“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Do we focus too much on our sinfulness? Oddly enough, I think we Christians do. I have been guilty of this both in my personal life and ministry. I am not denying the reality of sin, but maybe we need to put it in perspective.
We can easily wallow in our sinfulness forgetting that God has redeemed us in Christ. He has made us new creations more closely aligned with what we were before humanity’s fall into sin. This is dangerous for two reasons. First, it makes us feel powerless as if we have no choice but to sin. Second, it can become an excuse for sin - “Well, I’m gonna sin and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
God did not create us, or redeem us through Christ, to be powerless like leaves in the wind. He gave us His Word and the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of Power. As a redeemed person, your default setting is not to do what is sinful but what is righteous. You have a choice, and the power of God dwells within you1.
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for redeeming me from the power of sin and self-love and for giving me true power to do what is right in your eyes. Lead me and guide me to choose righteousness in all that I think, do, and say, and when I do fall to temptation give me the power to repent and seek forgiveness. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.” Colossians 1:9-11