Fed up, tired, ashamed, hopeless — these are just a few of the emotions I experience when I’m dealing with this one nagging sin that I can’t seem to kick to the curb. We all have one, right? One sin (maybe more than one if we’re honest) that we just can’t seem to get a handle on. A sin that rears its ugly head every time we think things are going well. A sin that reminds us how weak and inadequate we are.
For me, one of these sins is gluttony. My particular “lust of the flesh” comes in the form of my desire to over indulge my taste buds — to completely refuse to exercise any self-control and eat until my belly hurts and my head is hanging in regret. Food: it’s the addiction I don’t know how to quit.
Now, before you start to think this post is about my sinful relationship with calories, let me make it clear that it is not. This post is about our struggle with sin and the hope that we have to overcome it. And let me give you a little hint in how we overcome it: the hope is not found in ourselves, it’s found in Jesus.
We are Death-bound Sinners
Romans 3:23 says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. We also know that we can’t keep God’s law, because “whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” (James 2:10). On our own, we are down-right, good-for-nothing sinners. It’s been part of our human-nature ever since Adam and Eve chose to eat the forbidden fruit. We can’t help it. Apart from Jesus, we are each a slave to our sins (John 8:34).
And because we are sinners we deserve punishment. Not just a small punishment either. The Bible tells us that “the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23a). According to BlueLetterBible.org, the original Greek word for death can be defined as “death comprising all the miseries arising from sin, as well physical death as the loss of a life consecrated to God and blessed in him on earth, to be followed by wretchedness in hell.” In other words, death is eternal, everlasting separation from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The Good, Good News
But that isn’t the end of the story. Did you notice the ellipses, the three little periods at the end of the verse I just quoted? The entire verse says “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23, emphasis added). Yes, we filthy sinners deserve death, but God offers us eternal life through — and only through — His son Jesus.
But God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ~Romans 5:8
Here is the good, good news: even though each and every one of us deserve hell we don’t have to end up there. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves from sin, but God has provided us with the free gift of salvation — His son living a perfect life, dying our death, and rising again to justify us. All because He chooses to love us.
But We Still Sin
But we still sin, don’t we? Yes, we are forgiven and justified, but we still sin! Struggling with sin is nothing new. Paul wrote about it extensively in Romans 7. He says “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do” (v 15). In other words, Paul is saying no matter how hard he wants to stop sinning he can’t. Even though he knows the law of God, he can not keep it. And because he can not keep it, he sins time and time again.
Oh, I can relate! Can’t you?
Hope in His Faithfulness
But there is hope! If you take the time to read Romans 7 you might notice that Paul continually uses the pronoun I. The focus of that chapter is himself and his ability (or inability) to keep the law. It is through this focus on self that Paul teaches us that when we rely on our ability to overcome sin we will fail every single time.
Every. Single. Time.
Instead we need to focus, rely, and trust in Jesus.
After Paul confesses that he can not keep from sinning he writes:
“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” (Romans 8:3-5)
Paul is making it clear that we have a choice to make. We can either 1) focus on ourselves and our sin (setting our minds on things of the flesh) or 2) focus on Jesus and all that He has done on our behalf (setting our minds on things of the Spirit).
Let me explain it another way. I’m a food glutton and when I think about all the food I should not be eating, guess what? My craving for those earthly things increases. When I repeatedly rely on my own ability to exercise self-control and deny my cravings, my cravings grow stronger and my self-control buckles under the weight of my desire. This is me setting my mind on things of the flesh.
However, if I choose to set my mind on things of the Spirit it’s a different story. When I focus on Jesus I find strength and satisfaction in Him, not in food. My desire to be a glutton diminishes and my desire to be like Christ flourishes.
There is one verse that I am constantly repeating to myself. It reminds me that the struggle with sin will not last forever. The verse is 1 John 1:9. It says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
What a promise!
Yes, we will sin, but if we confess our sin we can rest and take hope in the promise that Jesus will forgive and cleanse us completely.
Lord in Heaven, you are more good than I can fathom. Your promises are more hope giving than anything I can find on this earth. Thank you for not expecting me to take care of my own sin. Thank you for meeting me in my struggle, forgiving me, and promising to make me clean. Help me to rest and trust in all that you have done and continue to do. Amen.
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