More About Sin

We need to think carefully about sin. It is easy to begin thinking about sin as an impersonal force that attacks us against our will, especially when we are speaking about the believer's struggle with sin. However, sin is not just something outside of ourselves, but something comes from within. That is why James talks about our evil desires leading us astray.

In one sense it is absolutely true to say we are new creatures, because that is what we are. However, that process of making us completely new is not yet finished. We are already new creatures, but do not yet experienced the fullness of that newness. We have already been freed from bondage to sin, but are not yet free from our bodies of death.

When we are born into this world, we are born as sinners in a sinful world. When we trust in Christ, we are reborn into a world that Christ is reconciling to himself through the gospel. Sin no longer defines us. As unconverted sinners, sinning is what we do, because of who we are. Just as a clock tells time, because it is a timepiece. As redeemed sinners, sinning is something that is contrary to who we are. Through Christ, sinning moves from a natural response among sinners to an unnatural response among his people.

This is why the New Testament continues to instruct us to put off sin. Sin no longer defines us; God's grace does. By grace we are saved through faith. By grace we are made children of God. By grace we are made the righteousness of God. By grace we live and breath and have our being. As we trust in Jesus, our identity shifts (by grace) from sinner (one rebelling against God) to saint (one set apart by God).

While we live in this world, the process of sanctification makes us more like what God has purposed for us to be. The process of sanctification will not be completed until we receive our glorified bodies. We struggle with sin, because we have been made alive with Christ, and his Spirit dwells within us. The Spirit and the flesh (evil desires within a person) wage war against each other. The flesh is like the dragon in Revelation 12, raging because it knows its time is short. The flesh is angry because it has been dethroned, and God has been restored to his rightful place. Our flesh desires to be the center of our world. My flesh wants me to worship it. Your flesh wants you to worship it. But there is only one God and Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ and only he is worthy of worship.