When I first became a Christian, I thought that I would no longer have a desire to sin. I was wrong. The church that I was going to had a tendency towards holiness theology or better known as Christian perfectionism. Some of them believed that through the power of the Holy Spirit they could actually become totally righteous. They were wrong.
The Bible does not teach Christian perfectionism. What it does teach is that "There is none righteous, no, not one" Romans 3:10. Many of the prophets and patriarchs sinned against God. King David committed adultery and murder. Noah had sex with one of his daughters. Abraham had sex with Hagar. The Bible does not hide the sins and the mistakes of God's people.
The apostle Paul confessed that "For I know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwells no good thing" Romans 7:18. The "no good thing" was Paul's lower Adamic nature. Many believe that by the works of the law they can annihilate their lower Adamic nature. I wish that was true, but it is not. All that have come to Christ to be saved by him are granted the Holy Spirit. The Christian now has two natures, the nature of Christ and the nature of Adam.
These two natures are in conflict with each other. "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that you would" Galatians 5:17. If you don't have this struggle in your life, it may be that you don't have the Holy Spirit.
What is the solution to this problem? There isn't one. But there is some help for the Christian. Paul said, "Walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" Romans 8:1. What are the things of the flesh? The flesh is about us, it is about all of the things that we do. Religion is very fleshy, because religion is all about what we do. What are the things of the Spirit? The things of the Spirit are the Gospel. It concerns Jesus Christ and what he has done to justify the ungodly and reconcile us and the world unto God.
Those that have embraced the Gospel and justification by faith have a better chance at whipping their sin problem that those that are just religious. In the Gospel Jesus has ALREADY defeated sin, death and the devil. There is great power in believing that. I like to believe that "I am complete in Christ" Colossians 2:10. It gives me great peace and confidence for me to believe that I am in Christ and Christ is in heaven. Colossians 3:3.
The Bible does not teach Christian perfectionism. What it does teach is that "There is none righteous, no, not one" Romans 3:10. Many of the prophets and patriarchs sinned against God. King David committed adultery and murder. Noah had sex with one of his daughters. Abraham had sex with Hagar. The Bible does not hide the sins and the mistakes of God's people.
The apostle Paul confessed that "For I know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwells no good thing" Romans 7:18. The "no good thing" was Paul's lower Adamic nature. Many believe that by the works of the law they can annihilate their lower Adamic nature. I wish that was true, but it is not. All that have come to Christ to be saved by him are granted the Holy Spirit. The Christian now has two natures, the nature of Christ and the nature of Adam.
These two natures are in conflict with each other. "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that you would" Galatians 5:17. If you don't have this struggle in your life, it may be that you don't have the Holy Spirit.
What is the solution to this problem? There isn't one. But there is some help for the Christian. Paul said, "Walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" Romans 8:1. What are the things of the flesh? The flesh is about us, it is about all of the things that we do. Religion is very fleshy, because religion is all about what we do. What are the things of the Spirit? The things of the Spirit are the Gospel. It concerns Jesus Christ and what he has done to justify the ungodly and reconcile us and the world unto God.
Those that have embraced the Gospel and justification by faith have a better chance at whipping their sin problem that those that are just religious. In the Gospel Jesus has ALREADY defeated sin, death and the devil. There is great power in believing that. I like to believe that "I am complete in Christ" Colossians 2:10. It gives me great peace and confidence for me to believe that I am in Christ and Christ is in heaven. Colossians 3:3.