Sin – Grace Evangelical Society

Overcoming Sinful Strongholds

December 8, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - love, punks, Sin

Q. I read your blogs about growing up (see here and here). Do you believe a Christian can have strongholds in his or her life, and if so, do you have some Biblical information on that topic that you can share sometime? A. I’m not entirely familiar with the term “strongholds,” but I think you

Run to Jesus

November 23, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - advocate, Mediator, Sin

When you’ve done something wrong, and you know you’ll be in trouble, the natural instinct is often to run and hide. That’s what the first sinners did after they committed the first sin and knew they’d be in trouble (i.e., that they would die!). So they tried to hide from God: And they heard the

Ruling Over Sin (Genesis 4:7)

July 31, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Cain, hamartiology, Sin

Have you ever gone camping and awakened to hear an animal creeping outside of your tent, rummaging through your campsite? Maybe you even turned on your flashlight and could see the menacing silhouette creep around you. Were you scared? If you’ve ever experienced that, then you’ll be very familiar with the first mention of sin

Confession, Not Deflection (Genesis 3:11-13; 1 John 1:9)

April 3, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Confession, fall, Genesis, scapegoat, Sin

Do you find it easy to take responsibility for your sins, or is your knee-jerk reaction to try and shift the blame to others? If you look up the term “deflection” or “blame-shifting,” most of the articles will tell you that it is a psychological disorder that characterizes narcissists and psychopaths. And many of those

Some Strong Language About Sanctification and Sin

December 9, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Sanctification, Sin

What does it mean to be sanctified? What’s supposed to happen to the sin in your life? As I’ve been meditating on that subject—wondering to what extent Scripture describes sanctification as a process, or as an event, or as both—I noticed some of the verbs that Paul uses to describe what has happened, or what

How to Come Back from Carnality (James 4)

July 6, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Repentance, Sin

How does a backslidden believer come back into fellowship with God? James 4 gives sound instruction. In vv 1-5, James shines the light on some areas of sin in the lives of these believers. They were engaged in: Quarrels and conflicts (vv 1, 2) Fleshly pleasures (v 1) Lust (v 2) Murder (v 2) Envy

We All Stumble — James 2:10; 3:2; 4:17

June 5, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Good, James, Sin

The idea that James teaches the necessity of good works to be eternally saved comes up against a very strong objection: James says that absolutely no one is qualified to be saved on the basis of their works. On the one hand, James emphasizes that we all sin. For we all stumble in many ways

The Sin Process — James 1:14-15

May 8, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Free-will, James, Sin, temptation

Why do you sin? What is the process that leads you down that path? No one causes you to sin. Not Satan. Not demons. Not God. It all comes down to your free choice. You choose to sin. But how? How does it happen? James explains it in this passage: But each one is

Deadly Sin — James 1:15

April 19, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Death, Sin

My cousin died last week. He took his own life. In prison. He’s my third cousin to die by suicide. I never knew him. I just found out about him a year ago. As you might guess, my extended family is very broken. We all grew up without God, and the effects of that are

God and Temptation — James 1:13

April 9, 2018 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - evil, Sin, sovereignty, temptation, Westminster Confession

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt any one (James 1:13). Where does temptation come from? Apparently, James knew believers who thought it came from God. Some Christians still think that today, because of how