Front Cover

The ExceedingSinfulness of Sin

By Guy V. Caskey

With a special chapter on

Alcohol and Drug Abuse

By David Caskey

Cover by Jack Dow

NOT TO BE SOLD

For further study of the Bible,
information about the Scriptures
or a place to worship, please contact the

Church of Christ nearest you.

A free Bible Correspondence Course
is available from:
WORLD BIBLE SCHOOL
Department M.P.
P.O. Box 9346
Austin, TX 78766, USA

Mission Printing, Inc.
World Evangelism by the Printed Page
A Work of Churches of Christ
P.O. Box 2029
Arlington, TX 76004, USA

printed: September 2000

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ...... / iii
Preface ...... / iv
Foreword ...... / v
Prologue ...... / vi
Chapter / Title / Page
1 / WhatSin Is ...... / 1
2 / The Dominion of Sin ...... / 10
3 / The Small Number of the Saved ...... / 20
4 / TheExceeding Sinfulness of Sin ...... / 33
5 / We are Idolaters ...... / 46
6 / Dangers in the Church ...... / 59
7 / God Gave Them Up ...... / 78
8 / The Reality of Sin ...... / 90
9 / The Sin of Doing Nothing ...... / 102
10 / Sins of the Flesh and Sins of the Attitude / 114
11 / One Born of God CannotSin ...... / 126
12 / Neither Was Guile Found in His Mouth ..... / 137
13 / Have a Drink, Brother ...... / 156
14 / Covetousness is Idolatry ...... / 168
15 / Three Evil Ways to Travel ...... / 179
16 / SinsJesus Hated Most ...... / 202
17 / The Removal of Barriers ...... / 216
18 / Pride or Self-Esteem. Which? ...... / 234
19 / The Sin of Gambling ...... / 251
20 / And Now They Sin More and More ...... / 265
21 / Flee Fornication / 286
22 / An Evil and Adulterous Generation ...... / 299
23 / Licentiousness—A Variety of Sins ...... / 314
24 / Alcohol andDrug Abuse ...... / 343
25 / Your Body is God’s Temple ...... / 358
26 / The Lord Will Not Impute Sin ...... / 369

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Guy Caskey, 82, has been preaching the gospel for the past sixty-six years. He began his ministry at age 16 and his work has consisted of local work, gospel meetings, and service as a missionary in Africa and Jamaica. He spent five years in South Africa, three years in East Africa, and five years in Jamaica. His experience in the mission field and his love for the lost made him aware of the need for printed gospel literature to aid in teaching the truth.

A few years after returning to the United States in 1974 to become the pulpit minister of the Randol Mill Road Church of Christ in Arlington, Texas, he was instrumental in establishing Mission Printing. Beginning in 1981, he served as director of Mission Printing or 17 years. His work consisted of preaching and teaching to congregations throughout the brotherhood, writing numerous gospel articles and books, and raising funds for Mission Printing. He is known for his scholarly and studious approach in his preaching and writing, and strives to always be in harmony with God's Word.

Although presently hindered by illness, Guy still feels the urgency to teach and save the lost through is writing and work at Mission Printing. Through his long years of uninterrupted service, many have been taught the truth and have obeyed the gospel.

MISSION PRINTING

After serving as a missionary in Africa and Jamaica, Guy Caskey saw the need to provide written material that would bring the lost to Christ. The culmination of his dream was realized some twenty years ago when Mission Printing was established. Thus a dream became reality.

Mission Printing has its own facility which provides adequate space for its volunteers to work. Men and women print and assemble materials which are used to preach the gospel around the world. All of these materials are sent free of charge. Letters (about 250 a week from 150 countries) are received which tell of many conversions and baptisms, and requesting additional materials.

Some one hundred books are printed, consisting of from eight to four hundred pages on almost 100 Bible subjects. Millions have been printed and sent and some books have been translated into about forty languages. Sixteen different books have been translated into the Paite language of India and 80,000 copies were sent. Last year, Mission Printing sent about forty–five tons of books all over the world to help spread the pure gospel of Christ. The postage alone was over $60,000 and these figures are growing every year.

Many are investing in the future of Mission Printing. Some have left this work in their wills, some have given paid–up life insurance policies, and others have given an Endowment Fund so that in the future the interest on that money will help pay for part of the paper postage, and other necessary costs. Mission Printing is a non–profit organization and is entirely dependent on contributions. If you can help in this way, or you know a friend or brother who is interested in spreading the Good News of Christ, we would be deeply grateful for that help. After all, the Lord left His church here in this world that we may see to it that it goes to "the uttermost part of the earth."

