No Question About It, The Struggle Is Real!

Sometimes the power of sin in our lives can seem overwhelming.

When I was a boy, we had a large pine tree in our front yard right next to the street. We had thick hedges growing on both sides of our yard, so when friends were coming to see me or going to another house, they’d walk between the tree and the hedges. Over time, their frequent passage killed the grass that had been growing there and created a well-worn path.

This is essentially how habits – and sins – work. They may start with a single action, but if repeated often enough they can become behaviors. This can be good or bad, depending upon what you’re doing. Sinful behavior, when it happens over and over, can turn into a besetting sin, something extremely difficult to overcome. It becomes a familiar path that’s taken almost without thinking. 

 

Even as followers of Jesus Christ, we’re not exempt from this type of problem. Yes, the Bible says we become “born again” (John 3:3) and “new creations” (2 Corinthians 5:17) when we commit our lives to Him, but old sinful patterns can die hard – in fact, some never die at all.

 

Years ago, I had a friend who had gotten deeply involved with online pornography before committing his life to Christ. Whenever he faced a lot of stress in his life, whether at work or at home, he’d resort to pornography for relief. To use a computer term, it became his ‘default setting.’ After becoming a believer, his familiar sinful “path” unfortunately didn’t disappear. One day he’d succeed at warding off the temptation but would succumb to it the next, filling him with guilt. His struggle was real.

 

This, to one extent or another, is true for every believer, whether new to the faith or a follower of Jesus for many years. The type (or types) of sins we struggle with differ from one person to the next, but they continue to entice us. Even the apostle Paul, a leader of the early Church and author of more than a dozen books of the New Testament, understood this struggle all too well. 

 

He candidly admitted, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep doing” (Romans 6:15-19). Does this sound at all familiar to you?

 

Some have suggested Paul was reflecting on his life before his dramatic encounter with Christ while traveling the road to Damascus. However, based on the context of his writing as well as his use of present tense verbs, it’s reasonable to conclude that this “super-Christian,” like all of us, continued to struggle with sinful thoughts and behavior.

 

We don’t know specifically what those things were, but that doesn’t matter. The point is, we all have what the Scriptures call our “sinful nature” (Romans 8:5) or “the flesh,” as other translations put it, and God doesn’t eradicate it when we become followers of Jesus.

 

Does that mean we simply shrug our shoulders in resignation, reasoning, “Well, I’m only human. Nobody’s perfect”? Not if we believe the Scriptures. Because God clearly tells us that while sin will never be dead to us, poised to take us off course and back to our old, familiar sinful paths, we are dead to sin. No longer under its domination. And because of that, we need not wallow in guilt.

 

After admitting his own struggles with sin, Paul offered the following assurance:  “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2).

 

He’s saying that victory over sin – regardless of how long it’s been with us – is promised through the power of Christ and His Spirit: “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering…in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4).

 

What the Bible teaches is if we’re true followers of Jesus, we don’t need to continue following the same sinful path. God graciously offers an exit so we can start following a new path. Something for us that, to borrow a phrase from poet Robert Frost, might be called, “the road less traveled”

 

There’s an old hymn called “Victory in Jesus.” That’s exactly what we have and can experience as we learn not to strive in our own strength and determination to overcome sinful impulses, but to be victorious over them – in the power of Christ and His Spirit living in us every day: 

“I heard an old, old story how a Savior came from glory,

How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me;

I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood’s atoning,

Then I repented of my sins and won the victory….

 

O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!...

He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.” 

When Grace Collides With Your Karma

You get what you deserve, right? Everybody knows that. At least that’s what we’re told – and taught. In the workplace, if you work hard and perform your job well, you receive a promotion, a pay raise, or find a better job. It’s often the case in the classroom, where if you study hard and score well on the exams, you receive an A or a B. And we see it all the time in sports: high-performing athletes earning spots on the first team and exceptional players gaining accolades at season’s end.

We even see this principle applied in some marriages, where a husband or wife’s behavior can elevate them to the penthouse or banish them to the doghouse. “What goes around comes around”: Be careful how you treat people because you'll be treated in similar fashion, good or bad.

Spiritually speaking, this view is widely held as well. There’s even a term for it: “Karma.” Wikipedia defines karma as “the spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect). Good intent and good deed contribute to good karma and future happiness, while bad intent and bad deed contribute to bad karma and future suffering.”

Whether it’s called karma or not, virtually all religions embrace this principle to some extent. Maybe it’s “reincarnation,” a belief that one’s actions in this life shape the quality of existence in the next. Or the idea that receiving the approval and acceptance of God, “the man upstairs,” or the “higher power” (whatever term people prefer) depends upon actions. If you do enough good, God will like you. If you don’t, well, you’ll get what you deserve.

