The Sinning Christian
All people are conceived with Adam’s original sin (Rom 5:12). They are shapen in iniquity in their mother’s womb (Ps 51:5). All have a sin nature (Eph 2:3). All have sinned (Rom 3:23; 5:12). All are guilty before God (Jas 2:10). This is the state of natural man (1 Cor 2:14). Further, it is appointed for every man to die, and then comes the judgment (Heb 9:27) and eternal punishment in fiery hell (Mt 25:46; Jude 1:7). The exception to all of this is the God-man, Jesus Christ (Heb 4:15).
In God’s predetermined plan (Acts 2:23), and in His purpose in Christ (Eph 3:11), He has appointed some to eternal life (Acts 13:48). These elect vessels of mercy (Rom 9:23; Eph 1:4–5), He calls into communion with His only begotten Son (Jn 3:16, 18). This call is demonstrated with power, when the preacher proclaims Christ crucified, and the Spirit regenerates the soul, to make him alive to God (1 Cor 2:2–4; Eph 2:5; Col 2:13).
Christians are not made to be perfect, being without sin, in their regeneration by the Holy Spirit (Jn 3:1–8). Believers are also not given license to sin because they are saved by God’s grace (Rom 6:1–2). Rather, there is daily sin that requires repentance. The born again are made to see the world and to see God from a new perspective. We learn Christ in the process, which continues to the day of our death in the body.
The life of God in the soul of man is not the source of sin. The new creature with his new spiritual life (Christ living in him) has been delivered from the dominion of Satan and sin (Acts 26:18; Col 1:13). Sin no longer reigns in him, being replaced by the grace of God. His body of flesh remains a body of sin, however. The flesh is weak, regardless of the fact that the spirit in the Christian now wills to obey God (Mt 26:41).
Sin tarnishes every good work that God has prepared beforehand, for the Christian to perform, in accordance with God willing and working in the saint (Eph 2:10; Phil 2:13). God goes so far as to make His work, tainted by the saint, to work together for good for her (Rom 8:28).
Imperfect works, derived from sin-laden infirmities, serve to humiliate the slave of Christ before God (Eph 6:6; Jas 4:10). In truth, every Christian is an unprofitable servant, when he has finished all his works (Lk 17:10). This is a difficult doctrine for many believers to embrace because of pride.
Failures in the Christian life are legion, but even these help cause the child of God to walk humbly with her God. Instead of trusting in herself, the believer is driven by her ever-present deficiencies, to trust Christ. She returns to the cross, where Jesus Christ shed His blood for her justification (Rom 5:9). She is forever declared “Not guilty.” She now lives by faith, in Him who bought her for a price (1 Cor 6:20; 7:23; Gal 2:20).
Liberated from slavery to sin and keeping his eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:2), the Christian desires to be clean in the presence of God. It is Christ in him that compels this longing to be free from the sin that so easily encompasses him (Col 1:27). The more conscious he is of his sin, the greater his grief and lament over sin. The apostle Paul bemoaned his state, “Who can deliver me from this body of death (Rom 7:24)?”
The answer, of course, is Jesus Christ. The process of delivering the sinning Christian is part of her sanctification (1 Thess 4:3). It has a more precise term, “mortification.”
Mortifying the flesh is guided by the Holy Spirit, who employs the Word of truth (Jn 17:17). The Word of Christ helps us to pray for what is pleasing to God, and for His power to accomplish what concerns us (Ps 57:2; 138:8). What concerns us is the putting off the body, of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ (Col 2:11). It is putting off the old man with his deeds (Col 3:9).
Christ is our dread champion against sin (Jer 20:11). He alone is victorious (2 Cor 2:14). His vital presence is our piety. He always does what is pleasing to the Father (Jn 8:29), and from within the regenerate heart, He compels the same spirit of obedience (2 Cor 5:9, 14). The Christian longs for perfect obedience. This is very different from his old life as a slave to sin (Rom 6:6, 16–20).
The end goal objective for the born again is Christ-likeness. Our longing is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, the Righteous (Rom 8:29; 2 Cor 4:4). Jesus Christ is perfect, and He alone is our true north, in navigating life as an adopted child, who is being brought to maturity (Heb 5:14; 6:1).
Death remains an obstacle to seeing our Savior’s face, so the servant of the Most High sets his mind on things above, where Christ is seated (Col 3:2). An eternity with Christ awaits him, and his foretaste of eternal life is only a small beginning (Rom 8:18). The Christian has her place in God’s plan, serving as an object of His grace and bearing witness of God’s goodness to her in that grace (Neh 9:25, 35; Ps 31:19; 145:7).
The course for the elect, redeemed, regenerate has sufferings, afflictions, and sometimes persecutions, but the promise of reigning with the Lamb of God in heaven remains (2 Tim 2:12; Rev 20:6). The saint does persevere to glory with blessed assurance. The ever-present Holy Spirit illumines God’s Word of promise (2 Cor 4:6), to never leave nor forsake His children (Heb 13:5). He has begun a good work in them, and He will bring it to its end, in perfect accord with what is written in the Bible (Phil 1:6).
Christian, God is working with every sin you commit on a daily basis. He is directing you once again to the cross, and His finished work there (Jn 19:30). His work is perfect and yours…not so much. Humbly confess your sins (1 Jn 1:9) and failed endeavors to be holy (e.g. spiritual disciplines), and then rejoice that He takes those and works wonders to produce fruit (Gal 5:22–23), to craft you into the man or woman of God, He has intended from before the foundation of the world. This is your life as a sinning Christian. Press on until sin is no more. His grace is sufficient for you, every day and in every way.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
August 29, 2022
