Last week we discussed the problems of sin as an ends and sin as a means. I described sin as an ends, due to temptations from the world, the flesh, and the Devil whereby we are filled with a sinful desire for something and act upon it. We usually rationalize this in advance, claiming that we have license to sin for one reason or the other. I also detailed sin as a means, where we commit sin along the way to a worthy and Godly goal. It is the way that we try and achieve that goal that results in sin. We usually rationalize that form of sin in retrospect, claiming that we were only trying to do the right thing. I find that form of sin much, much more difficult to identify and control, because our judgement is clouded by our focus on the good we are trying to accomplish.
There could be many examples of these sins, and I am sure that upon reflection you could easily describe some. For example, if you give in to a sinful desire to gamble irresponsibly because you love the sensual pleasure of gambling, that is sin as an ends. You desire to sin, and somehow you justify it as not really such a big deal. But suppose you are in a position of stewardship of funds for an organization, and you make a risky investment to "hit the jackpot" and obtain financial security. Your judgement is clouded by your goal, which is a good one. When the investment goes bust, you then utter some of the saddest words I know: "I was only trying to help."
Or in the example I used last week, this would be the difference between driving to the adult bookstore for pornography and driving to church for worship, and cursing the driver that cut you off on the way to the pews. "I was only trying to get to church, God."
How do we get victory over the sin nature in our lives? Only Christ had immunity to the world, the flesh, and the Devil. When a patient comes to me with coronary artery disease, I have to explain to them that I will do coronary bypass surgery on them and take a piece of vein from their leg and route blood from the aorta to the coronary artery below the blockage, thereby bypassing it. I also take great care to tell them that they have an underlying disease process called arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. My procedure is a treatment for the disease, not a cure. They will have to change their life and lifestyle to obtain victory over this disease, and change their diet, cholesterol intake, and exercise habits. They will have to take lipid-lowering medications and cease smoking. They will always have a tendency to form these blockages, and must try and slow the process down, lest they develop more obstructions in their coronary arteries or bypass grafts.
Likewise, a sin nature is a chronic disease. There is no vaccination to provide immunity. There are only measures we can take to control the disease, to treat it. We will only be cured when we reach Heaven. And like arteriosclerosis, it cannot be cured by willpower alone. We can change our life and lifestyle, but only Christ can provide the cure, and that final cure awaits us us we cross over the threshold to our eternal life in Him.
Now here is the unpleasant part. Christ has the power to give you to obtain victory over your sin nature. But simply asking for it is not enough, even if you have a saving relationship with Him. As Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones put it, "Do not agonize in prayer beseeching Him for power. Do what He has told you to do. Live the Christian life." Well, again, that seems straightforward enough. Go and sin no more.
But there is a real secret you must know if you desire Christ's power.
There are two old quotations that come to mind. One is from Lord Acton, and goes, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." The second is an ancient proverb, possibly from Euripides, "Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power." So you can see the danger of power. It is corrupting and leads to destruction in the wrong hands. And there is no power stronger than Christ's. He cannot give His power to those who would misuse it, and He cannot give it absolutely.
Christ will only give His power to the humble. As the Bible says in James 4:6, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." God is not going to endow his perfect and magnificent power, the power to create a universe and destroy cities, the power to heal illnesses and change history, the power to save to eternal life and to defeat Satan, to someone who is not a worthy steward of that power. He will only give that power to someone who has the necessary attribute of humility. He cannot entrust it to someone that cannot be trusted with it.
And, being the brilliant writer and theologian that I am, next time I will tell you how to have that humility.
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