The Joys of Sin Management

Okay, that’s it, I resign. I’m sick of sin management. I hear people using words like victory and breakthrough and I have no idea what they are talking about. When I focus on my sinful behaviors (for a complete list see Galatians 5:19) I begin to feel defeated and stuck. The first step in recovery is: “We admitted we were powerless over our addiction – that our lives had become unmanageable.”

So, there it is. I admit that I am powerless over my sin! I have no will power, and very little self-control. I cannot control my angry responses, they seem to have a life of their own! And don’t forget my self-righteousness and pride. Wait a minute, I better stop my confessional there. I completely identify with Paul when he says:

“…The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.” (Rom. 7:14-20, NLT via Biblegateway.com)

I know that most of us think Paul was kidding. That he didn’t have any really big sin problems. He wasn’t involved in the biggies: adultery, sexual immorality or for that matter, a homosexual lifestyle. He probably just drank coffee, yes, in some circles that is a sin along with drinking any kind of alcohol. Well, I have to come to the conclusion that Paul was not kidding. That the more he walked with Christ, the more he saw his own shortcomings.

I am sick of living a sin, shame, guilt, sorrow, confession cycle. Where is the joy in that? I begin to feel like I am simply hanging on by my fingernails. There is no way that this can be good news. Yes, Christ died for our sins, but we are stuck with getting rid of them.

Paul agrees with my miserable condition: “I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.” (Rom. 7:21-25 NLT via Biblegateway.com)

If you want to read more about Paul’s answer to sin management, read Romans Chapter 8. Thank God we are not stuck in the spin cycle of sin management. “So Christ has truly set us free,” Paul proclaims in Galatians 5:1 (NLT). He concludes in Romans 8:35-39: “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Now, this is good news. God is with me and he loves me, what more do I need? I can live a spirit-filled life in all circumstances and turn the job of sin management over to God. He is powerful enough to handle it!