The Tension Between Spirit And Sin: The Struggle Of Every Christian

I didn't come to Jesus for Jesus. I came to Jesus, I flew to Jesus, cried out to Jesus, because I believed he could save me. My motives weren't perfect or pure or righteous. I came because I was desperate, broken, and lost. We come to Christ in brokenness, with the most shallow motives. Thankfully that's all it takes, honestly coming to Christ in desperate need.

And I want to live a pure and holy life. Oh how I want that, each day, I desperately want that. I want to live a pure and holy life. I want my thoughts to be pure. But they aren't. I want my body to be pure. But it isn't. And I want my entire heart's longing to be to do my God's will, to obediently follow his plan for my life. But that hasn't been my experience either. At least not to the extent that I desire. I want it all, now.

It's good to desire to live a holy life. It's a passion we've lost touch with in modern times. We're rich in faith, but broke in obedience. We wanna do what we wanna do. We want to go see the violent serial killer movie. We want to gossip. We want to complain and coarsely joke. We want to flirt a bit with that coworker, with that friend on Facebook, and our girlfriend or boyfriend, our husband and wife won't even notice. It's not a huge deal, right? Just some innocent flirting. But we're called to a different lifestyle than all that. And it turns out that what begins as "no big deal" soon can become a disaster of life changing proportions.

It's important to remember the order. We have been cleansed, changed, made clean, and had our sins abolished and removed completely by one factor: Jesus Christ, and His life, death, and resurrection. That's all. Paid in full, by Jesus. Saved in full by Jesus. We're new people because of Jesus. I add nothing to that equation but my own sin, brokenness and need. My part one could say is repentance, but even that requires the presence of God, in Spirit and in truth. He guides it all. It's all Him in salvation, in saving me, all Him and none of me. It's a gift you see: A beautiful, precious gift.

Secondary to that is that we seek to live holy lives, because of what Christ has already done for us. If we labor because we believe that we will be justified before God because of our good deeds or because of our growth in holiness, we've become Pharisees, hypocrites, trying to barter our way into heaven. It's nonsense. And garbage. Christ has paid it all. And our love for God and our amazement at what he's done for us is what spurs us to live a holy and pure lifestyle each day. We're amazed afterward that Jesus has saved us, which motivates us to live in daily growth and relationship with our heavenly Father.

Beautiful isn't it? Yes. So we want to live a holy life because he's saved us. So we want to set aside sin. We puzzle through sins in our lives and fight against them one by one as the Spirit leads us. Sins, well, they are an interesting thing. How so you ask? Well, some sins are more acceptable than others. We all know that it's sinful to use drugs, or drink to get drunk, or smoke cigarettes, or commit adultery against your spouse, or engage in homosexual activity, or lying, or cheating, or stealing, or any of the other more focused on sins. We should fight against those sins, and fight hard.

But what about the less known sins? What about gossiping? Maybe we notice when others do it but when we do it, do we except ourselves? "Well, I'm just venting." That sort of thing? Or do we complain and murmur against those in authority over us? Do we whisper against them? That's not what God has for us. That's not honoring to him. Thankfully, he gives us the power and encouragement to do better. And we'll love more, and feel better when we do. It may be tough at first, but once we establish that new lifestyle, and fight for it, we'll see that in time it'll become second nature.

Another often ignored sin is pride. It's a prominent American sin, as they say, the celebrity pastor, with the super white teeth, I swear sometimes there's a 'ting' noise in my head when they smile. And it's all about them. It's all about pride, how many people I've saved, how many people we've served, how many millions of dollars raised, how many statistics stacked up to show needs met. And pretty soon, slowly but surely, it's all about the person and God is secondary.