“A Matter Of Life And Death”
(Romans 5:8-12)
I. Introduction.
A. (Illust.) There is a fable about an Arab and a camel.
One night, camel woke Arab up and said: “It’s cold
outside, do you mind if I put my head in your window?”
“No”, said Arab, “go right ahead”.
In about an hour, camel woke Arab up again.
His feet were cold, and he wondered if he could put
them in the doorway. Step-by-step this continued, until,
finally, the whole camel was inside the Arab’s tent and the
Arab found it so crowded he couldn’t sleep.
He then began to complain, and camel said: “If you
don’t like it, get out!”
B. Sin is just like this. We often allow it to creep into our
lives, bit-by-bit, step-by-step, until it consumes us and fills
our lives. Left unchecked, eventually we will not control
the sin, the sin will control us. And sin is “A Matter Of
Life And Death.”
C. Proverbs 14:34 says: “Righteousness exalts a nation: but
sin is a reproach to any people.” People are lifted up by
being righteous, but sin creates so many problems, and
complications, in our lives.
1. No one can seriously study the Bible without
coming to two conclusions:
a. First, God hates sin. Sin, and all it produces,
generates His wrath.
-2-
b. Second, God still loves the sinner. He
separates the action from the person – but
the person is still responsible for the action.
God may dislike, will not condone, what we
say, do, or even think, but will not stop
loving, and caring about, us.
2. The real tragedy of sin is the destruction –
physically, emotionally, spiritually – it brings to
people caught in its trap.
D. When it comes to such an important matter – a matter of
life and death – we can’t take a neutral position, though
some have tried.
1. Of course, some people don’t even see it as a great
problem, and ridicule others who do. Again, from
Proverbs 14 (v. 9): “Fools make a mock of sin:. . .”
2. Then, are some people who give little or no thought
to what God says, or how He feels, about what they
do or say.
3. A third class of people may try not to sin, but don’t
say much to anyone else about their sin or their
soul. “I’ll just take care of myself.” See righteous
living as more a matter of what you don’t do rather
than what you do.
E. If neutrality is not possible, and personal righteousness is
not the sole answer, then, how do we successfully deal with
sin? The very first requirement is to be aware of what God
says about sin.
1. The Bible says sin is real and a real problem. It’s
simply defined as “transgression (violation) of
[God’s] law.” (I John 3:4).
-3-
a. No one can live without sinning.
b. Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned, and fall
short of the glory of God.”
c. To deny we sin makes us a liar. We are
merely “deceiving ourselves” (I John 1:8).
d. (Illust.) Reminds me of a story of evangelist
who was preaching on subject of sin and, in
the midst of lesson, man jumped up and
proclaimed: “Brethren, I’ve been a
miserable contemptible sinner for years,
and never knew it before today!” Another
person responded: “Sit down, brother.
The rest of us knew it all the time!”
2. Secondly, the Bible says sin separates us from God.
(Isaiah 59:1-2: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not
shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy,
that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have
separated between you from your God, and your
sins have hidden His face from you, so that he will
not hear.”)
3. Third, the Bible says sin is both doing something
we know to be wrong, and not doing things we
know to be right: (James 4:17: “Therefore to him
who knows to do good, and does not do it, to him it
is sin.”).
F. The subject of sin is important because it is everywhere, it
affects everyone, and it creates a serious problem in our
relationship with God.
-4-
II. The Reality, Extent, And Consequences Of Sin.
A. You sometimes get impression that, in minds of many
people, sin is not so much a reality as it is an invention
of preachers, or “do-gooders,” to keep them in business
and make everyone miserable and unhappy. When sin is
pointed out, response may come:
1. “What I do is my business, so long as I don’t
hurt anyone else.”
2. Or, “What you say is sin, I don’t see as sin. You
can’t tell me I’m wrong because I don’t believe
I’m wrong.”
B. But, we’re not discussing a matter of opinion. Are clearly
some things, some actions, that are wrong. If we deny this,
we deny the Bible itself and we deny the purpose for which
Jesus Christ came into the world: (Jesus): “For the Son of
man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
(Luke 19:10).
