Every Human's Battle: Sin

“We all stumble in many ways.” (James 3:2)

“For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very things I hate…. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very ting I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:15, 17-24)

“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9)

Christians struggle with the powers of sin and transgress God’s commands and act against our own consciences daily (more like every moment). Every effort and every good deed we do is tainted with sin. No one perfectly submits to Christ. There is not a single person who has obtained to a state of perfect righteousness in God’s eyes, nor can we. Paul himself testified that he had not “already become perfect,” but that he “[pressed] on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet” (Philippians 3:12-13). James, the leader of the Jerusalem Church (the church of the apostles), claimed of himself and reminded all spiritual teachers (who “will incur a stricter judgment (James 3:1)) that “we all stumble in many [or various] ways” (James 3:2).

This struggle with sin may seem to contradict the gospel, which is a hard call to submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ. However, such is not the case. The call of the gospel is to press on to lay hold of the righteousness which we have been granted in Christ. Outside of Christ we were ruled by the power of sin. Sin had its free reign in our lives. We “were dead in [our] trespasses and sins, in which [we] formerly walked according to the course of this world…. We too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest” (Ephesians 2:1-3). We were slaves to the sinful nature. Yet God chose us from among the rest, by His grace in Christ Jesus, to live a life set-apart from this world; a life of sanctification (cf. Ephesians 2:4-10, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, 1 Peter 1:15-16).

In Christ we are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to God in the Lordship of Christ (Romans 6:17-18). Thus, as Christians, we are not to continue in sin any longer, for “when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness” (Romans 6:16). This does not mean we will not sin, in fact, Paul tells the Roman Church that they must “consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus,” and that they are not to “let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey is lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Romans 6:11-13). They, as well as we, are commanded to fight sin, to lay hold of Christ and strive to make Christ Lord of our lives. Why must they fight to do this? Because “sin shall not be master over you [if you are in Christ Jesus], for you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14). To prove that one is of Christ and under grace, not the condemnation incurred under the Law, one must be putting to death the deeds of the flesh (cf. Colossians 3:5).

As I have just said, the Christian fights to live under the lordship of Christ. Submission to outward laws and codes of conduct has no place in this battle. As Paul tells the Colossians, “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, ‘Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!’… These are matters which have…the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence” (Colossians 2:20-23). Rather, the way to fight is to seek the things above, in other words, to “set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (3:1-2). Since your life is hidden in Christ (3-4), since Christ is the One who lives in you to triumph over sin, you must not try to stop sinning by thinking about the sin and how to master it. When you have your mind set upon something, you are inevitably going to do it. If you are thinking about lusting, you are going to lust. However, if you get the sin out of sight and out of mind, and you set your mind upon Christ and the things of His kingdom, this will keep you from sinning.

This is known as walking in the power of the Holy Spirit (letting the Spirit rule you and guide your actions because your mind is set upon spiritual things). No Christian will constantly live in this state, though we should all strive to. All Christians must have Christ living as the Lord of their lives (cf. Romans 10:9).[1] This means that they are seeking to please Christ and living for His glory. There is no such thing as a carnal Christian. No one can truly claim Christ as Lord and not give Him reign of his/her life.[2] Christ is upon the throne of the heart of all Christians. However, this does not mean that our lives are not hindered with sinful desires; and even our good deeds are tainted with sinful lusts and ideas (and motives). This does not give warrant to such desires, but explains why we do that which we do not desire to do.

Sin, which still dwells within our flesh (though it has been defeated by Christ), continues to cause us to do that which we do not desire to do. Though we agree with God’s commandments and desire to act in accordance with His desires, yet sin causes us to rebel against God (we are still responsible for our actions). Evil continues to dwell in our flesh until the day we die (or Christ returns). This is evidenced by the transgressions that we continue to do. This leads us often to frustration over our sin and sometimes to even question (often times probably rightfully) whether or not we are saved. This questioning can be good, since it should lead us to repentance from sinful deeds (though regret can actually lead to spiritual death as we give in to the power of sin and we feel overwhelmed (cf. 2 Corinthians 7:10) This causes us, with Paul, to exclaim that we are wretched, in total reliance upon God’s grace and the Spirit’s sanctifying work to free us from this sinful condition—“the body of this death.” We thus proclaim the glories of God and rejoice with Paul saying, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:25, see Romans 7:15-24 for Paul’s discussion of the sinful desires remaining in the flesh).

