UNTIL HE BRINGS ME HOME

You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:24-26

dealing with sin: part 2

Further understanding sin.

As mentioned, we seem to find it easier to see our sinfulness in the aftermath of certain sins. Sexual lust, manifested in immoral relationships or pornographic addictions—that one, in particular, makes guys feel bad.

This particular phenomenon, however, is often the result of a misguided view of the nature of sin. And so the reminder of Part 2 is this: sin is more than what we do; sinfulness is a condition. In other words, we are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners.

There’s a doctrine known as “original sin” (cf. Romans 3, Psalm 51); through Adam, all die. Ever since the Fall in Eden, every member of humanity has been sinful from birth. Prior to conversion, we hate God, suppress his truth, and violate his standards. And we’re culpable.

And there’s also something referred to as the “flesh” (cf. Romans 7). Even the regenerate, in the words of John Piper, don’t just do sin but more significantly have sin. Though the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak.

What does this mean?

It means that our sinfulness is deeper than we might think. Have you ever gone a few days or weeks without committing that sin—whatever that sin might be for you—and felt pretty good about yourself? felt like you’d become less sinful?

I’m not saying that you should not celebrate God’s sanctifying work and rejoice in your fleeing from temptation. But we also have to avoid legalistic, white-knuckled and self-dependent, “I’m becoming good enough to resist these things” attitudes. We have to recognize our inherent weakness.

But in my Christian walk I am still in rags; my best prayers are stained with sin; my penitential tears are so much impurity; my confessions of wrong are so many aggravations of sin; my receiving the Spirit is tinctured with selfishness. -The Valley of Vision

An encouragement.

We’re all sinful. The difference for the saved is that Christ is personal Lord and sin is no longer desirable. As time goes on, and as faith is graciously given, that becomes more and more apparent. So as a brief encouragement to you: if you find yourself struggling mightily against sin—even if you seem to be failing with no improvement in sight—know that one of the evidences of saving faith is a hatred for sin. Praise God. And that’s where we’ve got to begin.

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