1. If sin is not real, then no one is spiritually “lost.”
2. Jesus’ whole mission was unnecessary.
C. Any reasonable, honest person can know sin is real in the
world just by being aware of what goes on around them.
War, inhumanity, even death cannot be explained if we
deny the reality of sin.
D. Sin is not something that affects only a small part of the
population of this world. It is worldwide – knows no
physical boundaries. And it is not just a contemporary
problem.
-5-
1. In Noah’s time, when God determined to destroy
the earth, and everything on it, by water,
Genesis 6:12 says: “. . . God looked upon the earth,
and indeed, it was corrupt; for all flesh had
corrupted his way on the earth.”
2. David wrote of the people of his day: “The Lord
looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
to see if there are any who did understand, who seek
God. They have all turned aside, they have together
become corrupt: there is none who does good, no,
not one.” (Psalm 14:1-2).
3. The prophet Isaiah said: “All we like sheep have
gone astray; we have turned every one to his own
way; . . .” (Isaiah 53:6).
4. When Jesus was upon the earth, sin was still a
problem involving everyone. Remember what He
told those who brought a woman to Him and
accused her of adultery? (John 8:7: “He that is
without sin among you, let him throw a stone first
at her.”).
5. Have already seen what Paul said of himself and
his contemporaries in Romans 3:23.
E. Yes, sin is real; sin is universal; and sin is destructive.
1. The consequences of sin ruin us, destroy us,
physically and spiritually (READ Rom. 5:12).
2. While it may be worldwide and involve all people,
the destructive nature of sin is still an individual
thing. Its consequences are still something we
must each answer for in our own lives.
-6-
a. Sin does destroy people physically. Think
of story Jesus told of son who left home
with his inheritance (Luke 15). Wasted
what his father had given him and was so
physically degraded he, “. . . would. . .
have filled his stomach with the pods that
the swine ate:. .” (Luke 15:16).
b. Remember, too, Ananias and Sapphira, in
Acts 5. Were questioned about land they
had sold and the money they had turned over
to the church. They chose to sin – to lie
about money, and both fell down and died
(Acts 5:5; 5:10).
3. But along with physical ruin and death, comes
spiritual destruction, and spiritual death is eternal
death.
F. Sin is a matter of death – but God’s love and mercy for
sinners is a matter of life. The problem of sin is one with a
solution; the trap of sin can be escaped. What’s that
solution? What is the way of escape?
(RE-READ Romans 5:8-11)
1. The good news is that sin can be forgiven.
2. When we turn to God, believe and accept His Son
as our Savior, desire to resist sin rather than ignore
it, to live rather than die, God has promised:
“. . . I will be merciful to . . . unrighteousness, and
. . . sins and . . . iniquities will I remember no
more.” (Hebrews 8:12).
-7-
III. Conclusion.
A. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has given us the
opportunity to be freed from the penalty for sin. He freed
us from the power of sin; by obedience to His commands
we can be free from the results of sin.
B. Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ: for it is the power of God for salvation. . .”
C. We can claim the victory over sin.
(READ I Corinthians 15:56-57).
D. Sin is a problem, but not the greatest problem. We are the
greatest problem – our resistance to God’s great love and
powerful salvation.
1. To take control of our lives, to handle the problem
of sin requires a change in thinking that produces
a change in our way of life (called repentance).
2. To take control of our lives requires faith in God
and the willingness to obey Him.
3. To take control of our lives is a serious matter –
a matter of life and death.
E. (Illust). Very early one morning, a man was awakened
by barking of his neighbor’s dog. It was loud, and
annoying. And, it just didn’t stop.
Finally, neighbor couldn’t take it anymore. Got
dressed, went next door, pounded on door.
When neighbor answered door, man said:
“What’s your dog barking about? It woke me up.”
-8-
Neighbor replied: “Oh, he’s sitting on a nail.”
“Then why doesn’t he get off the nail?!”
“Well, I guess it doesn’t hurt enough yet.”
Until it really starts to “hurt” – we don’t get away from sin.
F. Might summarize lesson this way:
“Life is uncertain,
Death is sure,
Sin the cause,
And Christ is the cure.”