Do you feel the same way? I always tell myself, "Well, this time I won't mess up. This time I'll try harder and do better." Have you ever said that same thing to yourself? What if I told you that that was a wrong way to think? Would you believe me? Would you agree?
Regardless of your answer, that is the wrong way to think. There is no amount of trying or effort or willpower on my (or your) part that can work to overcome sin. And that is a liberating idea. As Paul wrote to the Galatians in chapter 3, "Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" Christ's death, which we are partakers in, freed us from sin. But so often, we try to take over the second part, which is our sanctification. How ludicrous is it that we, who could not save ourselves by our own power, would think that we can rid ourselves of sin after we're saved. Paul puts it another way in Philippians: "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). See! It was never about us, and it will never be about us. So how do we overcome that sin in our lives that depresses us and makes us feel like we don't measure up?
Two of my favorite theologians put it this way: "That part of me left yesterday. The heart of me is strong today. No regrets. I'm blessed to say, the old me dead and gone away....oh hey, I've been travelin' on this road too long. I've been tryin' to find my way back home, but the old me's dead and gone, dead and gone." That is courtesy of T.I. and J.T.
As funny as that might be for me to quote, they nailed it on the head. When Christ died on the cross, we were "crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Gal. 2:20). Because of this, Paul writes, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Cor. 5:17). So, we see that our old selves and our sin nature is gone. Just as T.I. said, "That part of me left yesterday. The heart of me is strong today...the old me dead and gone away."
As Francis Schaeffer once said, "How should we then live?" We should live with great joy and in great freedom. "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery" (Gal. 5:1). But what are we free from? What is the yoke of slavery? The law. All of it, including the Ten Commandments. We're free from it all. We're free to live in the Spirit and in God's great and marvelous grace.
Before you condemn me as a heretic, check out the following verses: Romans 3-8; Galatians 2-3; Ephesians 2:14-15; Colossians 2:20; 1 Timothy 1:8-11; and Hebrews 7-8. The one that sums it up best though is 2 Corinthians 3:7-9:
"Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory."
Instead, the law has been replaced by grace and the Holy Spirit. "And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:16-17). Some people are worried that this would lead to a lack of self-control and an increase in sin, but Paul has this to say:
"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:1-4).
However, that is not a problem, because walking in grace means walking under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, which as Paul says:
"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law....But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;AR)"> against such things there is no law" (Galatians 5:16-18, 22-23).
My prayer is that if you struggle with a performance-based faith as I have for so long you would be free of that. All that does is strangle the joy from our walks and lives as Christians. Instead, let us shift our focus back to Christ, who not only saves us but is the one who grows us spiritually. No strivings or amount of willpower will free us from sin. Only a true relationship with Christ and the Spirit can do that. And only then will we walk in true joy, for sin has lost its power over us.
"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 15:56-57).
-Trace
Sorry it's so long this week guys and gals
ReplyDelete