If there are questions you wish to ask, address your letters to
Mission Printing, P.O. Box 2029, Arlington, TX 76004, USA.

INTRODUCTION

The Depravity of Man

“That man is a fallen creature, is evident. If we consider his misery as an inhabitant of the natural world: the disorders of the globe we inhabit, and the dreadful scourges with which it is visited; the deplorable and shocking circumstances of our birth; the painful and dangerous travail of women; our natural uncleanliness, helplessness, ignorance, and nakedness; the gross darkness in which we naturally are, both with respect to God and a future state; the general rebellion of the brute creation against us; the various poisons that lurk in the animal, vegetable, and mineral world, ready to destroy us; the heavy curse of toil and sweat to which we are liable; the innumerable calamities of life, and the pangs of death.

“Again, it is evident, if we consider him as a citizen of the moral world: his commission sin; his omission of duty; the triumph of sensual appetites over his intellectual faculties: the corruption of the powers that constitute a good head, the understanding, the imagination, memory, and reason; the depravity of the powers which form a good heart, the will, conscience, and affections; his manifest alienation from God; his amazing disregard even of his nearest relatives; his unaccountable unconcern about himself; his detestable tempers; the general outbreaking of human corruption in all individuals; the universal overflowing o fit in all nations.

"Some striking proofs of this depravity may be seen in the general propensity of mankind to vain, irrational, or cruel diversions; in the universality of the most ridiculous, impious, inhuman, and diabolical sins; in the aggravating circumstances attending the display of this corruption; in the many ineffectual endeavors to stem the torrent; in the obstinate resistance it makes to divine grace in the unconverted; the amazing struggles of good men with it; the testimony of the heathens concerning it; and the preposterous conceit which the unconverted have of their own goodness."

(Theological Dictionary, Charles Buck, pp. 142–143)

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PREFACE

Our generation might be remembered as, The Age of Denial. We are preoccupies with analyzing and labeling the ills of our society with terms that gloss over the cause of our predicament. Sin is seldom mentioned, lest we cast blame on the individual and make him responsible for his own behavior. The teachings of the New Testament are preoccupied with the message of transforming power of the gospel, and the mercy, grace, and forgiveness of God, made effective in the sacrifice of Jesus.

This must seem sterile in the absence of being convicted of sin, and of finding an external scapegoat for every heinous deed. Mass media is clogged with stories of murder, violent robbery, rape, plunder, sexual abuse, and chemical addiction. Lives are destroyed, society is a jungle, and misery is the common form of existence.

Change must be motivated by awareness. We need again to hear the powerful preaching of the prophets in a world numbed into apathy. This book, The Exceeding Sinfulness of Sin, is a scholarly and practical expose of all the Biblical words that give us understanding of sin and its consequences, as well as our deliverance from the grasp of the evil one.

Though designed to provide material for sermons and Bible class lessons when placed in the hands of national preachers and teachers in Third World countries, this book will serve well to encourage all who seek relief from the struggles and disappointments of life by knowing and adapting to the wisdom of him in whose image we are made.

David Caskey
Missionary to the Bahamas
1992

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FOREWORD

Over a period of many years the author has constructed the lessons found in this book. Originally, they were either lessons taught in a classroom or sermons delivered from the pulpit. From time to time, they have been modified, rearranged, and hopefully improved.

It is my sincere hope that the national preachers in other countries for whom this book is primarily published will find good use of these materials in their work among their fellow countrymen. If it will enable them to make a contact, prepare a lesson, or preach a sermon that will touch and turn the life of some interested individual, I would seek no higher motive in sending it forth.

And those young men in this country who are now preparing themselves in our Bible training schools to preach the gospel, and who expect to into the difficult mission of this and foreign countries may find in this book useful materials that will enable them to construct their own lessons to be able to establish the Lord's church and help bring young congregations to greater spiritual maturity. No higher encomium could ever be paid me than for them to feel that these lessons are applicable and appropriate to their use.

Having lived and preached in a number of distant lands, and having associated closely with the people in those countries, I have some understanding of the great dearth of Bible writings accessible to them, particularly in their own languages. We in the church in this country have not been as concerned with this deficiency as we ought and the famine, through our neglect, has been perpetuated. Let us pray that it will not be extended further or prolonged into the future. We must know the importance of writing the gospel down on paper, else how could we cherish our Bibles as we do? And how could we expect to share the message of life and salvation within its sacred pages?

May God move our hearts to share the Good News in this way as well as other ways with people all over the world. Their hope for eternity is contingent upon our doing so.

