Conviction & Grace | Downtown | July 19, 2026

Spring Lake Church – Downtown Campus

Sermon: Conviction & Grace

Teacher: Adam Jackson

Passages: Proverbs 5:22-23, James 1:14-15, 2 Corinthians 7:10, Romans 6:14, Romans 8:6, Galatians 5:1, 1 John 1:9

In “Conviction & Grace,” we explore how God uses conviction and grace to lead us from sin to freedom. Through passages including Proverbs 5, James 1, 2 Corinthians 7, 1 John 1, Romans 6 and 8, and Galatians 5, we see that sin is deadly, conviction is protective, grace is restorative, and freedom in Christ is transformative. This message reminds us that repentance leads to renewal and that true freedom is found in walking by the Spirit.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Thank you so much to those of you that helped with Kids Camp, all the volunteers that made that possible. What an incredible week to celebrate all these kids coming and hearing about Jesus. Such a fantastic week for us as Spring Lakers. And good morning, Spring Lake. It's so good to see you. If we have not yet met, my name is Adam. I am the Bellevue Campus pastor, and we are in the middle of a series this summer where we are looking at uncomfortable topics. And I think right off the bat that all of us could agree that punctuation is something that is really important for us. That if you were to say three words, let's eat grandma, punctuation makes all the difference, right? On one hand, that comma, if there's a comma in there, it's an invitation for grandma to partake in the meal with you. And that's such an enjoyable time. However, if there is no comma, it is like a warning, it's a heads up, Grandma, we're gonna give you a head start because we're coming after you, right? And then it's not so good, but similarly, as we understand the importance of context, there are four words that we're gonna talk about as it comes to the Christian life and understanding those four words in their proper context. And those are sin, conviction, grace, and freedom. And it's so important that we understand those four words in their proper context because if we do not understand those words in the proper context, what's gonna happen is we are going to misinterpret and then misapply what those words mean for us as followers of Jesus. And so as we look at those four words, particularly, we're gonna look at how the first three build up to our understanding of the fourth one, our freedom in Christ. And so with each of those words, we're just gonna look at a phrase that lays that out more clearly. First of all, as we look at sin, it's really important for us to understand that sin is deadly. Sin is deadly. In Proverbs chapter 5, verse 22 and 23, it says, the evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them. The cords of their sins hold them fast. For lack of discipline, they will die led astray by their own great folly. Now, Daniel Brandon was an experienced snake handler. He had experienced with handling snakes for 16 years. He had acquired all kinds of snakes. One of his beloved snakes that he had gotten when it was really little yet was a python that could fit in the palm of his hand. And he had affectionately named that python Tiny. Now Tiny went on to become eight feet long. And so Daniel had handled Tiny for years. And one fateful day back in 2019, people heard something happen from Daniel's room. It sounded like something was knocked over in his room, and when they opened the door, there was Daniel's lifeless body on the floor. His life had been extinguished by what he thought he had a handle on, by what he thought he could take care of. It had taken his life. And so that's why some of us would say, Yeah, that's why I hate snakes, right? That's why I don't touch snakes, I don't go around snakes, and yet there is something that is all the more dangerous for us and far more prevalent for each one of us, and that is sin. And the attitude that we have towards sin oftentimes is like Daniel how much can we handle it before it becomes dangerous? How much of it can we play around with before it becomes something detrimental? But what we see from Proverbs is that sin is always something that is going to trip up, that it's always seeking to entangle. It promises one thing, but it delivers something else, that sin always leads to destruction. It always leads to death. We might think that with such a horrific outcome, that sin by nature would look hideous. Kind of like when you're growing up and there was the Mr. Yuck sticker on something warning you about poison, like sin is gonna have like that warning label on there that it's gonna look so bad. And yet, what we see through the Bible is that that's not what sin comes to us as. In fact, the very first temptation that we have in the Garden of Eden when Eve was tempted with the fruit that God told her not to, and Adam was tempted. What we see in Genesis 3:16, check this out. Because as the temptation comes to her, this is what it was presented as. It says that it was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom. And so the temptation that which God said was gonna bring death, well, it looked good. And it was pleasing, and it was desirable, really wanted it. And yet God said that it would lead to death. And so, as it comes to sin, understanding that sin is always gonna look desirable, it's seductive, it caters to your desire, and yet listen to the warning of James in James chapter 1, verse 14. It says, But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin when it is full grown, gives birth to death. So here in James, you have the birds and the bees of sin. That it starts with desire, that desire leads to conception, which ultimately leads to birth, which ultimately brings death. Now notice that as James is laying this out, he's not saying, Hey, are you tempted by death? Because if you know the outcome right off the bat, there's nothing desirable about that. That's the part we where we say, no, I don't want that. But on the front end, it always looks more appealing. For every fish, they think what's on the