Friday, October 4, 2024

Sin: A Matter of Life or Death (Sermon)


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Today, for this holy Sabbath, I want to talk about SIN. And then, a little later on in this sermon, I'm going to talk about the Righteousness of the Law - the holy Law of God. Now, I certainly won't be able to cover every Scripture related to these topics, but we will certainly cover several of them.

Welcome, dear friends and warm hearts to another taping of the Church of Jesus Christ Online Ministries. I'm Leonard V. Johnson. It's a great pleasure and great joy for me to be here with you this day. Now, on our Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/LeonardJohnson01/ - I recently posted our February Stat report for the website - www.owensborocojc.com - and friends, THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! - it was one of the highest stat reports yet! We reached an average monthly page view of 142 people per day!!! 96 average monthly unique visits, 62 average monthly first-time visitors, and 34 average returning visitors. Thank you so much - certainly, all credit goes to you!! We dearly thank you and love you all for your love and support at the Church of Jesus Christ Online Ministries. A ministry that teaches the living Word of God, the Truth of God, and we work hard with our Lord Jesus Christ in always trying to understand the Plan of God!

Now, in 1st John chapter 3, verse 4 - it states, Sin is the transgression of the holy Law – the Commandments of God. Whether in the letter or the spirit of the Law. Therefore, sin is lawlessness or anti-law.

Turn with me in your Holy Bible today - and for our dear brethren and friends in Ndeiya, Nyanza, Kenya, turn in your BIBLE INFORMATION GOOD (or rather the BHN Version) - to the Book of Romans chapter 7 -

Verses 12 - 14.

Sin is also a defilement of one’s conscience. When a person knows to do good and doesn’t do it, it is sin.

The Book of 1st John again, let's turn there a moment - 1st John chapter 1 -

Verses 5 - to chapter 2, verse 2 -

So, you see our dear Catholic friends - JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF is our propitiation. Not Mary, not some priest, who should NOT know your sins. But our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! There in the Book of Hebrews, He is called our great High Priest!!! He is seated at the very right-hand side of God the Father - as a MINISTER of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle - NOT MAN!!! Catholics - are you reading and studying the same Bible we are!? I have a Catholic Bible in my library, let's just see what it says -

Hebrews chapter 8, verse 1.

What about 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 5. I did a sermon on this a while back and apparently received some bad comments - ONE GOD - ONE MEDIATOR.
"2-Ver. 5. This insistence on the universal mediatorship of Christ as man is against the separatist tendencies."
I don't have a clue what that means. If anyone knows, please let me know in the comment section below.

But getting back - the ultimate penalty for sin is eternal death. Upon deep and sincere repentance toward God, one’s sins will be forgiven by faith in the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the payment of those sins through the mercy of God the Father.

In the Book of Acts - the apostle Peter, under the inspiration of the newly arrived Holy Spirit stated - in chapter 2 -

Verse 38.

The only unpardonable sin is the acceptance of and then the complete and willful rejection of God’s salvation, the willful rejection of and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit of God the Father, and despising the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as an unholy thing.

In Ephesians the apostle Paul says, In Him [ in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our offenses, according to the riches of His grace. And friends, it's only by His grace, because we have certainly not earned salvation.

Let's go ahead and turn to the Book of Ephesians chapter 2 -

Let's begin in verses 1 - 10.

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the sin of condemning the works of God the Father, accomplished through the power of His Holy Spirit and attributing such works to Satan the devil.

Now, we have, on our YouTube channel, a wonderful short sermonette by Minister Michael C. Garrett of the Owensboro Church of Jesus Christ, explaining in great detail just what is the Unpardonable Sin - of which so many misunderstand or don't know what is meant by unpardonable sin. Be sure to watch that 3-minute and 45-second video. It will truly enlighten you as to what our Lord Jesus Christ meant when He said, "'Do NOT blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.'" And what the apostle Paul states: "DO NOT grieve the Holy Spirit."

Now, again in 1st John chapter 5, and verse 17, there is, according to God, sin not leading to death.

It is sin that will not have dominion over you – you have been rescued of the penalty which the law demanded, which is death. Now, the people who want to say that the Ten Commandments are done away will cite verse 14 of Romans chapter 6 - and say, "See, we're not under the law, we're under grace."

Sometimes when Paul uses the word “law,” he’s talking about the Old Covenant or the law of the Levites and the temple people? He’s talking about that law or that collection of practices that we would normally label under the umbrella as the Old Covenant. We’re under grace – we’re under the Priesthood of Jesus Christ, under the priesthood of forgiveness, and hope, and help, and love. And you know, that’s what we should do to people.

So, when the apostle John states "there is sin not leading to death" - it is sin that will not have dominion over you. As long as you immediately repent of that sin and ask our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ for Their forgiveness, grace, and mercy.

Notice verse 15 of the Book of Romans chapter 6.

So, he is saying, “Don’t even think it! It’s absolutely ridiculous to think such a thing!”

Verse 16.

So here he makes this comparison. He’s asking you – which master are you going to serve!? Sin or righteousness!? One leads to death and the other leads to obedience unto God.

Verse 17 – “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, …” – and we all were in the past. “ … yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.” – and of course he’s talking about the Gospel that finally reached their ears! And they began to read, and they began to understand, and they became converted, and they repented and they were baptized and received God’s Holy Spirit. And so he’s talking to CHRISTIANS. People who were converted.

And, of course, he goes on down there in verse 23 to explain what sin is. And as I've said before: we were sitting on death row and then we find ourselves walking down the road free – absolutely free!

