Through the justifying work of God in Christ, applied to the sinner,
the sanctifying reformation of a new creation begins to take place. Nor
is it that this sanctifying work begins with minuscule magnitude.
by William Harrell
How is a true Christian to view his sin? By what measure should he judge
its nature, its magnitude, its effects and consequences, as well as its
power? There are two prominent but equally wrong ways in which believers
understand the sin in their lives.
Mr Libertine reckons that he is justified by the atoning death of Christ,
and that all his sins-past, present, and future-have been forgiven by
God.
There is truth in this reckoning. All the sins of any believer have been
imputed to Christ, and their penalty paid for by Christ. But justification
is not the whole truth of salvation. It is through sanctification that
the
perfect, sinless, and righteous character of Christ is imparted to us.
Mr
Libertine leaves the process of sanctification out of his reckoning. He
lives with a cavalier attitude toward his sin, thinking that since it
is
all forgiven, it therefore is of no consequence.
At the opposite extreme stands Mr Legalist. He acknowledges with his
lips
but denies with his heart that Christ has accomplished a full and free
justification. Mr Legalist is too proud fully to accept such amazing divine
grace. He also underestimates the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit,
viewing it as making little progress in transforming the sinner into an
actually holy saint.
Mr Libertine views his sin as non-existent. In his claim to make much
of
the atoning work of Jesus, he actually reduces the infinite cost our God
bore in His accomplishment of redemption to a facile charm that does away
with sin. The libertine speaks glibly of his sin being under the blood,
but
fails to consider that his sin was so great that its forgiveness required
the death of the Son of God.
Mr Legalist views his sin as Lady MacBeth viewed her damned spot of
murderous guilt, the indelible nature of which she declared with the words:
All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Mr Legalist
hears that the death of Christ has made a monumental difference for the
believer, but he does not believe it. He covers himself not in the
cleansing blood of Jesus, but rather in the rags of self-effort, while
he
fills his mind and heart not with the Word and Spirit of God, but with
ceaseless self-loathing.
If these ways of a Christian understanding his sins are wrong, what,
then,
is the right view we should have of our sin? The biblical view of man
prior
to his regeneration is that he is altogether sinful. The common sentiment
that God loves the sinner while He hates the sin is fallacious because
it
fails to understand that sin comes only from sinners. We sin because we
are
sinners. If God hates all sin, then He must hate sinners, the source of
all
sin. The pre-regenerate sinner can do and desires to do nothing but sin.
Radically different is the matter after regeneration. Through the
justifying work of God in Christ, applied to the sinner, the sanctifying
reformation of a new creation begins to take place. Nor is it that this
sanctifying work begins with minuscule magnitude. The regenerate man has
at
the moment of his new birth not only a fully justified status before God,
but also a new heart (Ezek. 36:26), with new appetites, new loves, and
new
hatreds. Mr Believer, who previously loved his sin and despised God, now
has undergone a complete revolution, wherein he loves righteousness and
hates evil (Rom. 12:9). For him, all things are new (2 Cor. 5:17). He
has
God dwelling in Him by the Holy Spirit, prompting him lovingly to cry
to
God as his loving Father (Rom. 8:15), and working within him, causing
him
to will and to do God's good pleasure (Phil. 2:12,13).
Is Mr Believer, therefore, sinless? No, and if he thinks he is and says
so,
he is a liar (1 Jn. 1:8). But for him, the sinner he was has been killed,
and he must contend only with the corpse, from whose dominion he has been
released (Rom. 6:6,7,11). Paul works this out fully in Rom. 7:12-25. For
the apostle-as for any believer-sin is a dead remnant, no longer an
animated and animating power. David confesses his sin to God in Ps. 6
in
terms of a disease: Heal me, 0 Lord, for my bones are dismayed. One can
love a man and hate his disease precisely because the disease is not
essential to the man, and the man himself hates the disease that afflicts
him.
Mr Believer's sin can grieve his God, but never anger Him. It can make
the
believer miserable, but never separate him from the love of God in Christ.
It can defile him, but only temporarily, as believers are bound to stand
before the throne of God's glory blameless and with great joy (Jude 24).
Therefore, we must never make light of our sin, for it is a terrible thing
to grieve our heavenly Father, and it is unpleasant to bring misery upon
ourselves. But neither should we make too much of our sin, esteeming it
as
a living and dynamic power sure to dominate us until the day we die. Our
sin is but a rotting corpse, and, as such, a nuisance with which we must
contend, but not a master against whose domination we cannot prevail.
Let
us, then, neither deny nor deify our sin. Let us take sin seriously; but
let us take the saving blood of Jesus more seriously.
