The Anatomy of Sin – God’s Grace and Compassion On A Lost World

“He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matt. 5: 44 – 45

Welcome back, my dear friends. Last month I spoke about how Satan, through his well-planned deceptions has convinced the unbelieving population of the world that they don’t need God to satisfy what they want or do with their life. They have bought into the “I” syndrome preached by Satan. “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.”

 This month I want to continue the study on the deceptive plan of Satan to hide the Gospel of Jesus from you. I will now overlay the one God given gift that exists for the believers and unbelievers alike around the world — God’s Common Grace. 

 Through Common Grace God has shown His compassion and kindness to everyone.

The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation. Psalm 145:9

“He is kind to those who are not thankful and to those who are full of sin. Luke 6:35

Satan has taken God’s gift to us and twisted it by deceiving the unbelieving world that all the good, kindness, success and achievement they experience are because of their own human efforts. 

Satan has convinced the unbelieving population that pride, and selfishness are two of the strongest characteristics they possess, and that is why they are successful.

Satan knows that the Lord is good and compassionate to all, which makes his job even easier.  The unbelieving world watches the lives of the so-called believers living around them and sees little or no difference in the way they live (which is truly a shame).

You have died with Christ and are set free from the ruling spirits of the universe. Why, then, do you live as though you belonged to this world? Why do you obey such rules as  “Don\’t handle this,” “Don\’t taste that,” “Don\’t touch the other”?  All these refer to things which become useless once they are used; they are only human rules and teachings. Colossians 2:20-22 (GNT)

 Satan whispers to the unbelievers, see you don’t need God in your life.  Just keep following the human rules and teachings I’ve established and supported by the many false religions I’ve planted around my world. Your success in life depends on you. This whole God thing is a waste of time.

God set up His Covenant with man to be enjoyed by believers and unbelievers alike. He did this so that we could co-exist with each other. God’s Common Grace was meant to:

• Restrain the destructive power of sin.
• Restrain human society from becoming altogether intolerable and ungovernable.
• Make it possible for mankind to live together in a generally orderly and cooperative manner.
• Maintain man’s conscious sense of basic right and wrong behavior.
• Distribute, in varying degrees, gifts and talents among all men and women and promote the development of science and art.

 “He is kind to those who are not thankful and to those who are full of sin. Luke 6:35 

In Part 4 of my series on the Anatomy of Sin, I spoke at great length on the Common Grace of God. I listed six ways God sent His love and guidance to the World:

1. Physically
2. Intellectually
3. Morally
4. Creatively
5. Socially
6. Through the Church

Let’s take each of these areas and weave them into an example of how Satan twists them in the mind of unbelievers. He fuels their self-pride and self-righteousness in order to keep them from understanding the implications of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let’s take an imaginary look at the life of an unbeliever who is living under the Common Grace of God without his knowledge. Satan has blinded him to the truth and convinced him that he has accomplished everything on his own.  Watch as Satan takes each area and twists it for his purpose and not Gods.

Let me introduce you to Iamma Unbeliever.

Iamma is just like you or me. He wakes up every morning taking a deep breath of clean air and stretches to wake up. He walks into the bathroom and gazes into the mirror admiring himself and thinking with a smile, I am one strong and healthy individual. My workouts at the gym and my decision to eat healthy are the reasons for how I look. Satan whispers: you’re so smart, you’re doing everything right. You look great!

Iamma has a nicer house than most in his neighborhood. He has a better job. He makes more money than his neighbors and the car he drives is the envy of the neighborhood. I’m obviously doing something right, he thinks. With luck and hard work, I’ve gotten almost everything I’ve wanted he tells himself.  Satan whispers: you’re the best, keep at it and you’ll have everything you’ve ever wanted.

He lives in one of the most beautiful sections of town.  The view from his front porch is magnificent. The trees and flowers are beautiful and, the river that runs past his house is serene. Life couldn’t be better Satan whispers: Look at all you’ve accomplished on your own.

When it comes to his intellect none can compare.  He’s graduated from one of the most prestigious universities in the country. He can grasp truth and distinguish it from error, and his knowledge continues to grow with each day. He’s proud of his ability to teach himself new things without the help of others. Satan whispers: you’re the smartest man on earth.

Iamma’s strong moral conscience is defined by the world’s view. He believes that right and wrong are subjective depending on the situation. He’ll be the first to tell you he’s a strong proponent of relativism. He’ll argue that if what each of us believes is true in our mind, then it’s true and there are no wrongs. Moral truths depend on the individual’s own insight. Satan whispers: you’re such an outstanding moral individual.

SATAN’S ATTACK ON MORALISM

My friends, let me stop right here, because you need to understand that your moral conscience is one of Satan’s key areas of attack on unbelievers as well as believers. His goal is to corrupt your God-given moral conscience of right and wrong, with the world’s moral view of right and wrong.  