—Guy V. Caskey

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PROLOGUE

Many times through the years I have said in Bible class lessons and sermons that the word forgiveness is the most meaningful, beautiful, and soul–stirring word to be found in the vocabulary of the language of any people. To me it is the most eloquent word in the Bible. What makes it eloquent is its value to every human being on earth—provided that person takes advantage of God's invitation and proposal to receive and enjoy the inestimable benefits of it.

How could two people, committed to one another in the relationship of marriage, make that alliance work if it were not for forgiveness? One of the first lessons young children are taught in the home is to forgive one another. It is eminently true in the church. “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). There is no way for people to be friends over any extended period of time without this distinctive feature that is so Godlike—without this Christian attribute of wiping the slate clean, so to speak.

This book is primarily about sin. I counted more than fifty words in the English language that are synonyms of the term. The study of each corresponding word would be a great lesson within itself. They may not be the exact equivalent in each case, but they are at least counterparts and correspond in meaning. This gives us a larger view of the subject and helps us in a more comprehensive understanding of what God is telling us about the ugly, damaging, and destructive nature of sin. There are almost as many words in the Bible for sin as are found in the English vocabulary.

But while forgiveness is such a beautiful word, sin is everything but beautiful—particularly in the sight of God. Most men in our day are not disturbed by it; they sleep soundly without any compunctions of conscience over having committed it. In the sight of God, it is different. It is the most terrible, dreadful, deplorable word in the language of any people. Without question, it is the most abominable word in the Bible. It is discussed hundreds of times throughout man's history recorded in that sacred Book. Words which help define the term flood in upon my thoughts—flagrant, scandalous, shocking, abominable, dis–

vi

gusting, despicable, reprehensible—are just a few that etch themselves in the minds of Christians we see sin in some measure as God sees it!

In the study of this book, The Exceeding Sinfulness of Sin, an effort is made to aid you to see sin as God sees it—as wickedness, iniquity, immorality, depravity, corruption, profligacy, and a hundred other monstrous things sin is in the view God has of it and the pictures He draws of it so vividly for us in His word.

It will be shown that sin is lawlessness (anomia)—breaking God's laws (I John 3:4); it is wrongdoing (adikia)—falsehood, injustice, deceitfulness (I John 5:17); it is a failure to do what we know is right to do (James 4:17); it is a falling short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Someone has said that sin is a lack of conformity to the moral law of God, either in act, disposition, or state. When one is at variance with the law of God, it becomes sin, however innocent or insignificant it may seem. For Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of a tree in the Garden of Eden must have seemed rather harmless and inoffensive, but inasmuch as God had forbidden them to do so, it was a sin—and a sin with far reaching consequences and grim penalties (Genesis 2:17).

When Saul, King of Israel, saved Agag, king of Amalek, alive and spared the best of the sheep and cattle for sacrifice, that must have seemed humane, affectionate, or at least the compassionate thing to do. But God had issued a command, a mandate, to destroy the Amalekites utterly, with all that they possessed. When we sit in judgment on God's actions and decide that our own judgment and decisions constitute a better ruling, we are treading on exceedingly dangerous grounds. That is nonconformity with the will of God and a departure from His rule. It initiates human arbitration and choice and embarks upon a clear course of disobedience.

David and his choice soldiers decided to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to the house of the Lord. They set it on a new cart and the two sons of Abinadeb drove it—Ahio led out, walking before the cart, and his brother, Uzzah, walked along by it. “... And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled." (II Samuel 6:3–6). To keep the Ark of the Cove–

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nant from falling to the ground seemed to be the sensible thing to do. What impropriety could be found in such a practical and reasonable move? Listen to the consequences: "Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God" (II Samuel 6:7). This was a flagrant, arrogant, obvious atrocity.

The reason for it was that God had already set out certain simple rules for the who and the how of transporting this sacred box that contained the Ten Commandments. To ignore or transgress those rules given by the Lord was deadly disobedience. God forbids one to do evil that good may come! One of the ugliest and most discomforting pictures of sin is found in the list Paul gave the Roman church (Romans 1:18—3:18).

It is really a discourse on the universality of sin. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

John discussed the subject in the same vein when he said, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (I John 5:19). Besides the universality of sin, he also discusses in these same verses the nature of the disease. He started out in a kind of interview communicating the broad categories of the sins of the Gentiles—heathens, pagans— under the headings of perversion, depravity, debauchery, and the most shameful and unnatural immorality—men having sexual relations with other men and women having unnatural sexual relations with others of their own sex.

These sins shock and horrify decent people. The Jews would be scandalized by them, even if they were guilty of some of the same sins! Generally speaking, however, the sins of the Jews were quite opposite. You see, the sins they committed were the offences of believers; of religious, nice people! The infractions were not as serious, and the law breaking was not in the same classification as misdeeds of the despised Gentiles.