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Introduction

In this study we will look at the character of sin to cement our understanding of
Sin. While one class-50 minutes- cannot be exhaustive, we will use this hour to
lay a foundation. So get your Bibles out. We are going to be looking at Genesis 3
and the book of Romans, chapters 1- 3. While we will look at other scripture, the
books of Genesis and Romans give us a strong baseline for understanding the
history of sin and the continuing nature of it.

Sin-What does it mean?

Sin. What does that mean? Isn’t that an Old Testament concept? And what does
that mean in the 21st c? Is it even relevant? Look at all the new innovations in our
culture? We certainly have made progress and become very self-sufficient. So
do we think sin has any relevance in our lives anymore? We sure don’t talk about
it very much. Most transgressions are attributed to ones environment or
upbringing. It is rationalized, not our fault!
Let’s look at a few examples to give context:

What is the meaning of “is”?

“Years from now, when we look back on Bill Clinton's presidency, its defining
moment may well be Clinton's rationalization to the grand jury about why he
wasn't lying when he said to his top aides that with respect to Monica Lewinsky,
"there's nothing going on between us." How can this be? Here's what Clinton told
the grand jury (according to footnote 1,128 in Starr's report):

"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the--if he--if 'is'
means is and never has been, that is not--that is one thing. If it means there
is none, that was a completely true statement....Now, if someone had asked
me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relations with Ms.
Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have
said no. And it would have been completely true."
This excerpt is taken from an article by Timothy Noah illustrating the
tragic notion of what happens when you begin to dilute the actual meaning
or essence of a word. Bill Clinton might be the example, but we are all
guilty of this. Haven’t you called adultery “having an affair” or sin
“disease” at times? This is called spin or word-smithing which directly
speaks to the “magic of words” or a person who is “skilled in using words”
and how words can and will lose their meaning, if the definition of the word
is not held onto very tightly.

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The Emperors new clothes.

This is a short tale by about two weavers who promise an Emperor a new
suit of clothes that are invisible. When the Emperor parades before his
subjects in his new clothes, a child cries out, "But he isn't wearing
anything at all!"

But, Look at the Emperor's new clothes. They're beautiful!"

"What a marvelous train!"

A child, however, who had no important job, held no position in the

court and could only see things as his eyes showed them to him, went up
to the carriage.

"The Emperor is naked," he said.

"The boy is right! The Emperor is naked! It's true!"

The Fall

As we ponder these stories and the “truth” that is revealed in them, It takes us
immediately to Genesis 3 and the familiar story of Adam and Eve in the garden
and the serpents question,

“Did God really say?”

The Lord God had given Adam and Eve one command; “do not eat from the tree
of knowledge of good and evil.” All Adam and Eve had to do is keep one simple
command.

They could certainly feast upon any other fruit in the garden. They had been
given full reign over paradise. God had provided maximum pleasure and
minimum restrictions. It is not as if God had withheld anything from them, but
the serpent, “more crafty than the rest of the beasts of the field”, had convinced
them that God is not good and was withholding something from them. In addition,
Satan then promised them that they too could be like God, knowing good and
evil. As the first couple was being enticed to eat of the fruit, they were now
caught between serving Satan or serving God.

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 Is God who He says He is, and can He really be trusted? As the people of God,
we often ask ourselves the same question-“Did God really mean this when he
said …

• All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God ( Ro. 3:23)
• The wages of sin is death.( Ro. 6:23)
• If you do not forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will not
forgive you. (Mt. 6:15)
• For whosoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be
forgiven. He is guilty of an eternal sin (Mk. 3:29)

“Dim or indistinct views of sin are the origin of most of the errors, heresies,
and false doctrines of the present day.”1 If a man does not realize the dangerous
nature of his deadened soul and what sin is, then we will begin to question
redemption, curses, and eternal damnation. God’s Word begs the question for us
each day…This is the beginning of Sin-Questioning God’s goodness and His
Word. This begins the depravity of man. This is the dismal story of the fall….

Original Sin-What went wrong?