We each know right from wrong from God’s perspective. 

They show that in their hearts they know what is right and wrong, the same as the law commands, and their consciences agree. Sometimes their thoughts tell them that they have done wrong, and this makes them guilty. And sometimes their thoughts tell them that they have done right, and this makes them not guilty. Romans 2:15 (ERV)

Satan works hard to influence your God-given sense of right and wrong with the world’s definition of right and wrong, which is completely opposite of God’s.

Satan’s goal is to confuse you to the point that you no longer know God’s right from wrong from the world’s right from wrong. Overtime through our educational system, media outlets, and false religions, we are bombarded with the message of tolerance, that there are no right or wrongs just differences of opinion and that we need to be “tolerant” and “accept” everyone.

For the unbeliever it is very easy to buy into the world’s definitions of right or wrong. Why is it so easy for unbelievers?  Romans 3:11-12 spells it out clearly. 

No one has ever really followed God’s paths or even truly wanted to.  Everyone has turned away; all have gone wrong. No one anywhere has kept on doing what is right; not one. (TLB)

Back to Iamma’s story.

In Iamma’s spare time, he loves to play his guitar, which he learned to play himself. He often performs for Sunday morning church services and has a band that gets together to play for wedding receptions and graduations. He just loves when strangers come up to him and tell him how good he is. Satan whispers: no one can play the guitar better than you.

He strongly supports his local, state and federal politicians and understands that sometimes they need to bend the rules in order to satisfy the needs of the government. Satan whispers: there’s nothing wrong with a little white lie every now and then.

He supports law and order and the judicial systems to the point that it doesn’t infringe on the rights of an individual or group. He often questions police actions when it comes to enforcement. Satan whispers: you’re right to be suspicious of the police; they can’t be trusted.

Iamma’s proudest of how active he and his family are in their local church.  He attends every Sunday when it’s not baseball, golf, football or basketball season; he volunteers for anything the church may need help with, if it’s convenient. His wife teaches in the children’s ministry, and his children are always part of the Christmas play. When it comes to knowing and understanding the Bible, he’ll tell you that’s the minister\’s job not his. Satan whispers: you are such a religious person, you have surely earned your way into Heaven.

Satan knows that he has Iamma in his grasp and looks forward to the day when he welcomes him to his eternal home in Hell. Satan whispers: you should be proud of yourself, you have really made a success of your life and it has all been accomplished through your hard work, luck and determination.

Did you notice how Satan takes the various areas of God’s Common Grace and twists them giving credit to man for accomplishing what God has already given them.

God’s Common Grace has provided every successful opportunity of Iamma’s life, and he doesn’t know it. Satan’s whispers have succeeded in keeping the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ hidden from him.

The truly sad part of this story is that Iamma is like so many others who are traveling through life believing they are living a good Christian life that will get them into Heaven. Their false feeling of security is perpetuated by Satan’s lies and the humanistic religions and philosophies that support those lies. These worldly views have turned unbelievers away from the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Listen to God’s warning.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  John 14:6 (NIV)

• That’s it in a nutshell, my friends. There is only one way to Heaven and that is through Jesus Christ, period:
• No matter what the marred and tainted desires of your heart tell you.
• No matter what your thought process, controlled by your pride, and your selfishness tells you.
• No matter what your false religion tells you about how good works will get you to heaven.
• No matter what this world filled with every possible tempting pleasure that your prideful and selfish marred and tainted heart desires tells you.
• No matter how our worldly educational institutions try to convince you about the origin of man by discrediting the Bible, tells you.
• No matter what television, radio, movies, and the internet, or the latest self-help novel, newspaper or magazine tells you.I’ll say it again,

God tells you.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  John 14:6 (NIV)

I would encourage, no, plead with you, to go back to my fourth lesson in this series and reread the end of the lesson. I would pray that this time you read it from your heart and not just your mind. Today is the day of your salvation — don’t let it slip by.

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved from the punishment of sin. Romans 10:13 (NLV)

So now that you know whether you’re a believer or unbeliever, what we are up against when it comes to Satan and the world’s attacks; what can you do?

For the believer, the Word of God tells us exactly what to do. God’s Word gives you the road map on how to become victorious over Sin. This is how I will be finishing out the series. Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people? When the Bible talks about spiritual warfare what does it mean to you? How do you dress to do battle with this lost world and all its evil influences? These are just some of the topics’ I’ll dive into with you over the coming months.

For the unbelievers who are still with us, unfortunately none of what I’m going to write about from God’s Word will apply to you. God’s promises and instructions are only for His Children, the body of believers, the promised ones who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. You are welcome to read along, something in it along the way may change your heart of stone into flesh.

Next month, I will begin looking at how to be victorious over Sin. Until next month, my friends, may His mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

The Anatomy of Sin

⇐ The Deceptive Kingdom of Satan | Victory Over Sin, Part 1 ⇒