What should our relationship to sin should be in light of the free gift of righteousness that comes by faith?
This is often misunderstood, even during Paul's time. At the end of the previous chapter (Romans 5:20) Paul says that where sin increased, then grace abounded all the more. The next logical question, which Paul rhetorically asks at the beginning of this chapter is "Should we go on sinning so that grace can increase?" and he clearly answers "By no means".
He goes on and in verse 12 says "Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires". He also says in v 21 that sin leads to death and in v 23 that the wages of sin is death. If we have been set free by Christ then we are no longer a slave to sin (v 7 - the one who has died has been set free from sin).
Continued Sin is a Sign of No Salvation
Here's the deal, if we go on sinning, we are either not yet saved or we will lose our salvation - depending on where you stand on once-saved-always-saved. John says in 1 John 3:9 "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning." (ESV) or "will continue to sin" (NIV). In other words, if we are continuing to sin in a particular way, we are not born of God. There is no such thing as a "carnal Christian".
You may ask "Are you saying that we must be without sin and perfect?" No, I don't believe that the Scripture teaches that, but if we are sinning in a particular area and keep doing that, then there is an indication that we are not set free from the slavery of sin. Now Romans 7 describes the back and forth tugs that we can have as we desire to do what is right but end up doing wrong. As we follow Christ, there is a process of sanctification where we are being made more and more like Christ, and growing in goodness or virtue (2 Pet 1:5). 1 John 2:8 describes the darkness "passing away and the true light already shining." So there is a growth and changing process. But if that growth and change isn't occurring, then we need to get very serious about that sin and work to overcome it by Christ's help.
I'm not referring to some self-help type plan where we go through various rituals and accountability to change ourselves, because we cannot change ourselves. But the great news is that God can and will change us and set us free from sin and its desires. He can change us and remove even the evil desires.
Steps to Freedom From Ongoing Sin
So what should we do? Here are some Biblical steps that I'd recommend if you are struggling with a sin and can't seem to stop:
1) Get help - James 5:14-16 says to go to the elders and confess your sins and the prayer of the righteous man is powerful and effective to help and get healing - both physical and spiritual. So I'd recommend that you find someone in Christ who you respect who you can go to and ask for help. Church leaders/elders are best based on James 5, but the whole body can minister to each other. Just find someone who is more mature than you in Christ and is able and willing to stand with you (Gal 6:1).
2) Cry out to God for help - Rom 10:13 - Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. - Salvation is being rescued from our problems, from our sin. It is not just the one-time salvation where we give our lives to Christ, but it is the ongoing salvation and sanctification where God is saving and changing us. He has the power to help us and will hear us and rescue us when we call on his name.
3) Deal with the sin drastically - Matt 5:29 - In the context of dealing with the sin of lust, which Jesus says is the same as committing adultery in the heart, and which is a type of ongoing sin that many men struggle with, Jesus says that if your eye causes you to sin, then tear it out and throw it away. Clearly it is not our eye that is causing us to sin, but the evil in our hearts (Matt 15:19). However Jesus is making a clear point by using this exaggeration and saying that we must deal with sin very drastically because if we don't, we risk the fire of hell. Sin generally doesn't just happen. There are usually things that lead up to it, smaller steps/compromises/decisions that are made before the sin itself actually happens. You should work with your counselor to determine what those steps are and how to build a wall of self-control up so that 1) You avoid situations that cause temptation 2) You recognize when the temptation is coming 3) You decide before the temptation and situations happen what you will not do 4) You flee from temptation.
4) Memorize scripture that relates to the sin - Matt 4:1-11 - when Jesus was being tempted by Satan to sin, he answered each temptation by quoting Scripture. You should memorize and put up in places where you can see regularly or where you might be tempted, various scriptures that relate to the specific sin you are working to overcome. 1) Scriptures that say clearly that it is a sin 2) Scriptures that remind about the penalty for that sin 2) Scriptures that give a way to overcome the particular sin.
We struggle with the three enemies of the world, our flesh, and the devil. So we need to be on guard against each of these and see how they are pushing us, influencing us and tempting us. We also need to see how to flee from the influence of the world, have God change our fleshly desires, and have God deliver us from the chains and snares of the devil.
Jesus has defeated the power of sin and death and all of Satan's power! He has given us freedom in Christ to come away from sin and in his name we can be set free and changed forever! Thank you Lord Jesus!