- Gen.3:1-10-“Now the serpent was craftier than any of the wild animals the Lord
God had made. “He said to the woman, “ Did God really say, “you must not eat
from the tree in the garden?”The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit
from the trees in the garden, but God did say, “you must not eat fruit from the
tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it or you will
die.”…When the woman saw that that the fruit of the tree was good for food and
pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate
it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it. Then the
man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as was walking in the garden
in the cool of the day and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the
garden. But the Lord God called to man…

“Where are you?”

He answered, “I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked so,
I hid.”

In Genesis 3- In the serpent’s subtle invitation, man succumbed to Satan’s

temptation. In succumbing, man revealed that he trusted Satan more than God.
By yielding to the sin, Adam then introduced sin into the garden. It was not just
his own individual sin, it affected the whole human race…and all of creation.

                                                                                                                         
 

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 Adam’s sin was imputed to all persons.

The Westminster Confession of Faith states:

Did all mankind fall into Adam's first transgression?

The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity;
all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell
with him in his first transgression.

• Adam alone sinned, but the whole human race affected.

• Depravity is total person, and affects all of creation.
• Sin and guilt is imputed to everyone.
• All mankind is guilty.
• Because of Adams sin, sin is now imputed to all humanity. This sin is from
generation to generation. Adam’s rebellion is now mankind’s rebellion. We
did not sin individually; we all sinned “in Adam”. He is our covenant head.
While we do sin individually, we are all sinners because of Adam. Our
identity is sinner.

• “When Congress declared war on Japan in December 1941, most Americans did not
have any say in the matter. This made no difference. The United States was at war
and ALL of its citizens were now at war. The action of the federal head of the
Congress meant that every citizen which that federal head represented was impacted.”

Therefore,   just   as   through   one   man   sin   entered   the   world,   and   death  
through  sin,  and  so  death  spread  to  all  man,  because  all  sinned  (Romans  
5:12).  
 
But,  “For  as  through  the  one  man's  disobedience  the  many  were  made  
sinners,  even  so  through  the  obedience  of  the  One  the  many  will  be  made  
righteous.  (Romans  5:18-­19).    

Adams  Sin  was  imputed  to  us  and  our  sin  was  imputed  to  Christ.  Because  Christ  took  
upon  our  sin  we  now  have  His  imputed  righteousness.  This  is  known  as  the  exchanged  
life.      

• This rebellion is against God. God is a personal God and sin against God is
a personal matter. We should not think of sin as some abstract violation of
the law, for example like breaking a speed limit.
• The most vivid image we have in the OT is that to sin or go after gods is the
image of adultery. The hurt of adultery in the marriage covenant is the
same way we should think of sin against God. It is personal every time we
sin. “Against thee only have I sinned….”Ps. 51:4.

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 Those  who  are  in  Christ  are  justified  by  His  blood.  But  those  who  are  in  
Adam  –“For  in  Adam,  all  die”  (  1  Cor.  15:22)  -­are  condemned.  Adam’s  sin  
is  ours  until  we  accept  Christ  as  savior.    

Because  of  Christ’s  imputed  righteousness,  we  are  called  children  of  
God.  “Since  we  have  died  to  sin,  how  can  we  live  in  it  any  longer”….  

Consequences of Sin

Because of Adam’s sin, we are depraved and corrupted in our entire person.
Every person is a sinner and apart from God we are unable to choose God, much
less follow Him. The consequences include such things as blind ambition, evil
dealings in relationships and a self-centeredness that keeps us from loving God
and loving each other.

As sinners, the mind is always set on the flesh-Gal 5:19; Ro. 8:6-8

• WE are conceived in sin as David writes in Ps. 51.

“Surely, I was sinful at birth

Sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

• It is important to note that even “children are sinners. No one is born “not
guilty”. Children are in need of being saved from sin.
• “As it was, Adam is now estranged from God. The intimacy that they both
shared was marred and wickedly perverted by Sin. And not only was Adam
affected by this sin, all creation was corrupted”2 (Ro. 8:20)
• It is what the early church fathers called inherited corruption. Sin has
marred every relationship, every body, every soul and every thought
process. This sin is transmitted from one generation to the next.”3( JC Ryle,
1) No one is exempt…No not one….When Adam sinned, we all sinned.
Paradise was lost not only for Adam, but for every single person.
• “We are so perverted in every part of our nature that by this great
corruption we stand justly condemned and convicted before God to whom
nothing is acceptable but righteousness.4”

                                                                                                                         
 
 
 

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 • We are all naked before God. Gen. 2:25;3:7;3:10 -“Now the serpent was
more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made… I heard
you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid.”

