Many ask. How can .."I"...stop sinning? That seems to be the problem. We in ourselves cannot stop. Paul in Romans ch 6 asks the question. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?(grace the power that puts us over sin) His next question is ..How shall we who are dead to sin(the sin nature) live any longer there in? It is obvious here that Paul is talking about something much deeper than just the evidence of the fruit of sin. Its the very nature of the sin in us, which is evidenced by its fruit of actions in our everyday lives if we do not understand how Faith in Christ and what He did on the cross......makes us dead to our sin nature, which in turn brings forth its fruit. The fact that one is trying to overcome sin (Romans ch 7) as Paul did through his own efforts shows the wrong object of ones faith in deliverance from the sin nature. Paul finally came to the end of himself and asked who shall deliver me from tbis body of death? Then finally he readjusted his belief system, and at the end of Romans ch 7 He realized the power of faith in Christ sets us free from the sin nature. Paul then continues in the next chapter, Romans ch 8 For the law of the Spirit of Life IN Christ Jesus .....has made me free from the law of sin and death. Keeping ones faith simply in what Christ did on the cross for us seems to be the biggest challenge. In a performance world we want control. Maybe its time we rethink how we believe.
Barry
