\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload Audio\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\tText: I John 2:1-6<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. At times a person sins and is caught. He has no regrets about his particular sin, except the\nembarrassment of being caught. He offers the illogical argument, “Well, nobody’s\nperfect.”\n A. It is illogical because it insists that sinning can be acceptable since everyone else\nalso sins.\n B. It follows the same line of reasoning that when President Clinton was caught\nlying, the news was filled with articles on how everyone lies. They documented\nthe lies of past leaders as proof that this was normal behavior.\n C. When President Clinton was caught in adultery, the papers were filled with\narticles document how common adultery was, especially among past popular\nleaders.\n
II. Is it true that no one is perfect?<\/p>\n A. If by such a statement you mean there is no one who has lived a sinless life,\nexcept Jesus our Lord, then the statement is true.\n
1. Romans 3:23 – Everyone sins.<\/p>\n
2. 1 John 1:8-10 – To say we have not sin is a lie (or a sin in itself).<\/p>\n
B. Yet, in the Scriptures, perfection does not always equate to sinless lives.<\/p>\n
1. We are commanded to be perfect – Matthew 5:48<\/p>\n
2. If perfection was sinlessness, then how could anyone obey this command?<\/p>\n
C. People who have been called perfect or some translations use the word blameless<\/p>\n
1. Noah – Genesis 6:9<\/p>\n
2. Abraham – Genesis 17:1<\/p>\n
3. Job – Job 1:1,8<\/p>\n 4. The rich young ruler was told he could be made perfect (or complete) by\nselling all that he had, giving it to the poor, and following Jesus – Matthew\n19:20-22\n D. The word “perfect” in the Bible generally means someone who is complete,\nwhole, or mature\n 1. I Corinthians 2:6 – The wisdom of God is spoken to the mature (perfect in\nthe KJV).\n 2. The same word is used in I Corinthians 14:20 to tell the Corinthians to\ngrow up.\n 3. The purpose of the church and its leaders are to help Christians grow to be\nlike Christ – Ephesians 4:11-16\n
4. It is gained through experience – Hebrews 5:14<\/p>\n
5. Some obtain that maturity – Philippians 3:15<\/p>\n E. So is it true that nobody is perfect? No, some people do grow up. As Christians\nwe are expected to grow up\n
III. Does the fact that people sin mean we are not responsible for our sins?<\/p>\n
A. Is it just a fact of life, like growing old, that we just have to get accustomed?<\/p>\n
B. Paul addresses a similar point<\/p>\n 1. He argues that the law’s purpose was to define sin and make man\nconscious of his sins – Romans 5:20-21\n 2. It actually increased the amount of sin because sin doesn’t exist without a\nlaw – Romans 5:13\n a. Sin existed before the Law of Moses, indicating there were laws\nmen had to follow\n b. But with the Law of Moses, sin increased as a more exact\ndefinition of right and wrong was given to the world\n 3. This does not mean the law was harmful, because God’s grace through the\ndeath of His Son was able to increase to cover man’s sins.\n 4. I suppose I could then walk away with the idea that it doesn’t matter how\nmuch I sin, God’s grace will cover it. In fact, the more I sin, the more\ngrace I will receive.\n
5. Paul’s answer was a wish that it never would be that way – Romans 6:1-7<\/p>\n C. How can anyone imagine that people who have left the world of sin are now free\nto sin?\n
1. Galatians 5:13 – Do not turn freedom into worldliness<\/p>\n
2. I Peter 2:16 – Do not use freedom as a cover for sin<\/p>\n
D. A child of God must not sin – I John 1:5-7<\/p>\n 1. Yet at the same time, John says to claim not to have sinned is a lie – I John\n1:8-10\n
2. We must conclude that walking in darkness is remaining in sin.<\/p>\n
3. All of us will misstep into darkness, but we must not remain in darkness <\/p>\n
4. We must not practice sin (continue in sin) – I John 3:4-10<\/p>\n a. This passage is not speaking of single missteps, but a continual\npractice.\n b. It cannot say that a child of God never sins, else John would be\ncontradicting his statements in John 1:8, 10\n
c. We cannot remain in sin and be righteous<\/p>\n d. John is saying that sinning is out of character for the Christian. It is\nnot something a Christian normally does.\n
E. How to return to the path of light<\/p>\n
1. I John 1:9 – Confess our sins<\/p>\n
2. We are able to do this because Jesus died for us – I John 2:1-2<\/p>\n
IV. We must always be on our guard<\/p>\n
A. Pay attention so we will not fall – I Corinthians 10:12<\/p>\n
B. Be on the alert – I Peter 5:8-9<\/p>\n
C. There are false teachers who turn the grace of God into a license to sin – Jude 3-4<\/p>\n
D. Learn from the errors of those in the past – Hebrews 3:12-4:1<\/p>\nV. Despite our past, Christ is able to make us complete, if we hold on to the teachings –\nColossians 1:21-23\n A. Have any slipped from the path of righteousness. Have you made sin a continual\npractice?\n
B. Now is the time to return to the Lord. Leave your sins behind.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: I John 2:1-6 I. At times a person sins and is caught. He has no regrets about his particular sin, except the embarrassment of being caught. He offers the illogical argument, “Well, nobody’s perfect.” A. It is illogical because it insists that sinning can be acceptable since everyone else…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[608,179],"class_list":["post-39079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-excuses","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56879,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/illogical-fixes-to-problems\/","url_meta":{"origin":39079,"position":0},"title":"Illogical Fixes to Problems","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Samuel 8:1-8 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For over 400 years, God ruled over the land of Israel. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When the people became wicked, God sent in an enemy nation to conquer a portion of the land. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When the people turned backed to God, he raised up a judge\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35917,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/illogical-reasons-for-decriminalizing-marijuana\/","url_meta":{"origin":39079,"position":1},"title":"Illogical Reasons for Decriminalizing Marijuana","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Source: Paul Hammel, \"Ideas to ease pot laws just blowin' in the wind,\" Omaha World-Herald, 20 November 2012. People continue to promote illogical fixes to problems. Iowa Representative Bruce Hunter wants to decriminalize marijuana possession. His reason? \"He is pushing decriminalization of pot because sending users to prison contributes to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Issues"","block_context":{"text":"Issues","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61086,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-it-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":39079,"position":2},"title":"Why Is It? (Taylor)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gene Taylor Some things are difficult for me to understand. I am not referring to the sciences or mathematics, even though I could for they gave me a lot of trouble when I was in school-I am talking about some things that, on the surface, seem simple enough but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53692,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-sin-is-always-before-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":39079,"position":3},"title":"My Sin Is Always Before Me (Sermon)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Audio by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ezra 9 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God is Holy, but we fall short \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sin is a not a part of the nature of God - I John 1:5 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To be in fellowship with God, we also must without sin - I John 1:6-7 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But notice that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":64270,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/original-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":39079,"position":4},"title":"Original Sin","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ed Myers","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43171,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/time-for-churches-of-christ-to-fellowship-other-groups\/","url_meta":{"origin":39079,"position":5},"title":"Time for Churches of Christ to Fellowship Other Groups?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Wes McAdam via\u00a0Radically Christian This is a hard post to write. I realize what I'm about to say may be misunderstood or misconstrued. But as difficult as it is to find the right words, this is something that must be said. In fact, I believe there is no greater\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39079\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}