hook is a free meal. And yet there's always the consequence that sin entices with the appeal of something to be desired. And that always, one thing always leads to another. And so as it comes to sin, it's always destructive. That there is no such thing as safe sinning, that it is always deadly, nothing safe about it. Sin does not produce life, sin always propagates death. So as we think about what James is talking about here, we might think that he's only talking about one particular kind of sin. And yet, even though the imagery may be there, he's not simply talking about a sexual sin. He's talking about just the nature of sin. That whatever it is, it always comes to you as something that sounds really beneficial, very appealing, something to be desired, and yet it always has a deadly consequence. So, first of all, it's so important for us to realize sin is deadly, sin continues to be deadly. Secondly, conviction is protective. Conviction is protective. In 2 Corinthians 7, verse 10, Paul says, godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. And so the role of conviction is to make us aware of sin. It's so that in that awareness we turn from it, whether it is something that we have given into or that we steer clear of it altogether. It serves as the rumble strips of life. You know, when you're driving and you start going off the road a little bit, that rumble strip that gets your attention to get you back on the road, back in the lane that you're supposed to be, that that rumble strip isn't there just for like a good feeling as you're driving. Uh I like it. No, that's not what it's there for, right? That rumble strip is serving to get your attention, to get you back on the road. And so there is a big difference then in being aware of sin or turning from sin. Someone can be aware of their sin and yet continue to engage in it. Someone can be aware of their sin, even feel bad about their sin, and yet continue to do it. Someone can feel bad about how their sin made you feel. Someone can feel bad about the consequences of their sin. Someone can feel bad about getting caught doing their sin. And yet that's not the same thing as turning from sin. The conviction is meant to turn us from sin so that we would see how offensive it is, how deadly it is, and we would stop doing it, that we would turn from it. So it's not enough just to feel bad about it, because that's what Paul is talking about, a worldly sorrow. A worldly sorrow as it comes to sin is just, oh, I'm sorry I hurt you. Oh, I feel bad that I did this, but no desire to change anything. Real conviction brings about a change of behavior, a turning from sin. And Paul says right here that that turning from sin leads to no regret. No regret with that. That doesn't mean that turning from it is going to be easy because remember, after all, that the nature of temptation continues to be the same. Man, it's it's desirable, and it may be convenient, and it may promise comfort, and it may promise acceptance, and it may promise belonging and popularity and relief and stuff and all of those things, and yet the nature of sin is no different, it's deadly. And so, in responding to conviction and turning from it, Paul says that it leads to no regret. And so, as it comes to conviction, it's really important then that we understand that God has not provided it for us just as a choose your own adventure. For those of you that remember those books growing up, those are the books where you would read through it and you could decide at the bottom of the page what the character should do. Right? If you wanted them to go in the door on the right, turn to page 57. If you want them to go to the door on the left, turn to page 32, and you could decide how it's all gonna play out. And so sometimes when it comes to conviction, there is this tendency to think, well, I haven't been convicted about that, so I can continue to do whatever it is that I'm doing. But a lack of conviction does not necessarily mean that the person is doing the right thing. It may just mean that it is an ignorance to the truth of what God has said. And so conviction does not become a free-for-all to choose your own adventure. It comes in light of what God has said. And so, as it comes to that, it's so important that we understand what God has said through his word. There's a really interesting medical condition known as analgesia, where the person ceases to feel any pain. Now, on the front end of that, that might sound like almost like this hero, superhero quality, like you don't feel pain, but this isn't like, you know, bullets bouncing off a Superman's chest. This is somebody doesn't feel pain, but they continue to experience the things that are harmful. And what makes this so dangerous is that somebody could have something very simple like an infection, but because they're not feeling the pain, that infection becomes worse and worse and a bigger issue. Because they can't feel pain, they can't tell the temperature of something, and so they can suffer immense burns as a result, or frostbite, or broken bones, and not even be aware of it. It's actually really bad. It's a terrible condition to have. And as much as we might not like pain, as much as we might not like the discomfort at times of conviction, it's actually there to be beneficial so that we would avoid what is ultimately gonna be the most harmful for us. And so when it comes to conviction, it is there to warn us of that which is gonna be destructive, that that which is going to destroy, that which is gonna be deadly for our lives. And so, as it comes to conviction, it's really important for us to understand that conviction does not exist in a vacuum, it doesn't come out of nowhere, that it is something that God gives from exposure, in particular, to exposure to the word of God. And that's why exposure to the word of God is so important, as Paul says in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16 all scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. So Paul is saying here the word of God is used to