♦ The Hebrew word for crafty is arum.

♦ The Hebrew word for naked is arom.

The wordplay is amazing. “After the ‘crafty’(arum) serpent deceived them, they
realized their nudity (3:7) (arom) and tried to cover it, feared God because of it,
and were challenged by God because of their knowledge”- of being naked.5

In other words, crafty is actually nakedness in the Hebrew. We think we are

being so clever when we are crafty, deceiving people, but actually we are naked!
“The fig leaves were pathetic enough, but the instinct (to hide in shame) was
sound and God confirmed it (v. 21) for sin’s proper fruit is shame, mistrust, and
alienation from God. In the rest of the Bible nakedness is often associated with
shame, with nakedness and shame even used interchangeably.”6

Continuing Sin-Romans 1-3

Continuing Sin-Romans 1-3 -- “Wherefore as by one man sin entered the world
and death by sin and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.”( Ro.
5:12).

In Romans 1-3 he levels the field for both Jew and Gentile. Not only do we sin
against God, we sin against each other. Sin is not just vertical, it is also
horizontal.

“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on

someone else for at whatever point you judge the other, you are
condemning yourself because you who pass judgment do the same
                                                                                                                         
 
 

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 things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do
such things is based on truth. So when you a mere man pass
judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will
escape God’s judgment? Vs. 6-God will give to each person
according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in
doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal
life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and
follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and
distress for every human being who does evil; first for the Jew and
then for the Gentile., but glory, honor and peace for everyone who
does good, first for the Jew and then for the Gentile.” ( Ro, 2:1-3;6-
10)

• “Paul’s’ burden was to show the Christian church as both Jew and
Gentile joined in one body of Christ.”7 This theme is repeated
throughout the book of Romans as sin is the unifying matter
because of Adam.
• Because of sin, they both stand in judgment of God. WE too, in the
21st c., stand in judgment of God because of sin.
• The verdict is in - Both Jew and Gentile is under judgment because
of sin. Genesis 3 and Romans 3 overlap and form a perfect
understanding and judgment against man. The law has been broken.
One God-One Law-One Violation-Absolutely
• The whole third chapter of Romans is nothing but a description of
original sin (vs. 1-20)8

As it is written:

“No one is righteous not even one

There is no one who seeks God

All have turned away

They have together become worthless.

There is no one who does good.

                                                                                                                         
 
 

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 Not even one.”( Ro. 3:10-12)

• In Romans 3, the word worthless in the Greek is translated –dirty

menstrual rags”- which are only to be thrown away. They are useful
for nothing. Our works are simply rags to be thrown away.

• This is Paul’s conclusion. Jews and gentiles are under sin. Judgment
is upon us all alike. No one is exempt. We are all sinners.

Ephesians 2:1 says that we Christians were all once “dead in trespasses and
sins.”The point of deadness is that we were incapable of any life with God. We
are totally unable to reform ourselves, much less revitalize or restore ourselves.
WE are wretched.

Ephesians 2:3 goes on to say that in our deadness we were children of wrath.”
That is, we were under God’s wrath because of the corruption of our hearts that
made us as good as dead before God. We are all in line for judgment which puts
us all in line for hell. If our corruption were not deserving of an eternal
punishment God would be unjust to threaten us with a punishment as severe as
eternal torment.

It is frightening isn’t it? People who have not been born again can provide good
homes for their children. People who have not been born again can be
philanthropists. People who have not been born again can show kindness in
times of tragedy.

Of course, totally depraved men can be very religious and very philanthropic.
They can pray and give alms and fast as Jesus said (Mt. 6:1-18) But their very
religion is rebellion against the rights of their Creator, if it does not come from a
“childlike heart of trust” (Mt. 18:3). Our very goodness, our very righteousness is
“like filthy rags” unless righteousness comes from Jesus Christ. We bring
nothing to the table. WE are depraved and without the light, in sin. All of our “so
called” good dealings with men and our attempts to be good in our giving and
loving is as filthy rags to our Creator.

