3 Reasons Christians Struggle With Sin
So you have believed and accepted the gospel. You are born again, cleansed by the blood of Jesus, baptised in water, and perhaps in the Holy Ghost. Now you speak in tongues. It’s a wonderful experience. You are basking in the euphoria of your redemption. Day after day, week after week, everything seems fine. Great! Enjoy it. It’s the Honeymoon stage.
Fast-forward to a few weeks after your conversion, you suddenly realize you’re in a struggle with sin. It seems sin has a hold on you. You know very much what sin is, and that it is a no go area, but after much struggle, you end up doing it. Why? Is this not the same sin Jesus came to deliver you from?
“And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.” 1 Jn. 3:5
Wherever Christ is manifested, sin is taken away. In other words, if you have experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ by believing the gospel, then sin ought not to be your problem. However, this is not the case for many believers. Many of us profess that we are of Christ, but in our experience, we are not there. Sometimes we try to package ourselves among other believers, pretending to be holy, whereas we’re still struggling with sin.
“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away behold all things are become new” 2 Cor. 5:17
The Bible is true and real, yet many Christians are yet to experience the reality of the verse of the scripture quoted above. Why? What’s the reason for the conflict in our confessions or professions about Jesus and the life that we live?
1. When your salvation is not genuine.
If you claim to have seen Christ, yet sin remains in your life, then you are a liar. Read 1 Jn. 1:5,6. When you see a stream that is dirty, before you conclude the stream is bad, trace the source, perhaps it got corrupted along the path as it flows, or else the source itself is dirty. If you claim to be a Christian but you are struggling with sin, the first thing to check is the source of your salvation. Are you really saved as you claim to be?
Verily verily I say unto you, it is impossible for you to live above sin if you have not been converted. Jesus confirmed this in Matt. 7:16 when He asked, “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” Ask yourself “am I really born of God?” Trace your salvation experience, how did you get born again? Did you really hear the gospel? Did you really believe it? Did Christ really manifest in you? The simple proof to validate your answer, if positive, is that your sins are taken away. Otherwise, you are not saved.
You cannot force your way to Christ. You cannot impose yourself on God or the devil that you are a child of God. You are not saved until you are saved. Until you are saved, you will keep struggling with sin.
2. When you are Too Conscious of Sin
Let me paint a picture to illustrate this point. You have just polished your shoe. You are set to go out but you want to get to the event as neat as you are at home, especially with your shining shoes. Unfortunately, you have to walk on an untarred road to get to your destination? Now you dread the road, you don’t have a car? You wish you could get a ride or some superpowers to catapult you to the venue. Unfortunately, you have to step on the road with your shining polished shoe if you must get to your destination.
You are now on the dusty road. You get so conscious of the path you take just to keep your shoes neat. Unfortunately, you are not always lucky. Just a little miscalculation of your steps and your shoe is covered with dust, and then you feel very bad. Do you get the picture? This is similar to the experience of many Christians.
If you’re genuinely converted, your deepest desire will be to please God. Your relationship with Him has just been restored, so you don’t want any sin to tamper with that fellowship. You know what is right to do, and what should not be done, so you are very careful and conscious of every move you make. Unfortunately, you would have fallen again into sin before you realize it, most of the time.
It’s a good thing to avoid sin or stay away from it. However, when we get too conscious of the presence of sin around us, we fall into it. Once you’re genuinely converted, sin is not your business because Jesus has taken it away the moment you got converted, your focus should be on Jesus not on sin. To focus on sin is to give sin a false existence in your mind. When this occurs repeatedly, it makes the false existence in your mind appear real in your life.
3. When you deny Christ access to Live His Life
When Christ was manifested to us, He took away our sins, poured His own righteousness in us and took residence in us who believed the gospel. His presence in us is what makes us live above sin. However, when we deny Him the freedom to live in us, He steps out of the way for us to keep on with our struggles with sin.
Please note, that the new life we got at salvation began with Christ and can only be maintained by Christ Himself. Sadly, many Christians don’t realize this. They think by struggling to be holy they can attain God’s holiness. They think by striving with sin they can win the victory over sin. They know what is right to do from the scriptures and they want to work it out by themselves, forgetting that it is God Who works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasures (Philp. 2:13). If only you can allow Christ to live His life in you, then you will discover how easy it will be to walk victoriously over sin.
Finally
Read and digest 2 Cor 5:21; Rom. 1:16. Except we believe in the gospel of Christ, we will never experience the power of salvation. The gospel saves. Yes, it saves men from the bondage of sin. The gospel brings righteousness, the righteousness of God. If you believe the gospel, but do not experience the power thereof, you have believed another gospel.
