A thought came to my mind this morning about our struggle with sin, and our receptiveness to condemnation. Two recent activities have helped me put this concept in a clearer light.
There are a couple of understandings of sin and repentance in Christian circles today. There is a group which believes that when you repent and come to Christ, you are saved, but your repentance must involve not only turning away from sin, but actually, in this belief system, you must stop sinning or else your repentance isn't genuine. I have figured out now who this group of Christians is. They are Christians who follow the theology of Pelagius, a man who lived in the 5th Century and contended with Augustine of Hippo.
The reason this is important to know is that many Christians today, perhaps unintentionally, are embracing Pelagianism, and bringing harm to the body of Christ. The way this looks in the circles of Christians I know, goes like this; " If you are really saved (are truly a Christian) then you will not sin anymore."It makes sense, only if you believe the teachings of Pelagius, for he did not believe in original sin. He does not believe we are born with sinful natures. Pelagius believed that we are born with the same kind of nature that Adam had when God created him, not the kind of nature Adam received after the fall. This is important to realize because the way Pelagians believe people are saved is by their 'free will' in choosing to come to God. The problem is that first of all, we don't have free will to come to God, and, the sinful nature we inherited from Adam was passed down to all of us, and we are all captives to sin. Pelagians don't believe this, and many Christians today do not believe we are born with sinful hearts.
So, how does this tie in with our struggle with sin? When a person truly turns away from sin and comes to Christ in repentance and faith, the Bible says that he or she becomes a new creation in Christ. This person now has a new heart, with new desires and also God gives the power and grace to this person to live a holy life. The person who is a new creation in Christ also has, what the Bible calls, 'the flesh' to contend with. The person who has come to Christ now is in a battle against his flesh, the devil, and the desires and pull of the world. He or she will continue to struggle in this battle until the day of his or her death. Then the person is free from struggle. In the next life, after the resurrection, God will give new bodies to men and women, and this struggle against sin will be permanently over.
There are some 'Christians' who hold openly to the doctrine of Pelagius. But this is dangerous to Christians who are battling against sin and having a hard struggle. Let me give you an example that is very common. Many, many people come to Christ who smoke. These people are addicted to nicotine. They enjoy the habit of smoking, but when they come to Christ, they do want to quit. That is a good desire. They feel guilty for smoking, yet they are powerless to quit. Many go on for years in secret condemnation for fear of what other Christians might think of him or her. Occasionally, some of these people do quit, and others are miraculously delivered from the habit of smoking.
If these Christians who smoke find themselves around Pelagian believing Christians, they will probably receive condemnation from them. Although I don't think Pelagians actually believe in 'sinless perfection' once a person is saved, they do believe in self-sufficiency when it comes to the area of sanctification. (Sanctification is the process of growing and developing as a Christian. It involves God working His grace in a person's heart who has trusting in the death of Jesus to pay for his or her sins). From what I can tell by my studying Pelagians, they seem to have a works mentality for salvation, i.e. you must stop sinning in order to come to Christ. They also have a surfacy understanding of sin, which involves sin being defined as evil activities like committing adultery or killing someone. They do not see sin as springing out of the heart. Issues like pride and self-centeredness are not addressed in Pelagian theology. So, Pelagians would see Christians who smoke as sinners doomed to hell, because smoking is an outward activity that looks evil, but they do not see the pride that is in their own hearts as sin.
Many who struggle with sin feel under condemnation simply because the Christians who are around him or her think like Pelagians. What we have to do is go back to what the Bible says. The book of John says that a true believer will not continue in sin. This epistle of John also explains that when a Christian sins, he or she has an Advocate for their sin, who is Jesus Christ. The key with the person who is a Christian who sins is not that he or she doesn't struggle with sin, but, does that person love the Lord and is he or she growing spiritually in the things of God? Struggling with sin (or against sin, rather) is now part of the new Christian's life that wasn't there prior to conversion.
I know there are many professing believers who are in sin, who truly aren't Christians yet. They are in another category. Sometimes, it is hard to tell the difference between a struggling Christian and a false convert who is using God's grace as an excuse for continuing in sin. But God can make it all clear to us and He can help us to look at our own hearts.
If you are a Christian who is struggling to please God and wish to be free from your sin struggles, take heart. God is for you. It might take a long time to be free from addictions, habits,, and other things that hold us captive, but God is stronger and is for you. Do not receive condemnation from the Enemy of your soul. Continue to grow in the graces that God has provided you with today. All the other things will take care of themselves in time.
If you are a Christian who is not struggling against sin, but you are participating willingly in sinful activities, please know that this is not pleasing to the Lord. It brings dishonor to His name and hinders other people from coming to know the True and Living God. Your lifestyle choices will bring bad repercussions in the lives of others. At some time, God will deal with what you are doing, and it could be a very hard situation (I am thinking of a woman who was in the church I was at. She left her husband and went after other men. She dated an ex-convict and was murdered by him).
If you are a professing Christian, but do not really know the Lord, you need to repent and place your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin. You might be able to fool people into thinking you are a Christian, as well as deceiving yourself into thinking that you really know the Lord and are safe from His wrath, when you are really under His judgment. You can fool a lot of people, but you will never fool God. You might have a high standing in your church or do a lot of 'good works' in the Christian community, but God knows your real condition. You do not want to be one of those to whom Jesus says 'I never knew you. Depart from me into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels'.
By the way, if you are still wondering what those two activities are that led me to think about all this, the first is my study of Pelagianism, along with the many things I hear from Christian friends today, and how the two line up with each other. The other is the observation from people who either come to know the Lord and are struggling with things like smoking, or they are reluctant to come to know the Lord because they can't give up smoking, or, they don't have a deep understanding of how God can break chains and deliver us from sin, but in His own timing.
I hope this article helps some of you reading it. I also hope it will help people to understand that when we come to Christ, the only thing we can bring to the Cross is our sin (C.J. Mahaney). We don't have to clean up our act, in fact, we can't. We don't have to stop sinning, although we do have to turn away from our sins (see the difference?). God cleans us up, gives us the power over sin, and changes us. We turn to Him, trust in Him, and let Him work in us. This is not passive! This is active.
If you are not in a solid, Bible believing church, or if you do not have a Bible, please contact me and I will see if I can help with that. Please feel free to comment as well. Also, if I have written anything confusing or questionable, please contact me or post a comment. Thanks.