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 (READ-Romans 1:16, 17)

“For I am not

ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of
everyone who believes, first for the Jew and then for the Gentile. For in the
gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith
from first to last just as it is written, “the righteous will live by faith.”

Think of Gen. 3 and now Romans 1-

• Eve was ashamed of God’s Word. She had begun to move away
from God. But Paul reconciles that when he says, “I am not
ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of salvation of
everyone who beliefs, first for the Jew and then for the gentile.
(Ro. 1:16)
• Eve trusted in both her perversion (misquoting) of God’s word
and in the serpents word. In Romans 3, Paul tells us, “Let God be
true and every man a liar, “As it is written, “so you may be proved
right when you speak and prevail when you judge.”
• In Genesis, Eve longed to be independent of God. In Romans 1-3,
Faith never entered in. It was all man’s attempt to be righteous.
We all seek to be independent of God. Jew and Gentile alike seek
to be independent of God.

So what is sin exactly from this study?

In Genesis 3 is it:

1. Unfaithfulness,

2. Is it the sin of consumption and greed?

3. Was it disobedience?

4. Is it simply gluttony?

5. Is it unbelief?

What do you think it is?

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 “Since the woman through unfaithfulness was led away from God’s word by
the serpent’s deceit, it is clear that disobedience was the beginning of the fall.”9

“This also Paul confirms teaching that all were lost through the disobedience of
one man.”10 (Ro. 5:19)

“Unfaithfulness to God was the root of all sin, but thereafter ambition and pride
together with ungratefulness arose because Adam by seeking more than was
granted shamefully spurned God’s great bounty, which had been lavished upon
him.” 11 You begin to see the downward spiral of sin….Ro 1-3.

The second consideration is that this perversity never ceases in us but

continually bears new fruits….We can suppress sin for only so long in our works
and in our heart. It will come out.

Understanding the Character of Sin

1. Sin is law that is against God and within us.

The most general thing we can say about sin is that it is contrary to God’s
law. Law is the revelation of God’s will

( Is. 1:10). 1 John 3:4 says, “Sin is the transgression of the Law.”

It is important to understand the Character of Law:

Where there is law, there are obligations and requirements to be met. Laws are
legal and binding. Laws make claims. And the character of a law is that the same
thing will happen each time. Take the law of gravity for example - Mike Blume
writes:

“Everywhere  you  drop  an  apple,  whether  in  Germany,  Japan  or  Iceland,  it  will  
fall.  This  means  there  is  a  law  at  work  here.  A  principle.  A  law  is  a  way  things  
react  whenever  in  the  same  circumstances.    It  happens  every  time!  And  it  
works  everywhere!  “  

                                                                                                                         
 
 
 

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 Sin is that way. The law of sin is something that directs us, and operates in us
in all matters. It directs and commands and it DEMANDS SOMETHING FROM US.
This is what laws do. Sin is a powerful indwelling effective law within us.

Paul says this in Ro. 7:21-“So I find this law at work: When I want to do
good, evil is right there with me…” The law of sin is always pulling on us,
tempting us to meet its requirements. And the law of sin is “in us”, not
something outside of us. And frighteningly enough, “When sin is least felt,
it is most powerful.”12

• Sin is breaking God’s law. It is aversion to God and his law. The law of sin
must be broken for us to be right before God.
• Either we break God’s law or God breaks the power of the law of sin in us.
This law will direct us to the end unless the power of the law of sin is
broken.
• The law has dominion over a man only as long as he lives” (Ro. 7:1) we
know what sin is because of the law (Ro. 7:7)
• “By the miserable reward of pleasure, it keeps the world under obedience
to it”13 and the world must meet its demands every day. In Ro. 3:13, sin
gives us the image of “Their throats are open graves,” always demanding
something more. Eve had all of paradise to pick from, but she wanted one
more item…. And Eve saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and
pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took and
ate it.” ( Gen. 3:6) Sin never has enough.
• “The law of sin is not a written, commanding law so much as it is an inbred,
impelling, urging law. It proposes in temptation and because it is in us, it is
strongly compelling. That is why God makes His new covenant internal,
implanting it in the heart.” Jeremiah 31:33. “The written law will not do.”
He says, “I will turn the written law into a living law in their heart. I will
make it an indwelling law.” Likewise, the law of sin is an indwelling
principle. It dwells within me. “It is in my members.” ( Ro. 7:23)14

