Remnants of Sin

“Nothing grieves me so much as that I cannot live constantly to God’s glory.”

Jonathan Edwards

In the life of every Christian we will undoubtedly suffer setbacks due to sin that remains in our flesh. It’s no real surprise to speak with a brother or sister who is feeling down due to their often times pitiful walk. Daily we are reminded that we are nothing without God. Our greatest times of holiness are a direct result of God alone working in us, and our most dreadful times of unrighteousness shows a lack of belief remaining in us.

I find myself grieving many times over choices I make that are contrary to God. I know I’m not alone in this. I can go directly to Scripture and find so many instances where Saints of old cried out to God with a grieving heart due to sin in their lives.

For example, the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 7:15 “For I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate”. Paul is describing fallible man by talking of his own struggles. The impulses our fleshly nature has sometimes overrides the new regenerate nature within us. These words of Paul would be the words of all if we are honest.

Consider King David’s actions with Bathsheba and his prayer of repentance in Psalm 51. Some say that David was in an unsaved state when he sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba, but scripture seems to point the other way. First David says in Psalm 51:2-4 “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is evil in Your sight”. David recognizes he has sinned, and his sin is against God.

Then a little later King David says in Psalm 51:10-12 “Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit”. Notice he asks God to “renew a steadfast spirit” and then “restore to me the joy of Your salvation”. This points to David being already in a state of salvation, just as the Apostle Paul, and failing in his duty to glorify and honor God. The remnants of the sin nature was still giving both men problems.

It’s no different today. We do what we know we shouldn’t, and we do not do that which we know we should. We are more advanced in life than both David and Paul by having access to God’s complete and final word at any moment, but we still fail in the same ways.

The moment we take our eyes away from God we are liable to fall instantly. Sometimes just the slightest glance away will send one into a terrible string of sins that seems to great to recover from. We need to recognize these times and what leads us to them. Every day working to clear our path of things likely to cause us to stumble. We need to remain in prayer and trust God will see us through, but we should never just stay stagnant,we must take action and work to rid ourselves of sin. The Christian life is a path that must be walked, not an escalator. We must live a life of constant repentance because sanctification is a lifelong process and we will fail at times until that final day when God brings His church home, fully sanctified and fully glorified.