The final answer for Christians is not sin, but the Spirit. We face no condemnation any longer, since Christ has taken the condemnation incurred of the Law for us (Romans 8:1, Galatians 3:13). The Spirit sets us free from our bondage to the power of sin (and to the condemnation of sin) in a continual upward battle of sanctification throughout our lives (Romans 8:2-3). This is true of all who have the Spirit of Christ within them, for we do not live in the flesh but in the Spirit (9) (see Romans 8:1-11 for Paul’s detailed discussion of those who walk according to the flesh and those who walk according to the Spirit).

Christians need to seek to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). We already have the Spirit, and this causes us to make Christ Lord (and in that sense we are already filled with the Spirit, in that He is always abiding in us and ruling us). However, we must also seek to live what we are. This is not a two-step process (we are not saved and then start walking in the Spirit). Christians must continually seek, from day one, to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. Only by submitting to the lordship of Christ and by allowing the Spirit to work (by not grieving the Holy Spirit) can we keep from sinning.

Now, that we are not to sin is evident. John even wrote his first epistle “so that you may not sin.” We are to be holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). However, “if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). Christ took the wrath of God on our behalf (1 John 2:2, Romans 3:24-25), and lives to intercede as High Priest for all who are His (Hebrews 7:25). This gives us grounds upon which to come before the throne of God for every need (Hebrews 4:16), especially forgiveness: “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). We have confidence in Christ that God will forgive us our transgressions if we will come to Him and confess our sins.[3]

Peter makes clear that as “Christ has suffered in the flesh,” so we are to “arm [ourselves] also with the same purpose.” Why seek to suffer in the flesh rather than gratifying the flesh? “Because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1-2). Suffering will lead us toward hating our own lives (cf. John 12:25-26), and this in turn will lead us to refrain from submitting to the lusts of the flesh, but to God. Peter is not preaching perfectionism, but that suffering teaches us disciplines that are necessary for resisting sin (cf. Romans 5:3-5). And we should seek to sin no longer “for the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries [etc]” (1 Peter 4:3). The time we spent as non-Christians was enough time to serve the powers of sin and darkness. Those who continue in sinful ways will not inherit the Kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21). Though the world will wonder why we do not join them in the sinful ways they follow (1 Peter 4:4), we must remember our hope and live to the Spirit, for we are scheduled for and guaranteed eternal life if we persevere (Galatians 6:7-9).

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[1] Pastor Tom Schreiner spoke this morning about the Campus Crusade Spirit Filled Life booklets. While, Tom admits that Campus Crusade has been used (and is still being used) by God for great things, this booklet falls short of being Biblical. He spoke about the three circle diagrams (http://www.jesuswho.org/english/spirit.htm). The one of the unbeliever he said was correct. However, the second one, the one where Christ is lord of the person’s life, makes it appear like the life of the submitted Christian does not have any sin and does that the person’s life is completely in order. The last circle, the one of the carnal Christian, he said was absolutely false (with which I would agree, and any sincere study of lordship will make clear). A person cannot be living on the throne of his/her life and still be a Christian, just not submitted to the Lordship of Jesus. We must not teach such a doctrine, for this will lead people who are not submitted to the Lordship of Christ to (wrongly) believe that they are saved and just have not made the step to the second level of Christianity. This is not only false, but in danger of being a false gospel.

[2] Some claim that 1 Corinthians 3:1 teaches that the Corinthians were living as carnal or “fleshly” Christians. This, however, is not the case. Paul is making a plea in that verse for the Corinthians to check themselves. He is calling upon them to either be spiritual men or to be fleshly. They were in a spiritual no man’s land, one in which we cannot walk for long. They must either go warm or cold. Christ is clear, if we walk in lukewarmness, He will spit us out of His mouth (Revelation 3:15-16). Paul does not desire that. He does not have a special revelation that makes known to him who are the believers and who are not the believers in Corinth. His goal is for them to turn one way or the other so that he can deal with them as believers or unbelievers. Christians will at times give in to the lusts of the flesh and sin, however, this will not be the habitual pattern of their lives (cf. 1 John 1:6-7).

[3] All our sins have already been forgiven in Christ. He paid for sins past, present, and future. This means that if we forget a sin or fail to confess it before God, He is not going to hold it against us on the Day of Judgment. Our sins have been atoned for and we are cloaked in the righteousness of Christ. However, to walk in the Spirit and to have an unhindered relationship with God, we must seek to have nothing obstructing us. We should thus ask for forgiveness of all our sins. Thus we should also plead with David for God to “forgive [our] hidden faults” (Psalm 19:12). We must also, however, forgive others of their trespasses (Matthew 6:19). If we do not, we will prove that the love and mercy of Christ is not ruling us (a sign that the Spirit has indwelt us). This is necessary for both a right relationship with God and for salvation (not that we gain righteousness by forgiving others, but this shows we are in Christ).