This, however, is a key area where Christianity parts company with other belief systems. The Bible calls all wrongdoing “sin,” and makes clear sins do bring consequences. Galatians 6:7-8 declares, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

However, the concept of karma exists nowhere in the Bible. Especially in terms of our eternal destiny. Instead, the Scriptures teach grace and mercy, which could be regarded as two sides of the same coin. They can be viewed as the converse of one another: Mercy is not receiving what we deserve (unlike karma); grace is receiving what we don’t deserve. Another way of looking at it is that grace is “God’s unmerited favor” – we can’t earn it, and definitely don’t deserve it.

I’ve heard people say, “I’m basically a good person,” or “I think the good I’ve done outweighs the bad.” However, the Bible disagrees. Referring to several Old Testament passages, the apostle Paul states, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God…there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12). Then he adds, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Wow! Pretty sobering, isn’t it? That’s why Paul proceeded to write, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). But he doesn’t stop there. Drawing from knowing God’s grace and mercy, the apostle continues, “Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!... Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 7:25-8:1).

I like how author Max Lucado compares grace and mercy in his book, Grace: More Than We Deserve. He uses Jesus’ well-known parable of the prodigal son, a selfish, greedy young man who demanded his inheritance while his father was still living. After recklessly squandering all he’d been given, he crawled back home in humility and shame. Instead of turning him away, however, his father welcomed him without reservation – even celebrating his return. As Lucado writes, “Mercy gave the prodigal a second chance. Grace threw him a party.”

This doesn’t mean we’re given license to do as we please, thinking God is somehow obligated to forgive – or even ignore – our misdeeds. Not at all. He’s fully aware of our sins, every single one, and knows we each deserve punishment for our self-centered rebellion against Him. But this is where He offers grace rather than karma.

Paul the apostle unequivocally asserts, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Karma says we rightly deserve death and eternal condemnation. Grace says all who are “in Christ” will receive what we don’t deserve – God’s unconditional forgiveness and the promise of eternal life.

But how can this be? If we’re as bad as the Bible says we are, how could God forgive and accept us into His family? We find the answer in Romans 5:6-8, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly…. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

How does it make you feel to read this assurance? Do you shrug your shoulders, or are you filled with thankfulness? As I heard a preacher say one time, “If this doesn’t light your fire, then your wood’s wet!”

Worthy of Grace?

In our quest to communicate effectively, it’s often said, “It’s not what you say – it’s exactly what you say.” In other words, leave no room for confusion or ambiguity. I wonder if the same principle might apply to prayer: It’s not what you pray – it’s exactly what you pray.

What brings this to mind is a public prayer I heard recently in which the individual very humbly and piously prayed that the hearers might strive to be “worthy of God’s grace.” At first blush this sounds noble enough, but from a theological standpoint it makes no sense.

Grace, as I’ve learned over the years, is defined as “unmerited or undeserved favor.” In other words, it’s the favor and kindness of God that we can’t earn, no matter how hard we try. We can never become “worthy” of God’s favor or approval. If we could, Jesus’ death on the cross would have been unnecessary. He died on our behalf, not because we we’re deserving, but because there’s no way we could “clean up our act.”

Stating this another way, we can contrast the biblical concepts of grace and mercy: Grace is receiving what we don’t deserve (or, what we’re not worthy of) – God’s love, forgiveness and acceptance. Mercy is not receiving what we do deserve – which is condemnation because of sinfulness and willing rebellion against Him, virtually from birth.

Of course this tends to fly against our sensibilities. We like to view ourselves as “basically good people,” offering the excuses “nobody’s perfect” and “we’re only human.” Sounds good, but according to the Bible, that’s not good enough.

We see this clearly in the candid writings of the apostle Paul, who conceded, “So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members” (Romans 7:21-23).

A few verses earlier Paul made an observation many of us can relate to: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do” (Romans 7:15). Have you ever been there, knowing there was something you genuinely had no intention of doing, yet you did it anyway? At such times, did you ever feel worthy of God’s grace, His unmerited favor?

After Paul’s agonizing admission of not having done what he wanted to do, along with doing what he really didn’t want to do, he reaches this conclusion: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” But then he adds these hopeful, joyful words: “Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!... Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 7:24-8:1).

This was the apostle Paul writing this, whose letters (epistles) make up much of the New Testament, not some homeless derelict. This was the fellow who also wrote, “For it is by grace you have been saved, though faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). This grace and the faith to receive it are a gift from God, Paul declares.

So the next time you do something that you know doesn’t meet God’s approval, or you think something you know you shouldn’t be thinking, and it occurs to you that you’re unworthy of His love – and His grace – join the club. We’re all unworthy. As Paul also wrote, “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10).

And that’s why it’s called grace. So stop trying to be worthy, and don’t pray that you will be. Just try to be grateful.