I'm a sinner. I always have been, and sadly will remain so until Christ returns for me. Here is the short list version of my transgressions that come to mind right off the bat:
1. Lying
2. Stealing
3. Taking the Lord's name in vain
4. Lust
5. Selfishness
6. Drunkenness
7. Anger
8. Unforgiveness
9. Coveting
10. Hatred / Rage
11. Selfishness
12. Idolatry
13. Profanity
14. Etc.
Each of the sin's above can easily have a subcategory, and a subcategory for the subcategory detailing my multitude of transgressions. Most of which I'm not willing to share with you because that would expose my weakness and make you think less of me. Oh yes...
15. Pride...
I am a sinner. The sin in my life has been one of the biggest barriers for me in coming to a point of reconciliation with God (at least in my mind, and thus probably in my heart as well). It is also one of the biggest discouragements in my walk as a Christian, and I can't seem to remove it from my life. I'm failing... Just when I think I've got this whole sin thing beaten, I fall into it again. I don't think I'm alone here, but we as Christians so rarely talk honestly about the sin in our lives that you can't help but feel isolated in the dilemma. The apostle Paul gives it a mention in Romans chapter 7.
"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do...For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do- this I keep on doing." Romans 7:15-19
I hear you brother. Amen? The apostle Paul seems to have had the same dilemma as I do. Arguably the most influential promoter of the Christian faith, a warrior of Christ, and a sinner saved by God's grace had the same problem as I do? Really? If that is true, what does it mean for me? What does it mean for any of us? Paul doesn't seem to have to wrestle with this contradiction as much as I feel that I do. He seems to be reconciled? He goes on to say:
"So I find this law at work: when I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."
Romans 7:21-25 to Romans 8:1-2
I can relate to this. I do delight in God's law. I am attracted to purity, goodness, love and peace. I love the idea of it all, but making those things a constant reality in my life seems to be a real struggle. It is interesting to me that according to Paul, God's law resides in the mind, and the law of sin resides in the rest of the body. There seems to be three elements here. The body with its sinful nature, the mind, and the Spirit. The sinful nature and the Spirit are like oil and water, they can't mix, they can't co-exist. The mind however is the wild card. It can go either way. Whoever owns the mind, owns the choice.
I have heard an analogy that goes something like this; We all have two dogs in our backyard. One is a good dog and one is a bad dog. You can never get rid of either of them, they will always be in your backyard. You love the good dog, and you hate the bad dog. They fight all the time, sometimes to your joy the good dog wins, and to your sorrow sometimes the bad dog win's. On top of all of this you have another dilemma. You have horrible eyesight and most of the time you can't tell which dog is which until its too late and you get bit. So in the end, which dog will overcome the other and be victorious? The answer is; the dog you feed the most...
I think there may be some wisdom here. Before I was a Christian, I had a body with it's sinful nature, and I had my mind which was basically on it's own to determine right or wrong and to give into my sinful nature or not. As I came to Christ however I was introduced to the Spirit. Now I have the third critical element necessary to overcome the law if sin in my body. Think of the Spirit as a pair of glasses allowing you to see clearly which dog is which in the above analogy. It's still my choice, but I now have an all powerful alternative that allows me to see clearly through the Spirit in Jesus Christ. I will always have both natures as long as I live in this body, but I can chose which nature I will feed.
The Holy Spirit is so much more than what I have described above. More than I think we can ever grasp. I do feel however that this is at least one small element of the power we receive from the Spirit when we are truly in Christ.
I don't have the answer for completely removing sin from our lives. Undoubtedly at some point we are all going to "feed the wrong dog" so to say. The point is, we need to keep fighting the good fight. Keep doing our best to feed the "good dog" through the power and wisdom we receive from the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ died for me and for my sin. There is the truth. Do I believe his sacrifice is sufficient to cover all of my sin? Both the sin of my past and the sin of my future? If I believe what the bible tells me, the answer is a definite yes. On faith we believe that we are forgiven and redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ. As he said on the cross "it is finished". So the point here is that it doesn't really matter what I do or don't do. I am already made complete in Christ. My one purpose in this life is to remain in him until he comes back for me. How do I do that? Keep fighting the good fight, lose my life in order to gain it, walk the narrow way that leads to the narrow gate, keep asking, keep seeking and keep knocking... Feed the good dog.
These verses come to my mind every time I stumble and help me get back up again:
"The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.."
Psalm 37:23-24
This tells me that God places a high value on true and genuine effort toward obedience. You will never be perfect, you will fall and stumble at times, but God is understanding and knows your heart. He will pick you up again.
Feed the good dog,
Chris
