Skip to content ↓

Sin: Can’t Live With It, Won’t Live Without It

Sin. I can’t live with it, but time and time again I have proven that I’m just not able to live without it. I know that I have been freed from sin—freed from the power of sin—and yet I still sin. The Bible tells me not to let sin reign, it tells me that if I am truly a child of God I will not go on sinning (Romans 6:12, 1 John 3:9). And still I sin. Even in those times that I focus my efforts on one particular sin I find that I am unable to stop, unable to put it entirely to death. My mind can’t do it, my heart can’t do it, my will can’t do it, my hands can’t do it. It may not reign as sovereign, but it continues to exist as a trial and a steady temptation.

In The Christian Life: A Doctrinal Introduction Sinclair Ferguson writes about this tricky relationship of sin to the Christian and offers these words of assurance: “We are no longer what we once were; we are no longer related to sin the way we once were.” This is important for me to understand and to keep in the forefront of my mind as I battle sin–any sin. I am not what I once was. I am not who I once was. I was once a slave to sin, owned by it, inexorably drawn to it. But now I am the slave to a different master. I am owned by God and subject to him. My relationship to sin has been radically transformed.

And yet I still get angry. I still lash out in anger. I still simmer in anger. I still have desires that stem from anger and suffer the consequences of my anger. And that is just one sin. I still lust and am still jealous and am still thankless and still sin in so many ways. I have died to sin but sin has not yet died within. But here is the difference; here is the change: Sin no longer has dominion. And practically I cannot relate to it as if it has dominion. I have to ensure that my experience of sin is consistent with my theology of sin.

Anger does not own me. Christ owns me. Lust does not motivate me. Christ motivates me. Jealousy does not get the final victory. Christ gets the final victory. The cross stands there as assurance that I have been saved from its power and will some day be fully and finally delivered from its presence. Sin is in me but I am in Christ. And what is in me was put upon him on the cross. He triumphed over it then. He broke its power. And now I just wait, battling all the while, for him to speak the word and bring it to an end once and for all.

Adapted from an article I wrote in 2011.


  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (February 13)

    A La Carte: The conundrum of celebrity Christians / The Luka trade / Dopamine media / The best place to hide an idol / Overcoming blind spots in parenting and leadership / and more.

  • Dreams

    What Becomes Of All Our Dreams?

    My dad loved to cook. This was a passion that began relatively late in his life after the kids had moved out. With an empty nest, my parents were able to live a slower-paced life and my dad began to dabble in cooking. He soon found that he loved it and that my mother was…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (February 12)

    A La Carte: A young Christian reading John Mark Comer / Being inconvenient / Breaking gender stereotypes to the glory of God / Gluten-free and non-alcoholic / AI-Pocalypse Now / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (February 11)

    A La Carte: To those living in secret sin / The time Jesus Left the 99 / The discipline of remembrance / No-contact for toxic relationships / Relational wisdom / and more.

  • Dumb Will Do

    Dumb Will Do: Why Satan Doesn’t Need Heresy

    There is one memory of my earlier years as a Christian that I’ve never been able to shake. It’s a formative memory that I actually don’t think the Lord means for me to shake, for it has often reminded me that, when it comes to the local church’s worship, the stakes are sky high.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (February 10)

    A La Carte: Break shame’s chains / I don’t deserve this / Seeing the world like a Great Gray Owl / The cosmic canvas / Preserving wonder / Kindle deals / and more.