shape the servant of God, which is the equivalent of being the follower of Jesus. Like if we're saying we're a follower of Jesus, that means that we are a servant of God, one and the same. We can't choose one without the other. But that also means then that we are not entitled kings, we are humble servants, submitting ourselves to what God has said. And so, therefore, the we come to God's word and we expose ourselves to what is God desiring to show us. So, what are the attitudes in our lives that need to change? What are the habits that need to become different? What is the way of thinking that needs to be shaped, or the way that we talk that needs to be altered because of what God's word has said? And so the word of God is used to shape us and to mold us so that we would become more like Jesus and avoid the things that are deadly for us and offensive to Him. So as it comes to exposure to the Word of God, it's the means by which we are taught and the means by which we teach one another. It's the way in which we are rebuked, and the way means by which we rebuke one another with truth. It's the means by which we're corrected, and the means by which we correct one another. And so it's so important for us to have that regular exposure personally to the word of God in a growing habit where we desire to hear what God has to say to us, but then it also happens as we gather together in the preaching of God's word, where we open up God's word to understand, such as what we're doing right now. It also happens in our life groups when you're having Bible study together and you are centered on the word of God together, and it's shaping your thinking, and you're being encouraged and shaped by other followers of Jesus. It also happens just in a relationship with other brothers and sisters in Christ. That sometimes may be correcting you, telling you something that you don't like to hear, but something that you need to hear that is going to help steer you away from that which is detrimental to become more like Jesus. That is why it is so tragic when someone leaves a church because they have been corrected in their thinking or in a behavior or in an attitude. But instead of taking the correction, they are offended because their toes were stepped on or their idols were at risk, and instead they go with this takeaway that all those people are just judgmental, or they're just on a soapbox, or they just have issues with who I am and what I want to do. No, it's ultimately not about the people that are correcting you, it's about what does God's word say, living in light of that. So conviction, right thinking, right living comes through regular time in and right response to the word of God. That is the standard. And as followers of Christ, we don't need to fear conviction. It's not something that we have to be afraid of, it's something ultimately that is meant to be beneficial for us, and therefore we need to be sensitive to it. Because after all, Paul says it leads to no regret, it points to grace. Conviction is protective. But then that leads to really the question of what happens. Like, if sin is deadly and I ignored the rumble strip, if I ignored the conviction, or I was ignorant of the conviction, and I already ingested the very thing that I was supposed to avoid, what hope is for me then? Like, what do I do then if I already blew it? And that's why this next part is so important. Grace is restorative. What hope is there for the guilty? It's what God has provided for us through Jesus. Well-known verse, 1 John 1 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. There's such an incredible beauty in that, in realizing that no matter what we've done, no matter how long that we've done that, no matter who we have hurt, no matter the mess that we have made, the brokenness in our lives, that God is willing, always willing to forgive us, regardless of the sin, regardless of the wrongdoing, not simply as an acknowledgement, God, I blew it, but in turning to Him and turning from our sin, one and the same. It's not just turning from sin, turning over a new leaf, trying really hard not to do it again, it's turning from our sin and turning to him and realizing that every time he is willing to forgive us. See, sin is deadly, but conviction is a means of embracing the grace of God that redeems us from the failure and the brokenness. Then not only is grace serving as like this sense of a white out when you blow in it, it's also the engine for faithful obedience moving forward. So it's not just on the back end, it's also on the forward end of following Jesus. Sin always pollutes, but God's grace purifies. Sin distorts and destroys, but God's grace gives refreshment and life. See, there may be a natural tendency when we blow it to make excuses for it. Explain the reasoning behind why we made that decision. Maybe ignore altogether, maybe try to hide from God. However, if we hide from God, we don't experience that grace, that forgiveness that He freely offers. Have you ever been in one of those arguments with someone where you just you needed a break? Like things got to such a point, it's like, you know what? I just want I don't want to hear that other person's voice right now. In fact, you don't even want to be in their presence. It's like you leave the house, you go for a walk, you just get out because things have gone to such a point. And then in working it out, it's like, okay, now I gotta try to work back into that person's good graces. Gotta kind of build up, build up the trust, build up what has been broken. And sometimes there might be this idea like, I've blown it. Now what do I have to do to try to prove myself so that God will forgive me? But that's not how God deals with our sin. It says that He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Look at what Acts 3.19 says. Repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Get this. God is always the most offended party when we sin. That every sin is ultimately against him. It's not just against somebody else, it's against him. He's always the