imaginings, his biographer penned:  ‘The one would suggest foul thoughts, and the other counter them with prayers; the one fire him with lust, the other, as one who seemed to blush, fortify his body with prayers, faith and fasting.  The devil one night even took upon him the shape of a woman, and imitated all  her acts simply to beguile Anthony.’”   During these 35 years Anthony struggled with temptation, and at the end he was no closer to victory than at the beginning. 

Anthony was not alone.  There was the example of Simeon (390-459), sometimes called Simeon the Pole Sitter!   After “having been buried up to his neck for several months, next decided that his way  to holiness was to sit on top of a 60-foot pillar, where he would be removed from all temptations.  For 36 years (until his death) Saint Simeon remained atop his pole.  Not only did his body ‘drip’ with vermin, bet he performed excruciating exercises far above the desert floor.  Once, for example, he is said to have touched his feet with his forehead more than 1,244 times in succession.”  (See George Knight in Sin and Salvation, pp. 66, 67) 

Sin and temptation are real and so are the battles waged against them.  Unmasking the sin and its originator is an important part of any successful battle against them.  This week’s study unveils some of the important characteristics of the enemy called sin.  The solution, as you will see will not be found by taking a pilgrimage to an Egyptian desert nor by isolating ourselves by sitting on a pole high above the earth and beyond any known temptations.  God has a much better and a more effective plan.  He came and still comes to us.  Any successful battle with temptation encompasses God’s presence.  Next week’s lesson will be about grace but before we get there we need to grasp, at least in part, the enormity of the problem called sin. 

Reflective Quiz 

1.       Grace is not fully appreciated until we fully understand the depth and extent of sin. (Isa.6:1-5)  True 

Let’s begin our study today with a passage found in Isaiah. 

Isa 6:1-5 

6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: 

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;

the whole earth is full of his glory." 

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 

5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."  (NIV) 

There are many ways of defining sin and we’ll talk about some of them  in a moment.  Before we do we need to reflect on Isaiah’s experience. 
Sin is best understood  as we relate it to God.  Apart from God sin be becomes abstract,  a mechanical phenomena. A rule broken or the violation of someone’s own imposed standard.  When Isaiah sees God he immediately sees himself in a new way.  Any arrogance quickly disappears.  Isaiah is humbled.  We would like to suggest that the character of God must be the beginning point for understanding what sin is all about. When we see sin in this light we will see grace as an even bigger quality of God!  Often we hear others say as we ourselves do that the  world is growing more and more evil.   Some point to corruption in society, the inhumane treatment of one another and even the content of the media bombarding our homes.  The world is not getting better but we must ask ourselves one very important question:  “What is our reference point?  By whose standard do we say something is right or wrong?  As our culture slides precipitously in one direction, who are we to say that it is right or wrong?  Who determines if the threshold is high or low? 

2.       To sin means to break a rule God established to test our loyalty with Him.  [Rom. 12:7-9; 1 Jn. 3:4; Isa. 59:2; Gen. 3: 1-7]  True and False 

We often use the following texts to define sin: 

1 John 3:4

4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.  (NIV) 

Isa 59:2

2 But your iniquities have separated

you from your God;

your sins have hidden his face from you,

so that he will not hear.  (NIV) 

One of the Greek words for sin is Hamartano, meaning to “miss the mark.” 

So I have a question for you:  Is sin the breaking of one of God’s rules or is the breaking one of God’s “rules” the result of another problem leading to sin?  In other words, at what point does temptation become sin? 

We’ve referred to it before in this class but it is still relevant.  After God created the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve He made His instruction quite clear:  Don’t eat of a certain tree!  After they ate of it God asked them an important question.  What was it?  “Where are you!”  (Gn. 3;9)  That question formed the basis for understanding man’s estrangement from God and it provides the platform by which you and I can best understand sin and its consequences.  When we realize what sin really is we can focus on the real sin and not just the consequences of sin.  As George Knight has written, “Just as the first step in sin was distrust of God (Gen. 3:1-6), so the first step towarad Him is trusting faith.  Faith is coming to grips with the fact that we must trust God because He has our best interest at heart.” (George Knight, Sin and Salvation, p. 72) 

3.       Sin is not limited to what we “do” or “think.”  It can also include what we “do not do.”  [Matt. 25:14-28, 45; 23:23]  True 

Matt 23:23-24

23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices-mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.   (NIV) 

There is such a thing as sins of omission.  I have another question for you:  “Based on what we have established thus far how would this idea fit in?”  

1 Peter 4:9-11

 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. (NIV) 

4.       As we modify our behavior to be more like Christ’s, we can be certain we are on the road of sanctification.  [2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20; 1 Jn. 1:8; DA:172]  False—maybe True? 

Is the road to sanctification a result of behavior modification?  I don’t think so! 

2 Cor 5:17-18

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  (NIV) 

Gal 2:20

20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  (NIV) 

Sanctification is living out the gift of justification. Both are gifts of God’s grace.  Both are initiated by God.  As gifts they must be received by faith – a faith that trusts and walks in the Presence of God. 

5.       There are many roads leading to God but only one way to be saved.  [Jn. 10:7; 14:6; Acts 4:12; Philip. 2:6-8]  True and False 

We really need to clarify our terms, otherwise we will be talking past one another.  Perhaps you’ve heard the furor over a conversation Oprah had with some of her guests.  Oprah has been chastised for saying that there are many ways to God.  I don’t spend a lot of time with Oprah.  I’ve heard that she has introduced many “New Age” concepts into her own beliefs.  I would like to put that aside and ask another question: 

Does God draw all men to him in the same way?  Do all people find God in nature? In Church? In the bar?  God uses many different ways of reaching sinful human beings.  However, when it comes to actually being “saved”  -- known or unknown – Christ’s sacrifice is the only means anyone will be saved. 

John 10:7

7 Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. (NIV) 

Acts 4:12

12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."  (NIV) 

Sin is a universal problem.  It weaves itself through our human nature.  We are bent towards sin.  God speaks to us using whatever avenues that will reach our hearts.  He reaches out to us that we might be His disciples.  We must be careful in our zeal for upholding Christ that we don’t inadvertently send other signals that also deny Christ’s work to save all men and women regardless of their religious or non-religious backgrounds.  

Concluding Reflections 

     All sin targets God.  It is more than missing a mark which may have been written years ago on a tablet of stone.  To understand sin as an enemy we need to understand who God is and what He is offering us.  To stop short of this understanding limits our understanding of the enormity of sin.  It also limits our understanding of grace as well as the real solution to the sin problem.  A modification of our behavioral problems is not the solution.  Both the Old and New Testaments attest to the only real solution: 

Ezek 36:26-28

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (NIV)

 Rom 7:24-25

24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!  (NIV)