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| Photo courtesy of pajju.interestgraph.me |
Staying with our theme of sin for the time being, I would like to discuss the perturbing question which ails many of us regenerate Christians on a daily basis......namely, why do we choose to sin?
I mean, if at the time of our salvation, we are given all the riches of Christ (Eph 1), and we are no longer enslaved by sin (Romans 6), and we have been freed by Christ (Gal 5)...then why, for goodness' sake, do we find ourselves choosing to sin?
Fortunately for us, the Apostle Paul wrestled with this same question and was inspired by the Holy Spirit to pen his angst in the pages of Romans chapter 7. Let us look at this passage together, starting with verse 15...
"For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? "
In a nutshell, Paul is describing a very curious phenomenon that is happening inside him, deep at the soul level. Basically, he finds himself doing that which he does NOT want to do...and yet the good that he wants to do, he does not do. In fact, the struggle seems so poignant that he ends with an exasperated question--Who will deliver me from this body of death? He answers this question in the following verse, verse 25:
"Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
And in the next verse, which starts chapter 8, he emphatically states the HOPE we have in Christ as he declares that there is NO condemnation for sin for those in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1)!
So, if it is clear from this passage of Scripture that Christians DO struggle with sin, what differentiates our sin from that of unregenerate sinners who live outside the hope of Christ?
Well, I would submit to you that there is one key difference. Quite simply, sin deeply affects and troubles the Christian to the point of their acknowledging their sin and confessing it to Almighty God, whom they recognize to the be primary person against whom they sinned.
The Psalmist (likely David) declares:
I confess my iniquity;
I am troubled by my sin. (Psalm 38:18)
Again in Psalm 32, David describes his sin and his confession like this...
"When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me;my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.'And you forgave the guilt of my sin." (Ps 32: 3-5)
In short, the Christian abhors sin as sin...and they may still sin (being deceived)...but they hate sin nevertheless.
In sharp contrast, the wicked unregenerate person may (or may not) be ashamed of sin, but they dare not own their sin, naming it for what it is, or look into their actions, and they decry and even punish in others sin in which they themselves are guilty.
And so, while the trend of the Christian life ought to be increasing conformity to the character of Christ, we as Christians will still find ourselves sinning as we do daily battle with our fleshly nature which is still at work in our hearts. However, praise be to God that through Christ's death on the cross and with the empowering of His Spirit, our victory over sin is secure! HE alone is faithful to complete the work of sanctification in us (Phil 1:6) and bring us to the point of glorification one day when we meet Christ face-to-face in Heaven! However, until that time, let us continue on with all the saints to run this "race" with perseverance, throwing off the sin and everything that entangles us to claim the prize in Christ Jesus (Heb 12:1, Phil 3:14)!
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