most offended when we sin, and yet he's always the most willing to forgive, to extend that grace, to offer a full embrace back to those who have failed and receive us. God desires us to turn to him, to turn from our sin and turn to him and receive that grace that he freely offers. Some of you remember growing up and the chalkboard, or maybe you were a certain generation and it moved on to dry erase boards. Really cool. But remember, like when the teacher would erase, whether it was chalkboard or dry erase board, you know, they could erase, take the eraser and erase it, and it was erased, but you could still see the remnant of what was there. You could still see those words underneath, unless they got a wet sponge or paper towels and wiped it, or they had the solution and they wiped it clean. Realize that when it comes to your sin, what God is offering is not just. Erased with a remnant that's still I still remember. No, he erases it. He eradicates it, he obliterates it, he completely removes the sin and what it has cost. But there's something else that happens as well. It says that there is refreshment from the Lord. Saying, come repent, turn from your sin. You might may find refreshment from the Lord. In other words, it's not just on the defensive side of things, it's also something proactive. And for us, like this last week, the last couple weeks, has just gotten really hot and humid. I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people I go outside, I'm outside for like five minutes breathing, and I start, I'm a sweaty mess, right? And then you come inside somewhere to air conditioning, and you're just like, oh thank you, Lord, right? That refreshment, it's like, oh, you get out of the humidity and all of the mess of that, and you find refreshment. Get this, that's what God desires to provide you, your soul. He says, I want you to turn from that which is gonna leave you high and dry, that which is gonna destroy you, and I want you to find the strength and the refreshment that only comes from me. And so that is only found in Jesus. And so we've talked about sin, conviction, and grace, and it's so important that we understand those three words in their context in order to understand properly this next one. And so again, we looked at sin is deadly, conviction is protective, grace is restorative, and each one of those is important to understand our freedom that we have in Christ, the freedom that we have as believers. And so that last phrase, freedom is transformative. We cannot walk in the freedom that we have in Jesus if we don't truly understand the nature of those first three. Because some people think that Christian freedom is simply a get out of jail free card. Like, hey, I'm I'm I'm a Christian now, hell can't touch me, I'm not going to hell anymore, I'm going to heaven, and so now I can live the way that I want to, I can talk the way that I want to, I can act the way that I want to, I can think the way that I want to, I can do whatever I want, and then just come to God and say, hey God, I'm sorry, and He's gonna forgive me, and I can keep doing whatever I want to do, and it's misapplied, misinterpreted freedom. That's totally missing out on those first three things that continue to be true. Romans 6, verse 14 says, For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. And so there's some people that think that grace is just a covering for ongoing, willful, sinful choices where they're not following Jesus, but they're just coming to him for the whiteout. It's the mindset of doing what you want and then just ask for forgiveness afterwards. God's grace forgives sin. God's grace does not excuse sin. God's grace frees from the power of sin. God's grace is not given to enable sin. And so grace is not given as a means to sin without penalty. Grace has been given so that the power of sin in our life is broken. Those things that are so desirable that we see the true nature of them and saying, I don't have to give in to that. I don't have to chase after that, I don't have to do that, I don't have to think like that, I don't have to talk like that, I don't have to do those things that are so devastating because I've been set free from that. See, we have a new ruler of our hearts. We live under a new reign and we are not to go back to the life that we once lived. I mean, imagine this. How do you think your spouse would respond? Or maybe even your current boyfriend or girlfriend, if you based your choices that you make now on the preferences of an ex. So you come down wearing certain clothes, and your whole wardrobe is based on what your ex thought you looked really good in. Like, hey, you look really hot in that. And your spouse is like, why are you wearing that? Well, my ex thought I looked really good in this. And what if every year on the anniversary of the first date you had with your ex, you still sent a card? Your spouse would be rightfully pretty upset, right? Like, that's not good. Because that ship has sailed. You're not supposed to go back to your ex, not to a former, because that ship has sailed. In fact, Romans says that we are to consider ourselves dead to that ex. Romans 6, 11 says that we are to count ourselves dead to sin. In other words, that relationship is over. And as it comes to our relationship with Jesus, Jesus is not excusing two timing. Hey, if you want to go back to that sinful lifestyle, I just want you to be happy. No, that's not what Jesus is saying. That when it comes to the way that we live our life, as it comes to whose rule that we live under, there is no such thing as an independent. There really are only two choices. Each one of us is governed by someone. Look at the words of Paul in Romans 8, verse 6. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the spirit is life and peace. And so he says, as it comes to governance, and he's not talking about countries, he's talking about individuals. It only comes down to two choices. Either you're governed by the flesh, by that which is gonna lead to deadly, devastating results that are offensive to God and harmful to you, or it's living under the Spirit's reign. And so whose rule are we living under? Our daily choices reflect that. Now there's some that say, well, you know, today, if you're gonna make it in the world, you have to think like the world. You have to talk like the world, you have to act like the world, or there's even people that are Christians that say, you know what, I don't want to be seen as one of those kind of Christians, whatever those kind of Christians are, whether those are the uncool Christians or the judgmental Christians or the Christians that live by standards or the fuddy duddies or whatever, trying to separate, like, hey, I can talk like the world, act like the world, be like the world, be no different. I'm just going to heaven. And yet, as followers of Jesus, if we are not living a life of repentance, what is our message? It's not turn from sin, it's not turn and embrace grace, it's not find freedom. It's simply saying, hey, turn to Jesus, tack on Jesus to the life you're already living and the life you want to be living, and go to heaven and thinking like we're giving people hope. That's not hope. Paul says that's tying back to slavery. So sometimes the mindset, hey, I'm no different, I'm just forgiven. True to an extent, when we offer Jesus, realizing this offer is for anyone, that we're not different based on our background, based on our family life, or the great choices we made. All of us are in need, desperate need of grace. None of us deserve it. But as followers of Jesus now, the life that we live now should be different. There should be growing differences in our life and our attitudes, in the way that we talk, in the way that we treat other people, that we're in the process of being transformed. And Paul lays out in Galatians two particular uses of our freedom. I want to highlight them real quick. Galatians 5, 1, Galatians 5, 13. First of all, he says, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then. Do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. And then in verse 13, you, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh, rather serve one another humbly in love. Now, did you catch the two uses of freedom? On one hand, verse one, he's saying that so that you're not submitted again to a yoke of slavery, that you're not enslaved to sin. You've been set free from that. And throughout Galatians 5, he's laying out what it looks like, what the nature of sin is, whether it's sexual immorality or the idolatry or the rage or the divisions. He's saying you've been set free from that. Don't go back to that. Why would you go back to that? Why would you enslave yourself to that? So, in one, freedom has been given so that you are not stuck under the rule and reign and strong arm of sin. Secondly, our freedom is so that we can serve one another. Freedom is not given just so that we can have a good time. Freedom is given so that we are freed to serve one another because our identity, our purpose, who we are as people is not contingent on what other people think about us. So our serving is not based on what people think, it is based on what Jesus has done for us. So therefore, we can serve freely because we have been freed and empowered, and we have this hope that comes through Jesus, that now we are free to serve others because it is not tied to people's perspectives, it is tied to God's free grace that He has poured out on us. So true freedom is not self-serving. True freedom enables us to love God fully and love one another. A couple weeks ago, so we celebrated the 4th of July. Like this warning for people shooting off their own fireworks, and it was a warning that had like six x-rays. Maybe you saw this as well. It was six x-rays of hands, and yet they didn't look like normal hands because in those x-rays, you had a hand and it was missing two fingers, and they were separate, like over here, and then another hand, like halfway in the palm, the palm was shifted over here, and every single one of these x-rays was really gnarly. And it was a reminder, like in your celebration of freedom, don't do something foolish. And in the same way, as followers of Jesus, and the freedom that he has given us, understand that sin, if you're gonna try to handle it, it can still blow up in your face. It will still blow up in your face. And so I want to encourage you what are the sins that maybe right now you think, oh, it's just tiny. I have a handle on it. It's manageable. Or I've been dealing with it for a long time and it hasn't hurt me yet. In fact, it presently is because it is shaping the way that you think. And so I want to leave you with this sin is deadly, but don't engage it. Conviction is protective, but don't ignore it. Grace is restorative, but fully embrace it. And then in understanding those three things, we can understand the beauty of grace, what it has saved us from, that we would experience the freedom that we have in Christ. That freedom that is transformative. And so, in that freedom, brothers and sisters, thrive in it. Thrive in it, live in that freedom. Not the freedom to do whatever you want, but the freedom to do what God has empowered you to do where you are set free from sin and set free to fully obey Him. Amen. Will you pray with me this morning? Father, we thank you so much for your word. And God, I pray for each one of us this morning, myself included. If there are any sins that we think that we have been playing around with that have been hidden, that we think we have a handle on. God, I pray that you'd help us to see how deadly it is, how offensive it is, how destructive it is, that we would turn from our sin and turn to you, turn to your grace, knowing that you will receive us, that you will forgive us, that you will empower us, that you will transform us. And in the freedom that you have given us through Christ, help us to thrive, to live for your glory, not under the slavery of sin. Help us to love one another fully because of what you have done for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.