This is often misunderstood, even during Paul's time. At the end of the previous chapter (Romans 5:20) Paul says that where sin increased, then grace abounded all the more. The next logical question, which Paul rhetorically asks at the beginning of this chapter is "Should we go on sinning so that grace can increase?" and he clearly answers "By no means".
He goes on and in verse 12 says "Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires". He also says in v 21 that sin leads to death and in v 23 that the wages of sin is death. If we have been set free by Christ then we are no longer a slave to sin (v 7 - the one who has died has been set free from sin).
Continued Sin is a Sign of No Salvation
Here's the deal, if we go on sinning, we are either not yet saved or we will lose our salvation - depending on where you stand on once-saved-always-saved. John says in 1 John 3:9 "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning." (ESV) or "will continue to sin" (NIV). In other words, if we are continuing to sin in a particular way, we are not born of God. There is no such thing as a "carnal Christian".
You may ask "Are you saying that we must be without sin and perfect?" No, I don't believe that the Scripture teaches that, but if we are sinning in a particular area and keep doing that, then there is an indication that we are not set free from the slavery of sin. Now Romans 7 describes the back and forth tugs that we can have as we desire to do what is right but end up doing wrong. As we follow Christ, there is a process of sanctification where we are being made more and more like Christ, and growing in goodness or virtue (2 Pet 1:5). 1 John 2:8 describes the darkness "passing away and the true light already shining." So there is a growth and changing process. But if that growth and change isn't occurring, then we need to get very serious about that sin and work to overcome it by Christ's help.
I'm not referring to some self-help type plan where we go through various rituals and accountability to change ourselves, because we cannot change ourselves. But the great news is that God can and will change us and set us free from sin and its desires. He can change us and remove even the evil desires.
Steps to Freedom From Ongoing Sin
So what should we do? Here are some Biblical steps that I'd recommend if you are struggling with a sin and can't seem to stop:
1) Get help - James 5:14-16 says to go to the elders and confess your sins and the prayer of the righteous man is powerful and effective to help and get healing - both physical and spiritual. So I'd recommend that you find someone in Christ who you respect who you can go to and ask for help. Church leaders/elders are best based on James 5, but the whole body can minister to each other. Just find someone who is more mature than you in Christ and is able and willing to stand with you (Gal 6:1).
2) Cry out to God for help - Rom 10:13 - Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. - Salvation is being rescued from our problems, from our sin. It is not just the one-time salvation where we give our lives to Christ, but it is the ongoing salvation and sanctification where God is saving and changing us. He has the power to help us and will hear us and rescue us when we call on his name.
3) Deal with the sin drastically - Matt 5:29 - In the context of dealing with the sin of lust, which Jesus says is the same as committing adultery in the heart, and which is a type of ongoing sin that many men struggle with, Jesus says that if your eye causes you to sin, then tear it out and throw it away. Clearly it is not our eye that is causing us to sin, but the evil in our hearts (Matt 15:19). However Jesus is making a clear point by using this exaggeration and saying that we must deal with sin very drastically because if we don't, we risk the fire of hell. Sin generally doesn't just happen. There are usually things that lead up to it, smaller steps/compromises/decisions that are made before the sin itself actually happens. You should work with your counselor to determine what those steps are and how to build a wall of self-control up so that 1) You avoid situations that cause temptation 2) You recognize when the temptation is coming 3) You decide before the temptation and situations happen what you will not do 4) You flee from temptation.
4) Memorize scripture that relates to the sin - Matt 4:1-11 - when Jesus was being tempted by Satan to sin, he answered each temptation by quoting Scripture. You should memorize and put up in places where you can see regularly or where you might be tempted, various scriptures that relate to the specific sin you are working to overcome. 1) Scriptures that say clearly that it is a sin 2) Scriptures that remind about the penalty for that sin 2) Scriptures that give a way to overcome the particular sin.
We struggle with the three enemies of the world, our flesh, and the devil. So we need to be on guard against each of these and see how they are pushing us, influencing us and tempting us. We also need to see how to flee from the influence of the world, have God change our fleshly desires, and have God deliver us from the chains and snares of the devil.
Jesus has defeated the power of sin and death and all of Satan's power! He has given us freedom in Christ to come away from sin and in his name we can be set free and changed forever! Thank you Lord Jesus!
