"You Don't Have to Sin"

This is a phrase that came into my mind this morning as I was getting ready for work. I'm sure I've got your attention from the title. The wording is definitely important- you don't HAVE to sin- I didn't say you CAN'T sin or that you are INCAPABLE of sinning- they are totally different ideas. I realize this flies in the face of what you hear in most churches today. I'm appalled at the slave mentality that is propagated throughout the modern church world. I often encounter sincere Christians who say "I just can't help myself, I know I'm going to fall today." Or the tried and true "all have come short of the glory of God, I'm just an old sinner saved by grace." I have come to despise such a mentality (not the people who say these things...just this mentality). This is NOT the Christian experience as it is outlined in the Word of God. The Bible paints a picture of glorious freedom- not bondage. Let's briefly examine a few verses from the book of Romans.

Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Paul says that the true Christian is dead to sin. This sounds a lot different than what I hear from many pulpits and from many Christians on the street. What I hear are a lot of lame excuses why we end up in bondage to the same old sins over and over again. Now before you think that I'm coming to you from an ivory tower, I'm going to come clean with you. This is a truth that I have often struggled with. Countless times I have found myself on my knees saying "Lord I can't believe I'm struggling with this again." The problem is not so much with our intentions because I believe there are a lot of well-intentioned people who fall every day. The problem is with our "stinking thinking."

Consider the analogy Paul gives of a dead man. You can dangle any temptation in front of a dead man- you can call him names.......try to provoke him to anger....you can poke him and prod him...but he's not going to budge. Why? Because he's a dead man of course. It sounds so simple and yet it's profound- this is the picture of the Christian and his relation to sin. I realize in theory this sounds good, but it's the practical application of this that gives us trouble....because when we wake up first thing in the morning...our lusts, desires, and appetites are anything but dead! They are pleading with us and demanding our attention. This is why we must learn to "reckon" ourselves dead indeed unto sin. This word is an accounting term and it simply means to count it to be true. It's true....but you and I must appropriate this truth by faith.

Paul says that sin shall not have dominion over us because we are now under grace. We often hear about the power of grace to cover our sins, but we hear very little about the power of the grace of God to keep us from sinning! But this is exactly what Paul is teaching! He was trying to get the Roman Christians (and us too in the year 2006) to understand that we are no longer slaves- we are free! As long as we have a slave mentality, we will yield to the temptations over and over again. Only when we see (or "reckon") ourselves as the free people that we truly are will we have the victory. Then and only then will we be able to meet the temptation head on and confidently assert "I don't have to sin". I don't have any problem refusing foods that I dislike. You can offer me cottage cheese all day long and I can easily tell you "no thanks." But bring me a chocolate eclair dessert and it becomes a different story. I think God wants us to get to the place where sin is as appealing to us as cottage cheese (ok- I realize some of you strange people in the blogosphere actually like the stuff- so just substitute any food that you find repulsive in its place).

Have a good weekend!
-Henry

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