Ron Dunn Podcast - The Truth About Sin

Episode Date: February 15, 2023

Ron Dunn speaks on sin from his To Tell The Truth sermon series

The truth about man, and this morning I want us to look into the Word of God and discover the truth about sin. And we're going to read from three different chapters out of the book of Romans, Romans chapter 1 and chapter 3 and chapter 5, Romans 1, 3, and 5. 1st Romans chapter 1, verses 18 through 23. Romans chapter 1, verses 18 through 23. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who choke the truth in unrighteousness.

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even by his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible

God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." Now Romans chapter 3, we'll begin reading with verse 9 and read through verse 25. Romans chapter 3, beginning with the ninth verse, "'What then? Are we better than they? No, in no wise, for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin. As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable.

There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have used deceit, and the poison of serpents is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what

thing soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and that all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ

Jesus, whom God has set forth to be the sin covering through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. Now one verse in chapter 5, the twelfth verse, Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Sin is public enemy number one. And that's not just a fancy title, but that is a tragic fact. It doesn't take a Bible, it doesn't take a wise man to know that there is something wrong with man. As you read the first chapters of Genesis and you see as God creates the heavens

and the earth, as he creates man in his own image, after every phase of creation the verdict from God comes, and he saw that it was good, and he saw that it was good. And then when he had made man and woman, the Bible says God looked at it and he saw that it was very good. And in the beginning, in the genesis of human history, God looked at it and saw that it was very good. But it would take a man who was blind in both eyes and deaf in both ears and was retarded to the extent he could not see what was plainly before his face to come to that verdict today that the scene of human civilization is very, very good. I get a little bit amused at reading after some people

when they speak about the inevitable progress of mankind. That man started at the bottom of the moral ladder, and he is evolving, and he is making progress climbing to the top of the moral ladder. And that what we have right now with this present crime rate and this present sin and this present wickedness is just a parade rest in man's forward march towards perfection. It reminds me of what one pig said to another. You remember those 2,000 pigs that were feeding nearby when Jesus cast the legion of demons out of the man? And the demons said, Lord, don't send us back to the pit. Let us go into those pigs. And Jesus gave them permission to those pigs. And the Bible says when

they entered into those pigs, it drove them crazy. And they rushed headlong over the cliff and drowned into the sea. And as those pigs were rushing over that cliff, one was heard to say to the other, if we'll just stay together and keep moving, everything will be all right. And what a lot of people are saying today is, if we'll just stay together and keep moving, everything is going to be all right. And no wonder the Bible says that the wisdom of man is foolishness.

Several years ago, Billy Graham, after one of his television appearances preached on the sinfulness of man and a very well known commentator newspaper columnist wrote in her article the next day she says we are not a nation of sinners and there's a great deal of skepticism about calling it sin

you can call it anxiety you can call. But you can call it anxiety. You can call it guilt. You can call it hang-ups. Anything you want to call it, the Bible chooses to call it sin. And the Word of God makes it very clear that everything that is wrong in our world today, everything that is wrong in your home, everything that is wrong in your business, everything that is wrong in your home, everything that is wrong in your business, everything that is wrong in your school, everything that is wrong in your personal life is the direct result

of man's ill relation towards God. It is the direct result of the sinfulness of man because man has chosen himself to go his own way and to turn his back on the righteousness of God. A wrong diagnosis means a wrong treatment. And if there's ever to be found a solution to the problems in your life, and if you're ever to find a solution to the problem in your home, and if there's ever to be found a solution to the problem in our society, the first thing that is essential is a right diagnosis be made. And what the Apostle Paul is doing in these chapters in Romans

is assuming the role of a physician, and he's diagnosing the human race. And his diagnosis is man is a sinner. Now I want to say three very simple things concerning the truth about sin. Number one, all men are sinners without exception. All are sinners without exception. In Romans 3, 23, the Bible says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

In Romans chapter 5 and verse 12, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Without exception, without exception, every man is a sinner. Now, the source of that sin, why is man a sinner? Where did sin come from? When and how did sin enter into the human race? Every person in this room this morning is a sinner for two reasons.

