Resisting Sin: What's the Point?
2. It shows the life and love of Christ to those who DO know Him.
A lot of times, there is a false assumption that once you become a Christian, then immediately your life will become picture-perfect, everything will start going well for you, and it will be smiles and rainbows from now until death. The Christian life is not easy. Therefore, it is very helpful for believers to have Christ-like examples among their community to look towards, so that they can better see the ultimate example that is Jesus. Paul speaks of this in 1 Cor. 4:12-17, saying to follow his example as he follows Christ's example. We do have freedom in Christ, however we are to persevere as living examples to other believers around us. If you were constantly living in unrepentant sin, how would that demonstrate and celebrate the transforming work that God has done in your heart?
3. It shows the life and love of Christ to YOU.
If you've ever tried one day to say to yourself, "I won't do [insert sin here] today", sometimes you see success and then can rejoice in the redemptive work that the Gospel has done in your heart! This is a point at which we can worship our Lord, and celebrate His glory with Him. Sometimes though, we don't even see success in this tiny period of time we've set for ourselves, and in times like this the wicked nature of our hearts is further revealed to us. This repetitive rebellion that we seem to frequently choose over God is a continual reminder to us that at our core, we are not "good people", and that we cannot even live up to the imperfect and incomplete standards that we set for ourselves. It is a reminder that in contrast to our imperfect wickedness, Christ is absolutely perfect in his domination and eradication of our sin, of which we could never do ourselves. So therefore resisting sin is an opportunity for us to both glorify God by following His commands and to draw us into further reverence of Christ's redeeming death on the cross.
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Resisting all sin is not, and will never be easy. We are born into rebellion, and redemption of our hearts is impossible by human effort. If all that God required for "perfection" was for us to go to a certain building every week, read a certain book every day, and be nice to people most of the time, that is a goal that many people could actually accomplish in their lifetimes. However doing these good things does not destroy the sin that has been with us since the Garden of Eden. Only the death of Christ can bring true redemption. Living a life free of sin is impossible for us imperfect people.
Resisting the temptation to sin is an opportunity to bring glory to the Father, by showing the redeeming power of the Son's death, through the strength given to us by the Holy Spirit.
As humans, we all have a general sense to try to not do bad stuff. We all inherently know that we probably shouldn't lie, cheat, and steal, and it probably isn't a good idea to punch that guy who's talking really loudly on his phone on the bus. But as Christians, we are called to do more than just "not do bad stuff". Instead, we are called to be "holy and blameless before him", "flee from idolatry", and to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength".
Sounds impossible, right?
That's because [spoiler alert], it is. That's the whole reason why Christ came! If people could muster up enough strength and resolve to live lives that are perfect and sinless (not just one that do "more good than bad"), then there would be absolutely no reason for Jesus to come here and die in the first place. But the Bible is clear in saying that no one is righteous.
Okay great, so we know that people are sinful, and our only hope for salvation is the blood of Christ (also known as "the best news you could possibly ever hear"). Then if nothing I do can save me, then why try at all? If all of my sins are going to be paid for by Christ's perfect death, then why shouldn't I just keep on sinning? Paul has a few words to say about this in his letter to the Romans.
"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?"
Romans 6: 1-2
So we still have yet to look at how resisting sin brings us much benefit today. Here are 3 ways:
1. It shows the life and love of Christ to those who DON'T know Him.
Normally I'm not a huge fan of "coffee mug Christian phrases", cheesy phrases that are often overused, watered down, and marginally Biblical. But one that seems to fit in this category, but I believe instead holds some Gospel-truth is that you may be the only Jesus that someone sees. This is not to say that you could be someone's savior, or that your do-good life could somehow pay for someone else's sin, but the fact of the matter is that in today's individualistic and increasingly secular culture, unless someone walks themselves into a church, they probably won't hear the name Jesus proclaimed. Resisting sin, loving people, and living as Christ lived shows a transformed heart that is against things of this world and proclaims things above. We see a great example of this in the life of the early church in Acts.
A lot of times, there is a false assumption that once you become a Christian, then immediately your life will become picture-perfect, everything will start going well for you, and it will be smiles and rainbows from now until death. The Christian life is not easy. Therefore, it is very helpful for believers to have Christ-like examples among their community to look towards, so that they can better see the ultimate example that is Jesus. Paul speaks of this in 1 Cor. 4:12-17, saying to follow his example as he follows Christ's example. We do have freedom in Christ, however we are to persevere as living examples to other believers around us. If you were constantly living in unrepentant sin, how would that demonstrate and celebrate the transforming work that God has done in your heart?
3. It shows the life and love of Christ to YOU.
If you've ever tried one day to say to yourself, "I won't do [insert sin here] today", sometimes you see success and then can rejoice in the redemptive work that the Gospel has done in your heart! This is a point at which we can worship our Lord, and celebrate His glory with Him. Sometimes though, we don't even see success in this tiny period of time we've set for ourselves, and in times like this the wicked nature of our hearts is further revealed to us. This repetitive rebellion that we seem to frequently choose over God is a continual reminder to us that at our core, we are not "good people", and that we cannot even live up to the imperfect and incomplete standards that we set for ourselves. It is a reminder that in contrast to our imperfect wickedness, Christ is absolutely perfect in his domination and eradication of our sin, of which we could never do ourselves. So therefore resisting sin is an opportunity for us to both glorify God by following His commands and to draw us into further reverence of Christ's redeeming death on the cross.
_______
Resisting all sin is not, and will never be easy. We are born into rebellion, and redemption of our hearts is impossible by human effort. If all that God required for "perfection" was for us to go to a certain building every week, read a certain book every day, and be nice to people most of the time, that is a goal that many people could actually accomplish in their lifetimes. However doing these good things does not destroy the sin that has been with us since the Garden of Eden. Only the death of Christ can bring true redemption. Living a life free of sin is impossible for us imperfect people.
Resisting the temptation to sin is an opportunity to bring glory to the Father, by showing the redeeming power of the Son's death, through the strength given to us by the Holy Spirit.
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