From Trespasses to Transformation: Understanding Sin and Grace

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Trespasses are specific, uh, going against explicit bible commands, so thou shalt not kill if you kill somebody you have trespassed against that command you have walked over the line and broken that command, and that's a trespass. Sin in the singular is the deeper power that makes us want to do that and sins in the plural are acts that express that sinful power that may not be explicitly forbidden for us to transgress. [00:01:44]

As sin came into the world through one man and death through sin and so death spread to all men because all sin for sin indeed was in the world before the law with all of its specific commandments that we could transgress before the law was given but sin is not counted, I take that to mean not counted as transgressions trespasses of particular commands, where there's no law yet death reigned from Adam to Moses even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam. [00:02:38]

The law now was added it came in to increase the trespass okay, it turns sin into trespasses because now you have all these laws that sin will break where sin increased now even though it's the increase of trespasses that was the goal of adding the law to make sin visible in trespasses, sin itself increased, the law makes sin more virulent as trespasses increase, sin is increased in virulence and power and evil, grace abounded all the more. [00:03:57]

Sin like a power like a slave master takes hold of a particular commandment and says I'll show you what we can do with that and breaks it in every possible way with all kinds of covetousness covetousness in this particular case or chapter 6 verse 12 let not sin therefore rain that old king-like power that it doesn't have anymore because it's broken don't let it rain in your mortal body to make you obey its passion. [00:05:21]

Thanks be to god that you who once slaves of sin so here sin is a slave master have become obedient from the heart when that slave master is undone the heart is new and changed to the standard of teaching to which you were committed and having been set free from sin so there is a slave master again singular sin this power that functions as a slave master you have become slaves of righteousness. [00:06:11]

Sin is that power within us that looks at the glory of the immortal god and says I prefer man, I prefer birds, I prefer animals, I prefer bugs, I prefer money, I prefer power, I prefer fame sin is the force the the slave master in us that says here's the glory of god I prefer satan I prefer my wisdom I prefer me the very essence of sin I'm arguing is that it is a lacking of the glory of god. [00:10:08]

We were dead in trespasses and sins means that we had become the kind of people who were so dead that when we beheld the glory of god in his righteousness and his beauty and his worth we esteemed anything better than him especially the image of ourselves in the mirror we became self-exalting people and that is the essence of sin and that sin when it meets a commandment and transgresses it produces trespasses. [00:11:34]

Now the works of the flesh and the flesh is another way of describing the fundamental nature of sinfulness apart from new birth and god now the works of the flesh are evident and then he lists a whole bunch of them sexual immorality impurity sensuality idolatry sorcery enmity strife jealousy fits of anger rivalry dissensions divisions envy drunkenness orgies and then he says things like that that's sins. [00:12:32]

We are made alive and that being made alive unseats sin as defining our nature a new preference this life here is a life to see god for who he is and when you get then to the end of the paragraph it says we are created this is the new life we are new creatures and the fundamental thing about the new creature is we prefer god over other things that's the fundamental change. [00:13:41]

Our heart our will our mind has an a brand new way of assessing god and we love him now we trust him now we value him now and so this is the replacement of sin new creation replaces sin and good works replaces trespasses. [00:14:24]

Sin is a king for a season it reigned in death grace now might reign so grace the power of god's grace is replacing the king of sin watch paul play that out romans 7 8 but sin seizing opportunity through the commandment produced in me all kinds of covetousness so there's an actual fleshing out of what he had described back in romans 5. [00:04:48]

Although they knew god they did not honor him as god or give thanks to him but they became futile in their thinking and their few foolish heart was darkened foolish hearts darkened claiming to be wise they became fools they exchanged now this is what I think paul means when he says we lack the glory of god we lack it because of this this is what we've done we've all exchanged the glory of the immortal god for images. [00:08:54]

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