Number one, you are sinners by consequence. You are sinners by consequence of Adam's decision. The Bible says that God looks at every person in this room and he sees every person either in Adam or in man. And Romans 5, 12 that we read just a moment ago said, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men because all have sinned. And all of us were in Adam. All of us are descendants of that original man. And when he made that fateful choice that day in the Garden of Eden, he fell. He fell. His nature became corrupt. His nature became perverted. And every person that is born into the world

today is born with a corrupt, with a sinful nature. The Bible says foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child and the rod driveth it away. Why is foolishness bound up in the heart of a child? Where does that foolishness come from? Why is it that the very moment a child is born, there is foolishness there? And that word foolishness doesn't mean acting stupid or acting silly, or it doesn't mean mental foolishness, but it means moral foolishness, that folly that rebels against the authority of God. David said, in sin did my mother conceive me. Now, that does not mean that it's sin to have a baby, but it means that every child is born with a sinful nature. Every person is born with a sinful

nature. Now what you got from Adam was not his guilt, but you got from Adam the tendency to sin. And there is about every person here this morning, there is a want to in our hearts to sin. Man takes to sin like a duck takes to water. He has a propensity to sin. He has a vent to sinning. He has a tendency to sin. And man's nature is inherently sinful and man-filled. And everyone here this morning, you are a sinner by consequence.

But not only that, you you are a sinner by consequence. But not only that, you are also a sinner by choice. Every man has his own fall. Every man experiences his own original sin. And every person sooner or later comes to an age of awareness where he knows right from wrong and he knows the law,

the moral law of God for his life, and he is a sinner in the second place because he willfully, deliberately, knowingly chooses to go his own way rather than the way of God. There's a very enlightening little verse in the first chapter of James. If you're interested in where sin comes from today in your life, he reveals it to us. In James chapter 1, beginning with the 13th verse, he says, Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted with evil,

neither enticeth he any man. God never entices a man to do evil. He will test a man's faith, but he will never entice a man to do evil. He will test a man's faith, but he will never entice a man to do evil. But every man is enticed, is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own, and the old King James says lust,

but the word is simply desire. In itself it doesn't mean anything bad. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desire and enticed. Then when desire hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death. Now, the apostle here is using the picture of a marriage. He's using marriage terminology. Here you are walking down the street, sitting in your house, driving your automobile. The devil stands on the outside of your life and he holds up something. He holds up

the forbidden thing. He holds up either the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life. He tempts you with something. Now, what he appeals to is that old fallen nature, and nobody would ever sin if they didn't want to. And the only reason a person ever sins is because he is drawn away, he is drawn away by his own desire. And so there is something inside of man that wants, that desires that thing that is wrong, and it reaches out and it takes it, and there is an unholy marriage. Your desire married to that thing that is wrong. And as you come together in that unholy marriage,

you have a child, and that child is sin. And when sin is finished, when sin is full grown, the result of it is sin. And when sin is finished, when sin is full grown, the result of it is death. Death is the grandson of desire. And every person sins because he wants to. And that's the tragic thing about sin. You love it and hate it at the same time.

You hate it because you know what it's doing to you. You know that it's wrong and you know what it's doing to others. And yet there is a love for it, a desire for it. And every person is a sinner, not only by consequence of Adam's sin, but by choice of his own desire. By choice of his own desire.

I want you to notice in this third chapter the scope of a man's sin. Every man without exception is sinful in every area of his life. Someone asked me not long ago if I believed in total depravity. I said, I certainly do. They said, well, what do you mean by total depravity? Total depravity does not mean that every man is as bad as he could be. I have news for you this morning. You may be bad, but you're not as bad as you could be.

Once in a while, we'll see people and we'll read about people who seem to be just as evil as it's possible for them to be. And the more control the devil gets on a person's life and the greater stronghold he sets up in his life, the worse that man becomes. But total depravity does not mean that every man is as bad as he can be, because he's not. What it means is that every man is affected by sin in every area of his life. His entire personality has been marred and perverted by sin. You see, you were created in the image of God. And when man sinned, he didn't lose that image. That image was just distorted and perverted.

It's like a bombed out building, or it's like a building, a house that's been gutted by fire. Part of it still stands. You can see what it was. You can see what it was originally intended to be, but it no longer functions as it was intended to function because disaster has come to it. And every man is still created in the image of God, but that image has been gutted, that image has been marred and perverted. And every area of a man's life, his entire personality, has been marred and perverted by sin. This is the reason you can't think your way to God.

And there's a great deal of the Eastern religion influence in our country today, and through meditation and through concentration and through just sitting and going through all of the motions and the exercises that are given to you through yoga and a great many other things, a person is able to meditate himself into the presence of God, and through his own mind and through the capacity of his own being, he is able to find God. That is an absolute lie of the devil. No man ever finds God that way. You may find what you call God. I read about a man one day who said he looked down in a well and saw his reflection in the water and said, it's God.