We are inclined to think that breaking the commands of God is an

outward manifestation of sin. The Law of God does not only mean to break
the moral Law-

                                                                                                                         
 
 
 

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 do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not kill-

but also the unseen Evil that is present in our heart. Jesus, in his dialogue
with the Pharisees, (Luke 15) shows that sin is in the heart, even “when
there is no overt and visible act of wickedness. Our Lord has settled that
point beyond dispute in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:21-28)”15 (That
would be a wonderful study after this)

“Nearly everyone defines sin as breaking a list of rules. Jesus, though,

shows us that a man who has violated virtually nothing on the list of moral
misbehaviors can be every bit as spiritually lost as the most profligate
immoral person. Why? Because sin is not just breaking the rules”,16 it is
putting yourself in the place of God.

2. The Deceit of Sin

Sin begins in the Garden of Eden, otherwise known as paradise. The suggestion
was made (note: emphasize the word suggestion and that sin does begin very
subtly) that God was possibly withholding something good from man: “You will
not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen. 3:4, 5)

Satan’s temptation was in direct opposition to God. And it is interesting to note

that prior to the temptation, Adam and Eve had called God by His personal name-
YAHWEH. (Gen. 2:8) At first, Man and God were in an intimate walk with each
other. As Eve was being deceived, she began to call God His general name-
Elohim. (Gen. 3:3) She began to move away from God, doubting Him, possibly
despising Him.

The theologian John Owens writes, “In the account of the fall of man Eve properly
told the serpent, “if we eat or touch the fruit of that tree we shall die.” (Gen. 3:3)
But Satan immediately filled her mind with the beauty and usefulness of the fruit
and she quickly forgot her practical concern for the consequences of eating.”
Likewise, David became so caught up in his lusts that he ignored the
consequences of his great sin. It is said, he “despised the Lord.” (2 Sam. 12:9)

Think of this as you are being called out to speak about Jesus. Sin’s deception
will begin. Do we not begin to generalize the name of God as well? Have you ever
referred to Him as “a higher power”? It is tempting, isn’t it? We begin to move
                                                                                                                         
 
 

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 away from God, ever so slowly. We are deceived into thinking it is no big deal. I
mean what is the difference between God and Jesus”? It is so very subtle. In
temptation, we almost begin to “despise the Lord”, don’t we? We begin to move
away from the name of Jesus.

Acts 4:12

Yet, there is no other name under heaven by which men can be saved.”

And because of sin’s deception, we can’t even know what sin lurks within us….

Jn. 26:20-

When evening came,, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve.
And while they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will
betray me.” They were all very sad and began to say one after the other,
“Is it I, Lord?”(ESV)

or the rich young ruler in Matt. 19:20…

“The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What
do I still lack?”

The scripture tells us that “The heart is deceitfully wicked, who can know it?”
(Jer. 17:9)? Deceit is the beginning of sin. And “deceit operates very slowly, so
that its manipulation is not exposed all at once. In the story of the fall, Satan acts
in a sequence of steps”17

• First, he removes the objection of death.

• Next , he offers them great knowledge
• Then he suggests that they will become as gods

“Sin’s chief means of deception is temptation!”18

(Jas. 1:14)

Sin will also deceive the mind by emphasizing “cheap grace.” We will become
careless in our words, actions and thoughts if we do not pursue holy lives. Jude
speaks of this when he says “they turned the grace of God unto lasciviousness.”
( Jude 4)
                                                                                                                         
 
 

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3. The Seat of Sin is in the Heart

“Scripture everywhere assigns the place of sin to the heart.”

