What's my problem? Why do I keep screwing up? I don't feel like a child of God!
Romans 7:15 NKJ
"For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do."
Romans 7:19 NKJ
"For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice."
In the moment, we don't necessarily want to do what is right, but in retrospect, we hate what we did.
Interesting...
God loves us and calls us His children because we trust that Jesus is the Christ and died for our sins, but we hate what we do... and shouldn't we? (Luke 14:26)
I'm a wretch... as I pear into God's righteous character and all that the Bible calls us to, I find myself wretched. (Romans 7:24)
God agrees... we are wretched. He agrees so much that He sent a Savior to rescue us. Now we are just wretches on the outside. There's a mystery here. Prayerfully meditate on these verses...
Romans 7:22-24 NKJ
"For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"
Romans 7:25 NKJ
"I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."
1 John 1:8 NKJ
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
1 John 3:6b NKJ
"Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him."
Okay, is anyone else confused... If we say we don't sin we are a liar... so the fact is we do sin. But, whoever sins doesn't know Him. But we just established that we are His children...
Is there sin that doesn't count... sin that isn't imputed on us?
James 1:15 NKJ
"Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death."
So, desire turns into sin, which brings death, right?
1 John 5:16 & 17 NKJ
"If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death."
So, there's two different kinds of sin... sin leading to death and sin not leading to death.
Let's discuss sin a bit more. What is it?
1 John 3:4 NKJ
"Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness."
Sin is lawlessness. So, God gives us laws, we break them, and it is called sin. The law is holy, just, and good, and we wouldn't have known what sin was without the law. Before the law came, sin was dead. Without a law, there is nothing to be lawless against. Once the law came, we broke it, sin sprang to life and we were headed for hell. Then Jesus' light shone upon us, we received Him, and we were born again. He fulfilled the law on our behalf and we are no longer under the law.
Romans 7:6a NKJ
"But now we have been delivered from the law..."
If sin is lawlessness and the law is removed (fulfilled), what happens to sin?
Romans 5:13b NKJ
"...sin is not imputed when there is no law."
Romans 4:15b NKJ
"where there is no law there is no transgression."
Romans 4:8 NKJ
"Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin."
Now, wait a minute... didn't 1 John 1:8 say that we are liars if we say we have no sin?
Yes, and it's true. God clarifies through Paul...
Romans 7:25b NKJ"...with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."
We do sin in the flesh.
But with our spirits, we are slaves of righteousness (willing slaves).
Romans 6:18 NKJ
"And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
We are His children. We sin everyday in the flesh... our flesh is corrupt and it will die. Our true life is hidden in Christ and has been made righteous.
Romans 5:17 calls it a "gift of righteousness".
Romans 4:5 states that our "faith is accounted for righteousness".
God justifies those who have faith in Jesus Christ... If He provides our righteousness, He is imputing His righteousness upon us! Not some sub-par righteousness... the righteousness of God! (Romans 3:22 & 26)
Righteousness comes to us through faith, by grace.
I believe practicing righteousness means living by faith or practicing faith.
1 John 3:7 NKJ
"Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous."
Let's tie it back in. When we don't feel like a child of God, it's probably a lack of faith. We can take God at His Word when He says righteousness comes through faith, and those who believe in Jesus are born of Him.
Making a conscious choice to trust Him, and stepping out in faith... we can rest assured that we are His.
What about the dual sin thing?
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