And the trouble with people today is that they're making God in their own image. And what you think you find is not God. You may call it God, but man's mind, his capacity to reason and to think his way towards God has been marred and perverted. And he is sinful in every area of his personality. Now, I want us to just look briefly at this passage in Romans chapter 3. We don't have time to go through it all. But I want you to notice first of all that every man is sinful in his character. And in verses 10 through 12, Paul describes the character of every man.

He says, there is none righteous. There is none righteous. And righteousness is the standard by which God judges every man. And without righteousness, no man can be saved and no man can see God. There is none righteous. In verse 11, he says, there is none that understandeth. And that's just exactly what I've been talking about. Man is spiritually and morally ignorant.

Did you know that man is just flat-out stupid when it comes to moral and spiritual things? It's amazing to me how intelligent and how smart the human race is when it comes to worldly things. But when it comes to moral and spiritual truths, man is absolutely stupid. The Supreme Court can't even define obscenity, and I call that absolutely stupid. Jesus faced the same thing in his day.

People were wondering why he was so anxious to reach the sinners, and he said, well, now, just a minute. He said, what man of you, if you had a hundred sheep and you lost one, wouldn't you go look for him? And if you were a woman and you had ten coins and you lost one, wouldn't you look for it? And if you were a father and you had two sons and one ran off, wouldn't you look for him?

Jesus is saying, you fellows are smart when it has to do with sheep and money and sons, but you're stupid when it has to do with sheep and money and sons, but you're stupid when it has to do with souls and spiritual and moral truth. Man is ignorant of God. He cannot understand God. He has not the ability to make moral and spiritual judgments. He doesn't know right from wrong

until the Spirit of God gives him that ability. There is none that understand it. There is none that seeketh after God. Indifference. They are all gone out of the way. Rebellion. Now look at this next one in verse 12. They are together become unprofitable.

That's a devastating word when you understand what it means. He's speaking now of the entire human race without God. He says they, everyone, are unprofitable. The word unprofitable is a word that was used of milk that had turned sour or meat that had gone rotten. It means corrupt and useless, useless, of no value. Its original purpose has been destroyed and it is absolutely useless.

And did you know that without Jesus Christ, man is absolutely useless and is of no value without Jesus Christ? The only value of a man in the sight of God is as Jesus Christ indwells him

as his Savior and Lord. They are unprofitable. And then he sums it all up by saying, there's none that doeth good. No, not one. There's none that doeth good. We say, oh, he's a good man. Jesus says, there's none good save God. You may call him good, but God says there is none.

There is not a single person that is good, and no one does good. Man is sinful in his character. He's sinful in his conversation. Look at verse 13. Verses 13 and 14, he describes the conversation of a man. And he says, first of all, their throat is an open sepulcher. Their throat's an open grave. I can't think of anything this morning that would be more distasteful and more abominable than an open grave with all the putrefaction coming out. But I want to tell you something. A man, a man as he goes away from God becomes vulgar and filthy in his speech.

And his mouth and his language is like an open grave, decayed and putrefied. Their mouth is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have used deceit, hypocrisy. A man with his tongue will try to conceal his true condition. And their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Now in verses 15 and 17 he says that man is sinful in all of his conduct. Their feet are swift to shed blood.

That simply means that man acts without regard to his neighbor. He acts without regard to his neighbor. All he cares about is pleasing himself. Look at verse 16. Destruction and misery are in their ways. A man without Jesus Christ, everywhere he goes, two things are true. Destruction and misery. Destruction and misery. Everything he puts his

hand to, there is failure and destruction, and his life is littered with misery. And I promise you one thing this morning, if you turn your back on Jesus Christ, that your life will be filled with destruction and misery. And then it says, and the way of peace they have not known. They've never known it. Did you notice that that's singular? He doesn't say the ways of peace they have not known. He says the way of peace they have not known. Listen, there's only one way of peace, and that's Jesus Christ. Man is absolutely and totally and completely sinful. Point number two, not only are men sinners without exception, but all men are sinners without excuse. There is absolutely no excuse.

He says in verse 20 of the first chapter, "...for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Every man, every woman is a sinner without excuse because of the conscience that God has given him. Every person has an inner light. He has a sense of oughtness. And who Paul is talking about in this chapter are the pagans, the Gentiles, the heathen, not the Jews, not the religious people, but he's talking about those people who never heard the name of Jesus. And people are constantly saying, well, what about those people that never hear the gospel and they've never heard the name of Jesus?

