The Nature of Sin, Pt 6: Our Sin Hurts

Romans 5:17              For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Romans 6:23              For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord

Romans 7:14-25        14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Those of us who know Christ as Savior understand the anguish being expressed by Paul: that although born again into eternal life he still finds himself plagued by his sinful nature. 

There are several things important to understand in these passages.  Paul was a Jew and knew the Law to refer to all of the Torah (books of Moses), the Prophets, and the Writings.  Collectively these are referred to as the Tanakh (Torah, Nevi’im, Ketuvim).  Paul was an expert in the scriptures of his day and he who had the scriptures memorized, who knew God’s word by heart, still found himself violating those scriptures almost daily.  He said, ‘ I do what I don’t want to do, and I don’t do what I do want to do.’  I think we can all relate to this.  Here is the thing:  we all have a sin nature inherited from our federal father Adam.  It’s called original sin.  Another thing we share is that we tend to beat up ourselves over our sin.  But remember this, just because we are a believer doesn’t mean we won’t sin.

Here’s the second thing important in this passage.  Before we became a believer, there was no law for us.  It is like driving in a state that has no speed limit.  You are not breaking the law if there is no law governing what you are doing.  So all those things we did back in the day of which we are so ashamed now, didn’t bother us then.  But that all changes when a person becomes a believer.  When a person becomes a believer, he accepts Christ as his Savior, and accepts Christ’s Word as his way of living.  Now everything is different.  Now Satan considers that person to be his enemy.  When a believer crosses the line to God’s side, Satan tries to get him back.  Satan turns up the heat and he knows what buttons to push to get us to sin, just like he did in the Garden with Adam and Eve.

The third important thing in this passage for the believer is to understand that it is not he who is doing the sin but his sin nature.  Now this might sound like a bit of sophistry, but it is true.  Human beings are physical beings, and they are spiritual beings.  When we accept Christ as our Savior our spiritual self becomes connected to God through the Holy Spirit.  We are united with Christ and it is he who guides, shapes, and directs our lives through the Holy Spirit.  The result of this is that our spiritual self, connected as it is to Christ through the Holy Spirit, delights in the beauty of the Law.  Law in this case refers to all of God’s Word.  So our spiritual self finds itself in an almost daily battle with our physical sinful self. 

This might give a person pause and he or she might say, “What’s the point then?”  It is important to understand here that the journey is the important thing.  Having once accepted Christ as Savior the entirety of the rest of our lives becomes a dedication to Him.  Yes, our salvation is a once and forever thing.  The rest of our lives is an opportunity to grow more holy and more righteous in Jesus.  You, as a new believer, have a choice to let the sanctification of your life stop at the point of salvation, or to strive to become closer to Christ every day of the rest of your life.

All of us want to get closer to Jesus.  If so, then what do we do with this sin nature thing?  The answer is to lighten up on ourselves.  We must strive to reach for holiness and righteousness, but we must also realize our sin nature will continually cause us to stumble and fall.  The answer is not to worry about it, but to get up, brush ourselves off, and hit ‘delete’.  This is not to be taken as an excuse to continue sinning.  In other verses Paul condemns such thinking.  So from the point of our salvation to the point of our entry into eternity every day is an opportunity to praise God with our lives.  Yes, we will sin.  But every time we can rebound from that low point, thank God for His help, and show the world the love and faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah!