There is one heavy weight that many Christians bear that weighs them down, and that is feeling the guilt of sin, even sins that they have confessed and repented of, sometimes even many times over. Newer Christians often feel this way, though sometimes even older Christians still carry this weight. Christians often wrestle with this when they feel drawn to any particular sin they struggle with. They wonder why, when they wish to follow the Lord, do they still feel drawn or tempted by certain sins. This was something that even the Apostle Paul faced, and something that he addresses in our Scripture passage today.
As Paul begins our passage for today, he describes the battle that goes on within many believers (vs. 21-25). The believer’s new nature no longer sides with sin, but instead sides with God. As we strive to reckon our sin nature dead, it crops up and wages war with our desire to obey God. Paul was often very frustrated with himself and the sin nature that kept a hold of him. Though believers are saved, the sin nature is still there, continually inclining towards thoughts and deeds that yield only to death. Whenever Paul felt discouraged by this draw and inclination that sin had, he would remember that Jesus had freed him from its power. He knew God’s holiness and longed to be rescued from his sinful flesh.
We often feel guilty about sins we’ve committed, even if we’ve confessed and repented of them. The devil tries to bring us down, throwing condemnation at us. We feel the guilt within ourselves, and others will be sure to toss it our way. Paul felt that way, himself. However, God revealed to him a special truth, which he shares with us in chapter 8, verse 1, and that is there is “no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus”, that when we’ve accepted the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we will not be condemned for our sins, as Jesus has paid the price. Satan tries to plague us with guilt for sins which we have been forgiven of. This will discourage us from obeying the Lord, and from enjoying His abundant life.
If we are believers, our sin is completely forgiven. When we accept Jesus as Savior, God then declares us “not guilty”, and sets us free from the death row that sin had placed us on. Without Jesus we would have no hope at all. No sin that a born-again believer can commit - past, present, or future - can be held against us since the penalty was paid by Jesus Christ, and His righteousness is imputed to us. Believers are clothed in righteousness through His Blood, and will not face divine wrath. No sin will ever reverse this divine legal decision. When Jesus went to the cross on our behalf, He lifted the blame from our shoulders, and made us righteous before God. Feelings of condemnation come from Satan. The Christian’s sins are wiped clean and we are chosen and loved by God. Condemnation is reserved for those who reject Jesus.
The Old Testament Law was powerless to produce righteousness (vs. 3). Blood had to be shed before sins could be pardoned (Leviticus 17:11). Animal blood could not really remove sins (Hebrews 10:4), and the presence of sin renders the believer powerless to do what the Old Testament Law demands. God’s condemnation against sin was fully poured out on the sinless Son of God. Jesus’ shed blood would pay the penalty for our sins.
The struggle to live the Christian life is a real one, and if we try to do it in our own strength, it will be a losing battle. However, as we allow the Holy Spirit to, He will give us the power we need to live the Christian life. People are in one of two categories - those who are controlled by their sinful nature, and those who follow after the Holy Spirit (vs. 5-6). We can have our mind and life controlled by our flesh and sin nature, or we can be spiritually minded and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is a spiritual battle that Satan is waging for control of our mind, because the way we think determines how we will behave. Our weapon is the Holy Scriptures. Fight back against Satan with God’s Holy Word.
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