“The definition of sin is when you replace God with something or someone, and the result is an addiction of spirit. There is an attraction at the spiritual level every bit as powerful as sexual attraction at the physical level: You cannot produce your own meaning in life, your own worth, your own security. Spiritually speaking, if it’s not God who is the source of your meaning, then you’re in bed with something else.”

Tim Keller follows his sermon, “Sin As Slavery,” with a look at how sin replaces God and results in an addiction of spirit.  Keller looks primarily at three major areas; the dynamics of spiritual attraction, the dynamics of spiritual addiction, and the dynamics of spiritual restoration. We learn in this message how to escape our “lover gods” by personalizing our understanding of sin, remembering grace, and looking at how Jesus transforms us into something beautiful.

“How Sin Makes Us Addicts”

“Why do we sin, even when we know right from wrong? Sin is a power that enslaves us, but we can be freed from its power by encountering God through worship.”

Tim Keller’s sermon on Numbers 11:4-6,10-20 is a powerful message that speaks to the soul shriveling effects of sin while pointing us to the hope that comes from our only Savior Jesus Christ. Keller demonstrates how sin shrinks our emotions, overwhelms our thinking, and dries up our strength. He also draws a powerful connection between the similarities between sin and addiction. Keller powerfully concludes the sermon by showing how God gets us out of sin’s slavery through intervention an ultimately through the Incarnation of Jesus.

Listen to the sermon for free here:

“Sin As Slavery”