"Sin is not Defining"
Part of Sermon Notes
January 14, 2024

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“Because of Jesus… Sin is Not Defining” Sunday, January 14, 2023

2 Corinthians 5:11-21 (NIV)
Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come. All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW [new in quality; fresh; unused] CREATION [Divine Work]; the OLD [original] has GONE [put out of sight], the new has come.

“Like New” – as described by the previous owner
“New” – as defined by the manufacturer

What Do We Know About NEW?

• NEW LIFE IS FROM GOD “All this is from God…”

NEW LIFE is from God, Because Only He Could Atone for His Wrath.

Romans 1:18 (NIV)
The wrath of God is being revealed form heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness…
Romans 5:9 (NIV)
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!

• NEW LIFE IS THROUGH CHRIST “…reconciled to Himself through Christ…”

Reconciliation – squared, settled, No Longer Defining Me!

Romans 4:7-8 (NIV) – Psalm 32:1-2
Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.

What Sin Is?
- Sin is Debilitating…

  • Sin is Dividing…

  • Sin is Derailing…

  • Sin is Deadly…

  • Sin is Definable…
    Galatians 5:19, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious…”

…But Because of Jesus, Sin No Longer Defines Me!

Where sin was debilitating, Christ is life giving!

Where sin was dividing, Christ is uniting!

Where sin was derailing, Christ is settling!

Where sin was deadly, Christ is LIFE!

Where sin used to define me… I am now in Christ!
• NEW LIFE IS REVEALED IN US “…and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”

We are often quick to embrace our new lives through the lens of Christ… but slow to see others through the same lens.

We see ourselves as righteous, but we still measure others by the standards of the world.