Why sin is difficult to shake off

sermonindex Aug 8, 2006

At first thought, I intended only to post this quote that I found on the SermonIndex homepage. I know that it is there for everyone to see, but I didn't want anyone to miss it! However, when I thought about it, I hope you will bear with me and get some help from what I say.

'Sin is naturally exceeding dear to us; to part with it is compared to plucking out our right eyes. But this we must do, if we would follow those that are truly turning to God; yea, we must forsake all the world.' - Jonathan Edwards.

Why is sin so difficult to shake off? I don't claim to be a theological genius or clever writer, however I do know what it is like to fail. I myself have tried countless times to throw away everything which would lead me to sin or cause me to lose focus of God.

I have, for many years, struggled with an ongoing sin. This is a sin which, despite my long struggle, makes me feel sick. When I give in to Satan and the cry of my flesh, I feel terrible. I feel alone. I feel empty and I feel useless.

I want to put this idea forward: as Edwards says, getting rid of sin is like getting rid of our right eyes. But why is this significant? Because, I want to propose that sin IS our right eye. We have become so flippant with it, so easy to allow it, that it has become like a part of our body. But, as Edwards goes on to say, we must throw away all sin (pluck out our right eyes) in order to have a truly deep and intimate relationship with our Maker.

Think. If we were to actually go ahead and pluck our right eyes out, would it not hurt? Indeed it would. I believe that the same applies for sin aswell. Sadly, we would all like to think otherwise, but we know deep down that there is certain sin that we have got used to. So of course it would hurt to get rid of it. I can draw on personal experience here, because whenever I have tried to shake off my sin, it has hurt. I have felt uneasy.

I do not boast about this, because I know that sin must be pretty central to my life for it to hurt so much. I could not take the pain, and so I didn't. I let the sin stay. However, we must push through the pain, because whilst at the time it may indeed hurt, the hurt is nothing compared with the relationship with God which would come about afterwards.

I wish to propose something: that we all push through the pain. Let us all throw away our sin, break off our shackles and loosen our chains. It may hurt, however the end product will be incredible - a better relationship with Christ!

Remember also, we are not alone in our struggle. Whether you feel it or not, God is with us. God is our strength. God is our help. You cannot always rely on feelings. If you feel distant from God, it doesn't mean you are. Base faith on the facts, not the feelings.

I hope that my thoughts have not been useless.

Let the church be filled with screaming, as each one of us plucks out our right eyes, stands up to the pain, rids ourselves of sin and walks closer with the Lord. Hallelujah!

sermonindex Aug 8, 2006

One doesn't shake off sin. One is to crucify it; put the axe to the root, so to speak.

When it rears up because we haven't and are again lead away by our own lust, Jesus says: "Who do you love more, Me or it?"

Orm

L

Logic Aug 9, 2006

exelent post Ormly.

Think of the Children of Israel; They remembered their bondage and only the good thing of it.
~~[b]~~Numbers 11:5[/b] [color=990000]We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:[/color]
Yum.

Our problem is this; we remember the joy that our sin brought us, though it was false joy.

Then we are decieved to go back to sin.

B

Backrow Aug 9, 2006

I don't believe we can shake this sinful nature of ours. But we are free from the rule that sin had over us. I think of Rom. 6:17-18. As I grow in Christ. I see that God has given Himself to us. So that we can be slaves to righteousness. So why is it so difficult to shake sin? Or is that a trick question. Can anyone ever shake this sinful nature on this earth? See 1 John 1:8. I think of Martian Luther, who would confess for hours his sins.

Oh, LORD come quickly. What a wicked and sinful people we are. Thank You for your Son. Who died for my sins, once and for all. Amen

J

JoeA Aug 9, 2006

I don't believe we can shake this sinful nature of ours.

We can't, but God crucified our flesh in Christ on the Cross. "Knowing that our old man was crucified with Him. . . reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin."

Romans 6; Galatians 2:20

C

Combat_Chuck Aug 9, 2006

Backrow wrote:
I don't believe we can shake this sinful nature of ours.

You're right... It is impossible for man... but with God, all things are possible.

Z

ZekeO Aug 9, 2006

Backrow wrote:
I don't believe we can shake this sinful nature of ours.

Is it not maybe because we are still living under the tutorship of the law?

N

npautsky Aug 9, 2006

I do not boast about this, because I know that sin must be pretty central to my life for it to hurt so much. I could not take the pain, and so I didn't. I let the sin stay. However, we must push through the pain, because whilst at the time it may indeed hurt, the hurt is nothing compared with the relationship with God which would come about afterwards.

Brother,

I think you are on to something here. I believe that once we swallow this bitter pill that we will be much enabled to walk the straight path.

"The cross of Christ is the most inconvienient thing in the world, it took Jesus out on a hill and killed him there, and it will inconvienience you too." A.W. Tozer

You know how Jesus made it through his cross? He prayed his way through it, he was in agonizing prayer right up until the time that Judas led the mob to him. That's the answer for us too brother, we can pray our way out of any sin problem. (It would have been sin for Jesus not to die on the cross, hence the verse which refers to Jesus and others - Ye have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin). If we cover the sin problem in prayer daily and not let up, it won't be long before God has done his work in us and kept his promise "If you ask anything in my name, I will do it." and we will be walking in victory over that old sin problem and we will have a little more faith to endure the next dealing of the Lord in our lives. This is not some theory of mine but the tried and true Biblical reality of the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is good news indeed to a person like myself who has been blessed with so many opportunities to test this Gospel and see whether or not it really works. Gospel 1, heroin 0, - Gospel 1, cigarettes 0 - Gospel 1, lust of the eyes 0 - and believe it or not Gospel 1, gluttony 0 - Gospel 1, a lot of other stuff 0 - Gospel 1, devil 0. At present I am consiously at war through prayer with pride, slothfulness and a few other things, but I can already tell you what the outcome is going to be, unless of course God sovereignly takes away the Spirit of prayer out of my life, then of course I have real problems. This not to say that the Lord cannot deliver you out of a sin problem by somebody elses prayers or by you responding to a message at church, or by just sovereignly reaching out and touching your life and healing you, but I believe the day in day out method of victory is perservering personal prayer and agonizing unto repentance. (Edit: added "and agonizing unto repentance" to the last sentence to more clearly express my thought.)

sermonindex Aug 9, 2006

It still comes down to who do you love more, your sin or Jesus? If you are not born again His Life is not in you so it really doesn't matter much about your "personal" sin~~[s]~~. However, if you are born again His life is in you and "quenching the Spirit" now becomes the issue and is much more serious because of the ~~[u]~~lasting effects[/u]. So who do you love more, your old "self" nature that objects or the new one of Jesus who says "Follow Me"? God would say, "Gird up your loins and be a man!"

It all comes down to choosing which God/god you will serve.

Of course you could always opt out for a "McMyers" church and, in your mind, compromise away the deal by listening to a preacher who gladly will "shag" you.

But:

"He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and ~~[b]~~I will not erase his name from the book of life[/b], and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels." Rev. 3:5 (NASB-U)

Orm