ltj-sin & grace

7/29/2019 LTJ-Sin & Grace

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ltj-sin-grace 1/99

The Lostness Monster

1



Self-

Expression

wallpaperpimper.com

2



“Be REAL”

wallpaperpimper.com

3



“Be YOUR SELF”

wallpaperpimper.com

4



Have YOU

used those expressions before?

5



What’s inside you?

Who is the

YOU

that you let out?

6



Romans 7:18-20, 23

“I know that nothing good dwells in me. . .

I have the desire to do. . . right, but not the ability. . .

I do not do the good I want. . . the evil I do not want

is what I keep doing. . .sin. . . dwells within me. . .

making me captive to the law of sin that dwells

in my members.”

8



Who can bring a

out of an unclean?

(Job 14:4)

clean thing

9



The heart is deceitful

above all things, anddesperately wicked:

WHO can KNOW it?

Jer 17:9

10



THE

Laodicean Message

Revelation 3:14-22

11



“I know your

deeds. . .”

“neither cold nor hot. . .

lukewarm. . .”“you say, ‘I am

rich. . . wealthy. . .

have need of

nothing. . .’” “you do notknow. . .”

“you are

wretched andmiserable and

poor and blind

and naked. . .”

“The Faithful and

true Witness. . .”

“I [Jesus] advise you to buy from Me. . . eye salve to anoint your eyes so

that you may see. . .”12



I do not see myself

13



“When our bathroom scale delivers bad news, wehop off and then on again, just to make sure we

didn't misread the display or put too much

pressure on one foot. When our scale delivers good

news, we smile and head for the shower. By uncritically accepting evidence when it pleases us,

and insisting on more when it doesn't, we subtly

tip the scales in our favor. . . . Research suggests

that the way we weigh ourselves in the bathroomis the way we weigh evidence outside it.”

Daniel Gilbert, Psychologist, Harvard University, NY Times OP-ED, April 16, 2006.

16



What’s the Point?

17



we

must

understand

18



we

must

be convinced

19



“We have charged that both

Jews and Greeks areall under sin. . .

Romans 3:9-19

20



Romans 3:9-19

“There is none righteous, not even one. . .

21



Romans 3:9-19

“none who understands. . .

22



Romans 3:9-19

“none who seeks afterGod. . .

23



Romans 3:9-19

“all have turned aside. . . become useless. . .

24



Romans 3:9-19

“none who does good. . . not even one. . .

25



Romans 3:9-19

“so that every mouth may

be closed and all the worldmay become accountable to

God. . .”

27



The Importance

of UnderstandingWhat We Are

right conception

of identity

wrong conception

of identity

28



“Ihavenotcometo

calltherighteous,butsinnersto

repentance”

Jesus didnot

come forthe

righteous!!

Lk5:31

29



“The sense of need, the

recognition of our poverty andsin, is the very first condition

of acceptance with God.”

http://threeminutelifechange.com/components/com_fpss/images/SIN.jpg

(COL 153)

30





“We must know our real condition, or we shall

not feel our need of Christ’s help. We must

understand our danger, or we shall not flee tothe refuge. We must feel the pain of our

wounds, or we should not desire healing.”


(COL 158)

31





“Until we really behold the horror of the

pit [of sin] in which…we lie, we can neverproperly appreciate Christ’s so-great

salvation. In man’s fallen condition we

have the awful disease for which divineredemption is the only cure, and ourestimation and valuation of the

provisions of divine grace will necessarily

be modified in proportion as we modify the need it was meant to meet.”

(Arthur Pink)

32



Root

Problem

We must get to the:

33



Human

Depravity 34



“For from within, out of the heart of

men, proceed. . . evil thoughts, fornications, thefts,

murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as

well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and

foolishness. All these evil things proceed

from within and defile the man.”

Mark 7:21-23

35



“Through sin the whole human

organism is deranged, the mind isperverted, the imagination corrupted. Sin has degraded the

faculties of the soul. Temptationsfrom without find an answering

chord within the heart, and the

feet turn imperceptibly towardevil.”

Ministry of Healing, 451

36



“Moral derangement, which we calldepravity, finds ample room to

work, and an influence is exertedby men, women, and youthprofessing to be Christians that islow, sensual, devilish.”

http://www.willard.lib.mi.us/historical/bcphotos/individuals/images/h55_5331.jpg

Letter 26d, 1887

37





What do we mean by

human depravity?

38



Every faculty & power

of body, soul, & mindis vitiated

39



Our will, intellect,

affections, and tendencies-are all tainted

40



“The faculties which men receive atbirth have a carnal bias, an earthlytrend, a distaste for the heavenly

and divine, and are inclined only toselfish aims and grovelingpursuits.”

Arthur Pink

41



What Are the

Implications of Human Depravity?

42



I. If the root is spoiled,

then all our actions(even our good ones)

are also spoiled

43



Even the “good” we do

may be tainted with improper motives

44



Why?

45



A. Prompted by seat/rootof a polluted heart

46



2. Not prompted by love to God

47



3. Not motivated by a regard for God’s will

48



II. Of ourselves, we are

unable to do any act thatsecures God’s approval &

satisfies His holy law

49



III. Natural heart

not inclinedtowards God

50



IV. Unable to “change

fundamental

preference for sin and

self to love for God”

51



Can’t even

“make an approach to such a change”

52



V. We’re not born

with innate God-centeredness, but

self-centeredness

53



“Adam’s problem was not simply that hesinned, but that sin so changed his instincts

that they focused upon self, leaving him

trapped by self-centered affections with no

natural capacity for true love. . . sin is notprimarily disobedient actions, but self-centeredness that instinctively motivates

pride, selfishness, and myriad forms of

sinful behavior.”

