S50 E1 | The Sin Beneath the Surface | Pastor Joel Rainey | Covenant Church
All sin separates us from God. Some sins—pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, lust, gluttony—can destroy us. Jesus gives us virtues that overcome these vices.
This 8-week series examines the Seven Deadly Sins not to shame, but to reveal our need for grace. Each week shows how these sins infiltrate life, harm relationships, and distance us from God—and how Jesus provides the way out. The final week focuses on virtue and victorious life in Christ.
The concept of the "deadly sins" goes all the way back to Aristotle, but the Christian perception originated in the fourth century with a group known as the "desert fathers." These men, seeking freedom from the corruption of the world, committed to a hermitic life in the desert of Africa (mostly Egypt). But when they arrived in the desert, they discovered the corruption had followed them there! Out of this experience came the understanding that sin isn't primarily "out there" but "in here." And today, you and I have 1700 years of experienced shoulders to stand on as we fight these tendencies in our own souls.
These men discovered the depth of their own sin in the desert, and in that same place they also discovered that the power of the Gospel could lead them into lives of virtue and victory.
Let’s listen in…
LINKS + RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
Glittering Vices by Rebecca DeYoung and other recommended reading for this series
Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant
Timothy George: “4 Groups of Sin” 1) immorality 2) idolatry 3) animosity 4) Intemperance
Scripture References:
Galatians 5, verses 15-26; Romans 7; Hebrews
Download the transcript here