Ron wrote:
Very confused. I am a devoted follower of Christ Jesus, but I feel there is still sin in my life. If there isn't, I would then be like Christ, and this is not possible, nor was it with Paul. The sanctification process with me is going well, but I will never be sinless in this life. Where does that leave me?
Ron
Dear Ron,
God Bless you, and thank you for writing. Praise God for granting you life through Christ Jesus our Lord, and praise God. He has an answer for all of our needs in His Holy Word.
You are suffering from an affliction that is common to many believers. The Apostle Paul had a similar struggle and wrote about it in Romans 7:
Rom 7:9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
Rom 7:10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
Rom 7:11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me .
Rom 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Rom 7:13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Rom 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Rom 7:16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
We are able to walk in the spirit, but the law of the flesh will be present until we die. There is a wonderful study available that will answer all your questions and show you from God's Word how to be more than a conqueror in every situation. It is a Free Book in PDF - Two Natures in the Child of God.
All God's Blessings,
The Believers
