Youth Group 2/24/10 "Sin and Our Response"

God's STANDARD is obedience:

1 John 4:16b- "God is love."

Since God is love incarnate and we are to mimic Him, we are to exhibit the same- love. What is the best way to replicate this supreme love? Obedience:

2 John 1:16- "And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love."

Obeying the Lord leads us into righteous life.  When we step outside of what the Lord has for us, we obey a different master- a master interested in our destruction, sin. To whom we are subject is our choice:

Romans 6:16- "Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?"

What are some examples of alternate masters commonly served that we as Christians have to fight off? Money, Worldly Wisdom, Fame, Other People?

FAILURE RESULTS when we choose to disobey.
God knows how we are weak. He even warns us to take preventative measures: 

Matthew 26:41- "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

How we know that sin is due to our choice. If we sin, we fall to what we could have bore:

1 Corinthians 10:13- "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

The result of disobedience is wrath:

Romans 2:5- "because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed."

When our sin continues and we do not repent, we are really in a dangerous place. Is it possible to become unsaved if we continue to sin without going to God for forgiveness and then change our ways? Yes. Scripture teaches that we can be as dogs returning to their vomit, a Christian can return to his/her life of sin and lawlessness:

2 Peter 2:21-22 "It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. ²²Of them the proverbs are true: 'A dog returns to its vomit,' and, 'A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.'"

Repentance is the proper RESPONSE

Paul is delighted in the peoples' reaction in repentance. Not their sorrow, but the change their true sorrow brought about in them:

2 Corinthians 7:9- "yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us."

God is very patient with our mishaps. He gives us plenty of opportunity for change:

2 Peter 3:9b- "He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

CONCLUSION
The Lord asks obedience from us, but does not force it. He gives us the free will and choice to follow Him or not. When we choose to stray, especially for extended periods, we must seek forgiveness and repent; we must change our ways to regain our lives of obedience with Him again. He is patient with us, not wanting any to die, but in the end, it is our choice to make. Choose faithful obedience.


 Any thoughts on this lesson?