Stop Sinning!!
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Can We Get Rid of Sin in Our Lives?
First, God's grace should motivate us to try to eliminate sin from our lives. The Bible says, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Romans 6:1-2)
We choose to stop sinning because we are so moved by God's great love for us. We want to thank Him for His love and compassion by giving our lives completely to Him.
We have been bought with the very high price of Jesus' blood; shouldn't we then give ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice, which the Bible says is "holy and pleasing to God"? (Romans 12:1)
At the same time, it's important to remember that we cannot earn God's love or salvation by not sinning. He has loved us since the beginning of time and nothing can take His love away from us. He loved us while we were still deep in sin. We don't want to get caught up in the way of thinking which says that we have to stop sinning in order to make God love us. He loves us in spite of our sin.
So can we be totally free from sin? I personally don't think so. My reasoning is... when we are born again, our spirit is changed, but the flesh is still the same flesh, we must take authority over it. It still wants what it wants, it wants to go where it wants to go, do what it wants to do and then the mind sometimes goes off on it's own, it's a continual battle.
I do know we have a personal responsibility for our actions and the bible says to be a doer of the Word and not a Hearer only. So tell me, what is your input on this? I really want to know. Do you think we can be sin free? What do you think God expects of us? I have heard so many opinions on this and I know mine, I was just wondering if you would share your insights with me on the subject!!
In the meantime I will be gone for two days, but I will ck back in to see what insights you all can give me! Have a wonderful day!!
posted by Live, Love, Laugh | 2:59 AM
17 Comments:
We have a sinful nature.
We also have God's Spirit transforming us, from the inside out.
We will be, by nature, sinful creatures.
We can be, by surrendering to His Spirit, so much more than "sinners." We are "saints."
Praise be to God who has delivered us from the power of sin. It has no hold over us, He does. It has no power over us, He does. It has no promise for us, He does.
Wow! This is the very subject the Lord placed in my spirit! Can we stop? Paul said it best, when he lamented that he did the things he knew he should not, and did not do the things he knew he should. Why was that? Because sin dwelled in him. Sin dwells in all of us. It is frustrating, but it is true. It is a permanent condition of the bodies we occupy on this earth. It was our spirit that was born again, not our bodies. Now that our spirits have been regenerated, it is time for our spirits to rule our bodies, as God originally intended. So many times, though, we walk by our natural senses as opposed to walking by the spirit. And this is what life on this earth is all about, learning how to walk in our intended purpose on this earth.
Hmmm.. what a great question, and a question that has been on my heart lately.
There have been many sins that I have batteled over the years, all of which I have at one point or another turned over to God. Most have been vaporized by God (so to speak), but many have remained a constant for me.
All I can do is keep going through life taking it day by day, and pray about it. I know that God knows my heart, and I know that he loves me. I will say that it's not an easy battle that's for sure!
Thanks for visiting my site! I love your blog. I'm gonna visit often. I believe when we come to accept Christ's free gift of salvation we aren't "sinners saved by grace", but "Saints who sin". Great post! I'm adding you to my blogroll.
Your Sister In Christ,
As Ron said: The Apostle, Paul, said that the things he was supposed to do he didn't and the things he was supposed NOT to do he did. He called himself a wretched man!
I guess if Paul sinned, we probably do to. Don-cha-think?
interesting post.
Thank you.
I think we all sin. Just because we are Christian does not mean we are perfect. As has been stated, we have the Holy Spirit who convicts us when we sin. I think that we will sin until we go to be with Jesus or He comes back (whichever happens first), then we will be perfect.
Now, just becuase we are Christians does not mean that we can run around and sin on purpose "just because we are forgiven". It doesn't work that way. Yes, we will sin, and yes we will be forgiven, but it is something we should not run around and seek to do. It doesn't work that way. We are supposed to work at it, be conscious of what we are doing and saying and repenting immediately when we are aware of a sin.
I don't think that we can be sin-free. I remember as a new Christian hearing a guest speaker at church talk about not sinning anymore and being able to go through the day sin-free. I also remember hearing a commentary on Romans chapter 7 that Paul really wasn't speaking of himself when he spoke of being a wretched man because he couldn't have had that big of a sin problem. I think that both the guest speaker and the commentator were wrong. Paul is a wretched man (he also spoke of himslef a chief of sinners) and I am a wretched sinner. He who says he is without sin deceives himself. We try to sin less and less in those areas that God delivers us, but all the while, as He continues to deliver us, we become humbler and humbler, realizing how much sin is stained within the fibers of our very being - while we actually have less and less sinning behavior.
Hey Dana,
Sorry I haven't commented in a while. But here I am - and I agree wholeheartedly with your view. We cannot be completely free from sin.
This is an interesting post because I've had discussions on this issue over and over again with believers and nonbelievers.
I'm always torn between how much of it is God's grace and how much is our responsibility as Christians. We know that we're saved through grace and not works, but also faith without works is empty. What does that tell us? Faith is belief put into action. We can't just say, I believe, like the demons who believe and tremble, still living unGodly lives. There is a certain responsibility we have as believers, and God, who knows our hearts, knows how much each one of us is capable of doing. When we seek Him, we can go beyond our limit. That's the key...taking the time to seek Him daily. I honestly believe the more we are in the word, the less we will be concerned about sinning.
Okay, now I feel I have to read the Bible this morning. Thanks, Sweet! :)
Ileana
" ... be a doer of the Word and not a Hearer only." What a well written and thoughtful message.
Ditto to the above. Indwelling sin will be with us until we are glorified at Christ's return.
Until then we are being sanctified--the process of becoming perfect and Christlike.
Thank God for His grace on my best and worst "performance" days!
If you buy original sin theory, we are all born in sin.
I look at it this way: Sin is the dirt that we track all over the world. Sometimes we wipe our feet, try to step in the clean spots, but it's virtually impossible to not sin. So where does that leave us? Dirty shoes/souls. Good thing Jesus is the ultimate ShoeShine Man, huh?
Just wanted to let you know I was by your site for a visit today.
Blessings,
There is a school of thought that Pauls' 'thorn of the flesh' was his sin of lust...
We are to do our dangdest to not sin; that is a given?
Can WE? Noooooo...
Can God do it for us?
Yessssss.....
Sorry - long day, and yeah, I did sin. Lousy rep of our Lord, when I get called an abrassive smart ass...
*sigh*
Mom, as usual a good post... However, if there is anyone that is practically sin free it is you! Don't even get me started, I am always amazed at you and Dad and your level of integrity. I am always proud to be your son.
Don't work too hard tonight!
Love you!
Wow! What a commendation from Eddo. I wish my kids would/could say that about me!
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