Now, some Protestant groups misinterpret, misapply, they misrepresent the term ‘God’s grace,’ and they make it into the incorrect concept of ‘once saved always saved’ – which they call “eternal security.” You know, “Give your heart to the Lard, and it’s all said and done!” Well, that’s not correct! And because there was that strain of incorrectness, there were a great number of ministers within the Church of God along with her innumerable remnant churches in this latter time which tended, and tend even today, to avoid or detour around the subject of GRACE altogether. And yet, the term ‘God’s grace’ – my friends, we have no chance unless God is gracious to us!

“For the wages of sin is death, but …” – and we always quote this first part here – ‘THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH!’ That is certainly true. But the second part of that – “ … the gift of God is eternal life [through] Christ Jesus our Lord.” That is the grace that God gave! That is the glory of God being expressed through His love – through Jesus Christ – by giving us His Son! ‘ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST!’

Without Jesus Christ God’s righteous Law, which He put in place – of which He will never compromise – it demanded our death. Because of our sins. So, He fulfilled the Laws demand which required death by giving us His own beloved Son. What a marvelous act of grace that was!

But, getting back to this unpardonable sin - When a person has committed the unpardonable sin, his or her conscience is seared with a hot iron, and it is impossible to be convicted by the Holy Spirit and be led to repentance. God’s judgment for the unpardonable sin is the second death, or eternal death, from which there is no resurrection.

Let us also turn to the Book of James - one of the very brothers of our Lord Jesus - the Book of James chapter 2 -

Verses 10 - 11.

In the Book of Galatians, the apostle Paul lists for us the works of the flesh -

Galatians Chapter 5 -

Verse 19 - 21.

Again, the apostle Paul explains this very IMPORTANT concept of the unpardonable sin - a sin that can NEVER EVER be forgiven by God or Jesus Christ!!! A sin that is so very reprehensible to Them -

The Book of Hebrews chapter 10 -

Verses 26 - 27.

Now, let's move along to the Righteousness of the holy Law of our great and awesome GOD!

Now, God is both Creator and Lawgiver. When God created mankind, He also established righteous Laws that govern man’s relationship with Him and with his fellow man.

We know that Jesus talked about it in Matthew 19:17 – when He said, and you can’t get much clearer than this – “…’ But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.’” In John 14:15 He says, “’ If you love Me, ...’”IF“’ If you love Me, keep My commandments.’” Which implies what!? If you DON’T keep the commandments of God, you are showing by your actions that you DO NOT love, honor, and respect God and His will. But most so-called church-going people never think about this! In John 15:10 Jesus said, “’ If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, …’” Which again implies just the opposite. If you DO NOT keep those commandments you DO NOT abide in the love of God and Jesus Christ! And there are so many more Scriptures I could quote you – make a whole sermon out of that one topic of ‘keep the commandments.’

Notice in the Book of Ezekiel - and dear friends and brethren who might only have a copy of the New Testament - may be within a denomination that only teaches what is inside the New Testament - and I'm not trying to offend you or be a smart Aleck, but you might only have a copy of the New Testament. Well, go get a whole Bible, a whole Holy Bible - meaning all 66 Books of the Inspired Words of the Eternal our LORD God and come on back.

I'll wait.

If you will, turn with me to the Book of Ezekiel chapter 20 -

Verses 11, 13, and 21.

The Laws of God draw a clear line between actions that are good and righteous in God’s eyes as opposed to acts that are evil and sinful. Without God’s Laws, there would be no sin. Scripture declares that “where there is no law there is no sin ... for by the Law is the knowledge of sin.” The biblical record of the sins of Adam and Eve, and the nations that descended from them, makes it clear that God’s Laws have been obligatory upon mankind from the beginning.

And let's see this very example in the Book of Genesis chapter 3 -

Verses 11-13.

And Genesis Chapter 4 -

Verses 7 - 11.

In Old Testament times, a man or woman who kept the commandments of God, fulfilling His requirements in the letter of the Law, was counted righteous before God. This type of righteousness, which was earned by doing the works of the law, brought many physical and material blessings from God — health and prosperity, deliverance from enemies, peace, and long life. When God covenanted with Israel, He proclaimed through Moses that those who kept His Laws and Commandments “shall live in them” because they would be spared the punishment and curses that were appointed for lawbreakers — including death by capital punishment.

We see this very thing in Deuteronomy chapter 28 -

Verses 1 - 13.

Although the righteousness of the Law resulted in many blessings to the obedient, fulfilling the letter of the Law did not and could not earn eternal salvation.

Let's turn again to the New Testament - the Book of Galatians once again, this time chapter 3 -

Verse 11.

The promise of salvation and eternal life is God's free and undeserved gift and is offered only through the righteousness of faith. The required righteousness of the letter of the Law was a “schoolmaster” or tutor to reveal the sinfulness and weakness of human nature and to point to the need for higher righteousness — the righteousness of faith.

Let's turn to a couple more Scriptures and then we'll end this sermon for this holy Sabbath day - the Book of Romans, written by our beloved apostle Paul to the Church of God there in Rome about the year 57 or 58 AD, and subsequently to us dear brethren here in this 21st-century evil present age -

Romans chapter 10 -

Verse 5.

Also, the Book of Romans chapter 3 -

Verses 9 - 22.

Thank you again for being here with all of us on this holy Sabbath day. We always pray for you and want God's very best for you. We hope and pray that you continue to love, support, and pray for all of us with the Church of Jesus Christ Online Ministries.

So, until next time, this is Leonard V. Johnson saying, "Goodbye for now." 



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