Leroy Moore

54



VI. Cannot fully

understand God’sexpectations/demands

55



“But the natural man does not receive the

things of the Spirit of God, for they are

foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

1 Corinthians 2:14

56



VII. Powerless to doany spiritual good

57



“There is in [man’s] nature a BENT

to evil, a FORCE which unaided , heCANNOT resist.”

(Education, 29)

58



Will power has no power59



“Our hearts are not

in our power.”

60



“One of the deplorable effects of the

original apostasy was the loss of man’s

power to govern his own heart. When

there is a separation from the sources of your strength, when you are lifted up in

pride, you cannot but transgress the law

of your moral constitution.”

8MR, 208 (Letter 10, 188): Letter to E.P. Daniels, April 1888

61



“Man cannot transform himself by

the exercise of his will. Hepossesses no power by which this

change can be effected.”

Christ Object Lessons, 96

62



“Man [lost] his material freedom, that is,the rational power to determine his course

in the direction of the highest good , in

harmony with the original moral

constitution of his nature. Man has bynature an irresistible bias for evil. He is not

able to apprehend and love spiritual

excellence, to seek and do spiritual things,

the things of God that pertain to salvation.” (Louis Berkhof)

63



This is why Jesussaid:

64



“Without Me you cando nothing.”

John 15:5

65



This is why Ellen White stated:

66



“No outward observance can take the placeof simple faith and entire renunciation of

self…We can only consent for Christ to

accomplish the work. Then the language of

the soul will be, Lord, take my heart; for Icannot give it. It is Thy property. Keep it

pure, for I cannot keep it for Thee. Save

me in spite of myself, my weak unchristlike

self.”

(Christ Object Lessons, p. 160)

67



“All our good works are dependent

on a power outside of ourselves.”

(Christ Object Lessons, 159)

68



“Christ is the source of every rightimpulse. He is the only One that canimplant in the heart enmity against

sin. Every desire for truth and purity, every conviction of our own sinfulness,is an evidence that His Spirit is moving

upon our hearts.”

(Steps to Christ , 26)

69



God’s Antidote for

Human Depravity and Utter Inability

70

Predestination?



Predestination?

71



No,

PrevenientGrace

healthhappinessandbeauty.com

72



God’s Takes the

1st Initiativeto Save Sinners

73



“No one can come to me

unless the Father who sentme draws him.”

John 6:44

74



“And I, if I be lifted up from

the earth, will draw all mento Myself.”

John 12:32

75



What Is

PrevenientGrace?

77



grace that counteracts

the effects of depravity & sin

78



grace that enables the recipientto grasp the true meaning of gospel

79



grace that leads/draws one to Christ

80



grace that brings the sinnerto the brink of salvation

81



GRACE

Prevenient (Operating) vs.Co-operating (Subsequent)

82



“[Augustine] distinguished betweenoperating or prevenient , and co-operating or subsequent grace. The former enables

the will to choose the good, and the latter

co-operates with the already enabled will,

to do the good.”

Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, p. 429.

83



Th Fi st St



The First Step

Faith & Works, p. 73

"You cannot have a thought without Christ. You

cannot have an inclination to come to Him unless He

sets in motion influences and impresses His Spirit

upon the human mind. And if there is a man on the

face of the earth who has any inclination toward God, itis because of the many influences that are set to

work to bear upon his mind and heart. . . . Then don't

let us ever say that we can repent of ourselves, and

then Christ will pardon. . . It is the favor of God that

leads us by His power to repentance. Therefore, it is allof Jesus Christ, everything of Him, and you want to

just give back glory to God.”

85

The First Step



“Many are confused as to what constitutes the first

steps in the work of salvation. Repentance is thought

to be a work the sinner must do for himself in order

that he may come to Christ. . . yet the sinner cannot

bring himself to repentance, or prepare himself tocome to Christ. . . the question to be decided is as to

whether repentance is the work of the sinner or the

gift of Christ. . . The very first step to Christ is taken

through the drawing of the Spirit of God; as man

responds to this drawing, he advances toward Christ inorder that he may repent.”

The First Step

A New Life, p. 20

86

The First Step



“A lost sheep never returns to the fold unless he is

sought after and brought back to the fold by the

shepherd. No man of himself can repent, and make

himself worthy. . . The Lord Jesus is constantly seeking

to impress the sinner's mind and attract him to beholdHimself, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins

of the world. We cannot take a step toward spiritual life

save as Jesus draws and strengthens the soul, and

leads us to experience that repentance which needeth

not to be repented of. . .”

The First Step

A New Life, p. 21

87

Prevenient Grace



Prevenient Grace

•First step

•Drawing/

attracting of theSpirit

•Seeking after/

bringing back

•Impressing/

influencing of mind

•Strengthening of

soul

•Leading torepentance

88



Why Is This

Message SO Important?

anthonydoes.wordpress.com

89



1. We need to be

“convinced of sin.”

90

2. We need to



stop trying

to be good enough

91



Good enough to go to church

92



We go to Jesus because we’re not goodenough!! Because of our great need!

94

3. We understand



that salvation is not

attained through behavior modification

95



“There are many who try to reform

by correcting this or that

bad habit, and they hope in this way to become Christians, but they are

beginning in the wrong place. Our

first work is with the heart.”

COL 97

96



3. It’s the key to ending our

judgmental attitude. We become

compassionate, sympathetic to

others, because at the core we

are all the same.

97



3. It is then, that the Holy Spirit can

be poured out

98



"When we feel our utter nothingness,

it is then

that Christ seesit is time

for Him to give us His Spirit."

MS 8, 1886

ltj-sin & grace

Documents