How can God be just in sending them to hell also? Paul says in the Word of God that God has given them an inner light, an inner knowledge, an inner oughtness, and they can know God by living up to the demands of their own conscience so that they are without excuse. And if you never heard the name of Jesus and if you never saw the Word of God, you would still be without excuse because God gave you, it is a part of your physical and

mental and emotional makeup, He gave you a sense of oughtness. There is a God-hunger placed within you. I was in seminary and missions class. There would always be this question come up from some fellow in the class, sooner or later, well, if a heathen does the best that he can, lives the best he knows how, and yet never hears the name of Jesus, never hears the gospel, then certainly he ought to be saved.

If a pagan, if a heathen, if a man lived the best way he knew, granted his knowledge was limited, granted he was ignorant of the gospel, never heard the name of Jesus, but if he lived and did the best he knew, surely he would be saved. The professor would always come back like this.

He says, you trot out that heathen. You show me that heathen that lives the best that he can. You show me any man who always lives up to the demands of his conscience. He doesn't exist. Is there anybody here this morning that can say that you have always, in every instance, in every circumstance, you have always done what you knew to be right and you have never done what you knew to be wrong? Let's just assume that God would save any man and every man who lived up to the life that he had.

Every man would still be lost because no man has ever lived up to the demands of his own conscience. That's where guilt comes from. Every man is guilty without excuse because you violate your own conscience, alone the Word of God. But also, you're without excuse because of the law that God has given. You know, it's amazing to me all the laws that we have. And Texas has come out on the first of January with a new penal code. There's some things good and there's some things devilish in it.

And you ought to investigate and find out what your legislators have done with the Texas penal code, folks. And you'll wish that you'd been down there helping them make the laws. But you know, it takes them years to revise the laws, and yet God gave the basis of all human behavior in ten simple statements, the Ten Commandments. And everybody here may not be able to quote them, may not be able to name them, but brother, you know it's wrong to kill,

and you know it's wrong to lie, and you know it's wrong to commit immorality. And every man is without excuse because he has violated the moral law of God. Now, one final thing. All men are sinners, but there is an escape. There is a way out. One of my favorite verses in all the Bible is found in Romans chapter 5, verses 19 and 20. He says, For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, speaking of Adam's sin. But now notice, So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness

unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Where sin did abound, and sin does abound and overflows, but where sin did abound, grace did much more abound. When the devil does his worst, God does his best. And when sin reaches its highest watermark, the grace of God reaches even higher than that. And no matter how far down sin may take a man, the grace of God can reach down even farther. There is an escape, and that escape is through faith in Jesus Christ. And that's the only escape, that's the only way out, is through Jesus Christ. As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man, Jesus Christ, many shall be made righteous.

And the only way you can ever become righteous in the sight of God this morning is through the Lord Jesus Christ. And the most important question anyone ever puts to you is, what is your relationship to Jesus Christ? And by your answer, you reveal what you are and where you are and who you are. If your answer is, I have no relationship to Jesus and I care not to have any relationship to Jesus,

then you seal your own verdict and God says you will die and die eternally. And while you live in this life, destruction and misery will be your lot. If that person says, I take Jesus Christ and I submit myself to his lordship and his saviorhood, the Bible says, as sin hath reigned in his life, now the grace of God will reign, and he will be delivered and liberated from the sin that has reigned as king in his life. What is your relationship to Jesus this morning? Are you saved?

Not are you a church member. Not are you religious. Not do you believe this Bible. But have you ever had a personal experience of salvation with Jesus Christ? Has there ever come a moment in your life when you have recognized that you have sinned against God and you have turned your back on your sin, you have repented, you have given up your right to live your life your way, and you have turned towards Jesus and submitted yourself to him as Lord and Savior. Without that, you're unprofitable.

Professing yourself to be wise, you become a fool. Without that, have you ever come to Jesus Christ, submitted yourself to his Lordship? The Ron Dunn Podcast is available only for personal edification, not to be duplicated, uploaded to the web, or resold without prior written consent. It is managed and operated by Sherwood Baptist Church. If you would like to listen to additional Ron Dunn messages, visit sherwoodbaptist.net slash bookstore and search Ron Dunn. For more Ron Dunn materials, including sermon outlines, devotions, and scanned pages from a study Bible, please visit rondunn.com.