But For Christ

Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more.  Death no longer has dominion over Him.  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV

One of the greatest stumbling blocks we will ever face as Christians is our own sin issue.  I know the story all too well.  It is my sin that keeps me at a distance from God.  My own sins precipitated the painful journey of Christ to the cross.  Maybe I wasn't there in the flesh, but my damned sinful nature was.  I'm as dirty as any sinner who has ever walked the earth.  Somehow I must walk with my head held low while shouldering the burden of my own iniquities.  How could God ever love such a sinner as me?  Indeed, that is the question I've asked myself many times over.  If you're like me, you will drive yourself nuts struggling to come to grips with your own sin.  What must I do for God to see me as anything but a sinner {Romans 3:23}?  Am I destined for a life of continually praying for my own forgiveness?  Well, if you follow the line of traditional Christian teaching, then you will more than likely continue to struggle with your sin issue.  However, I pose to you a question.  If one tax season the IRS sent you a letter claiming that your previous years tax burden had been erased, what would your reaction be?  Would you question their reasoning?  Would you continue to pay as if nothing had happened?  Well, if you follow traditional Christian teachings, not only would you pay this imaginary debt but feel guilty for having done so.  Traditional doctrine tells us that Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.  However, traditional CHURCH teaching compels us to continue to seek forgiveness for something which Jesus has already provided for.  It is true that Jesus never asks us to continually offer prayers to the Father for our forgiveness.  That debt has been paid in full...the letter has been sent.  What remains are children of god who have had the shackles of sin lifted from their lives...yet seldom do we realize it.  I get it.  I used to count myself among the crowd of sinners saved by Gods grace.  Believing that He washed away my sins, yet never realizing what that really meant for me.   The teaching hasn't changed, but it's the teaching that opened my eyes to what I had been missing all along.  One Easter Sunday, after celebrating Christs resurrection, the pastor asked his congregation to come forward if they felt that there was any unresolved sin in their life.  It was if a lightbulb had been turned on.  Here was the pastor asking me to confess my sins right after his sermon on Jesus dying on the cross for the forgiveness of those same sins.  I walked away and never looked back.

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our only but also for the whole world.
1 John 2: 2 NKJV

This issue of struggling with our sin will continue to haunt us until we learn the reality of sin itself.  To me, sin is something a pastor will use to get me to see that I still need him and his church.  For others who don't know the reality of sin, it's a daily struggle.  So, why would you continue to accept something which no longer exists?   The apostle Paul tells us in Romans that Christ has put sin to death {Romans 6: 6-11}.  This was all part of the death of Christ Jesus on the cross.  At the cross, Jesus became sin in order that sin would be put to death {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  Indeed, those sins which once haunted us, are now dead and gone never to return.  For what Christ has put to death can never be resurrected.  Well, you would think so, right?  Except that each and every day well meaning Christians continue to resurrect that which Jesus put to rest.  It's here where some confusion may lie.  If Christ has put my sins to death, why do I continue to behave badly?  Good question.  Are our own bad behaviors still sin?  Remember that Christ has already put our sins to death.  Why do we continue digging up the bones of that which is dead?  Because it sounds good when we try to explain how we behave.  We count as sin the harsh words we say to others.  We count as sin the lust we feel towards the neighbors wife.  It's as if Satan gave us the shovel and told us where to dig up our long dead sins.  For the longer he keeps us in fear of our sins, the longer he keeps us in bondage to them.  Well, those chains have been broken long ago!  What's left are simply memories of what once was.  So what of those behaviors we like to call sin?  Well, they're not sin, so what are they?  Honestly, it's my belief that when we behave wrongly we are simply forgetting who it is we really are.  Who are we?  We are the manifestation of the risen Christ.  It is Christ Jesus who now lives through us {Galatians 2:20}.  Don't worry about God not being able to be in sins presence.  But for Christ, sin would still be an issue.

~Scott~