[Sung Psalm: 19]
Is it true? Sin shall not have dominion over you?
You know the problem well: you seek to obey God and live a life that is pleasing and holy before him, but you continually fall into sin. Then you repent and confess your sin to God with the promise of new obedience, but then you fall again, and the cycle of sin and repentance wears you down. "How could God forgive me for the same sin, over and over?" you ask.
Paul answers: "Our old self was crucified with him, in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." Yet in my experience, the struggle continues. I do not feel that my old self is dead - it seems all too alive and well for a corpse.
It's all well and good to talk about progressive sanctification, to say that these things take time, but that does not remove the horrible fact that I am still sinning - and often times it is quite deliberate.
Children, don't you find yourselves doing things which hurt your parents or your brothers and sisters? Are there times when you do it on purpose? Times when you know exactly how to make them mad - and you know that you shouldn't do it - but you do it anyway?
And parents, husbands and wives, you may be more sophisticated, but don't you do the same thing?
Wives, are there times when you bring up something your husband did, simply out of spite? simply because you are upset with him?
And husbands, do you ever make fun of your wife, or say something rude, just to show that you're the boss?
My friends, these things should not be... |