1. Ecclesiastes 9:3
2. Matthew 15:19
3. Genesis 8:21
4. Luke 6:45

“In scripture, the heart is variously used as a synonym - sometimes for the mind
and understanding, sometimes for the will, sometimes for the conscience and
sometimes for the whole soul. The faculties change with the focus, so it is the
mind-“be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Ro. 12:2) which inquires
what is good or evil and judges ethically what shall be done or refused. The
affections like or dislike, holding to one or having aversion to another. The
conscience warns and determines. All are aspects of the heart and it is in this
sense that we say the seat of this law of sin is in the heart of man.”19

• The heart is unsearchable (Jer. 17:9)…The heart is only known by God.

We do not know the hearts of others. In fact, we don’t even know our
own hearts or what wickedness might lie dormant in them. There are
sinful inclinations that have not even come to light, or been experienced
yet.
• We fight sin who is unseen, whose strength is in secret and whose
presence is hidden. So often when we think sin has been destroyed, it is
merely out of sight!!! But the heart is naked before God - “Naked and
open” (Heb. 4:13). This is frightening, isn’t it that we are not even in
charge of our own heart… or our own sin.
• At the heart of sin is a desire for independence from God. We want to
live life our way and don’t care what God says or what others say. This
is sin’s way.

We see that principle in Gen. 3:

• 1) The woman saw that the tree was good for food. The woman said I
will satisfy my urge my way.

                                                                                                                         
 

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 • 2) She not only looked at the tree but she warned what she was told
that she couldn’t have. For example, take a child to another child’s
home and see how they act. They often just want what the other child
has… they are obsessed by what they don’t have.
• 3) Eve wanted to be wise for herself and did not want to be subject to
her husband’s wisdom and to God’s wisdom.

Conclusion:

“Sin is missing the mark of the will of God. Sin came into the world through
Adam (gen 3:6; Ro. 5:12) and thus passed unto all humans, bringing them into
bondage whose end is death (Ro. 6:23). The Law was unable to make people
please God because the flesh is weak.”20 (Ro. 8:2) To live after the flesh is death;
to live after the Spirit is life. We are lost, but not abandoned. (Ro. 8:6) We are
destitute and in need of a Saviour. Genesis 3:15 gives us a glimpse of the Saviour
to come.

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed
and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
(Genesis 3:15).

We are lost, but not abandoned. We are hopeless, but not without hope. We
cannot save ourselves. We are in need of a Saviour….

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord….

Application:

When we first started this lesson, several stories were told to illustrate to us that
words’ meanings can be diluted, even changed over the course of time. The most
important thing we can do right now is call sin what it is - sin. It is not a disease
or an infection or due to some genetic anomaly. It is not what we have, it is what
we ARE.

                                                                                                                         
 

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 • First, never stop fighting sin, destroying sin. Kill, it, mortify it - “Mortify
therefore your members which are upon the earth.” ( Col. 3:5) Do this every
day with intention.
• Second, be watchful for the enemy “(Job: 2:2) If you know what sins lie in
your heart, then watch for them to arise…for they will.
• Third, rely completely on the Lord Jesus Christ. Speak to him always, every
day about your sins. He knows how to destroy sin and give you peace in
the midst of it. (Read Ps. 139:23) Do not flirt with it, postpone it, or ignore it.
The cross did not ignore our sins. The scripture tells us that we are dead to
sin, so “how can we live in it any longer.”( Ro. 6:2)
• Fourth, fix your eyes upon Jesus. (Hebrews 12:2)
• Fifth, pray unceasingly and allow grace to enter in to your daily life, full and
rich. If you do not deal with sins that arise, they will overcome you later.
• Sixth, Repent, today. Let sin no longer be your master (Ro. 6:14)

Finally, let us work to posses this mind with the beauty and excellence of
God’s word. “It is an innate principle that the soul will not continue worshipping
God if it is not discovering the beauty of such worship. When men move away
from God, they will invent new things to take His place… new idols, “new and
gorgeous forms of worship using images, pictures, and other things.” “To
acquaint the soul with these divine attractions is to weaken the aversion
indwelling sin has within us to the things of God.”(John Calvin)

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