The Discipline of the Gospel

In his (very helpful) Romans commentary C.E.B. Cranfield reminds us that when you increase in your knowledge of the gospel you necessarily increase in your awareness of indwelling sin.


“The verses which follow [Romans 7:7-25] depict vividly the inner conflict characteristic of the true Christian, a conflict such as is possible only in the man, in whom the Holy Spirit is active and whose mind is being renewed under the discipline of the gospel. In the man who understands the law not legalistically but in the light of Christ and so recognizes the real seriousness of its requirement, and who truly and sincerely wills to obey it, to do what is good and to avoid the evil, the man in whom the power of sin is really being seriously and resolutely challenged, in him the power of sin is clearly seen. The more he is renewed by God’s Spirit, the more sensitive he becomes to the continuing power of sin over his life and the fact that even his very best activities are marred by the egotism still entrenched within him”

What is Your Stance Towards Indwelling Sin?

John Duncan (17th-18th century Scottish pastor): Christ came to save the contrasts of himself; but not to leave them such. There's nobody perfect: that's the believer's bed of thorns: that's the hypocrite's couch of ease.

One Atheist's Confessed Reason for Rejecting Christianity: His Love of Sin

Aldous Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was a widely read English writer and famous atheist of the early to mid 20th century. He once freely confessed that his rejection of Christianity was motivated by his desire to sin.

He wrote: I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; consequently assumed that it had not; and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning for this world is not concerned exclusively with the problem of pure metaphysics; he is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to....For myself...the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation, sexual and political (Ends and Means, pp. 270, 273).

The Vanity of Prospering Without God

To prosper in sin is the greatest tragedy that can befall a man this side of hell. Envy not such a one his pomp any more than you would a corpse his flowers (17th century English poet, John Trapp).

A Thought on Living Life Not For God

In the class I was teaching today, one of the students shared his frustration that he and his wife have experienced in seeking to evangelize a young lady who is prospering in her job and life although she doesn't love or walk with God.

In essence, because she is so comfortable and successful, she sees no need for God.

This situation reminded me of a statement once made by David Powlison that I've never forgotten. The warning is perceptive and sobering: Something bad gets last say when whatever you live for is not God (David Powlison).

Sister Thoughts on Overcoming Sin

Nobody sins out of duty. We sin because we believe sin’s promise of pleasure. So the path to holiness is a superior pleasure (John Piper)

Sufficient love of God is the power to overcome sin. If this is true, then the presence of such sins in our life reveals that we do not love God enough. In fact, we have loved our sin more than we love him, or it would not have a home in our hearts (Bryan Chappell)

The Heart of All Sin: Idolatry

I've had to deal with some difficult pastoral situations over the last couple of weeks. Mark this down: Every relational and personal problem we have can be traced back to living anti-Gospel in some particular area of life. When we look to some aspect of the created order (whether that be a person, an object, or a habit) to do for us what only Jesus can do, we have a false Savior that cannot deliver on on its gospel promises.

Rather, left unchecked, this false messiah will lead us to destruction. At the end of the day, all sin can be traced back to idolatry, which is trusting in and loving something more than we trust and love the Living God. That's why the first commandment is "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). You can't commit any sin without breaking the 1st commandment. Hear the words of D.A. Carson on this issue:

The heart of all…evil is idolatry…. It is the de-godding of God. It is the creature swinging his puny fist in the face of his Maker and saying, in effect, “If you do not see things my way, I’ll make my own gods! I’ll be my own god!” Small wonder that the sin most frequently said to arouse God’s wrath is not murder, say, or pillage, or any other “horizontal” barbarism, but idolatry—that which dethrones God. That is also why, in every sin, it is God who is the most offended party, as David himself well understood: “Against you, only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so that you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge” (Psalm 51:4). (Christ and Culture Revisited, 46).

One Difference Between the Christian and Non-Christian

The difference between an unconverted and a converted man is not that one has sins and the other has none; but that the one takes part with his cherished sins against a dreaded God, and the other takes part with a reconciled God against his hated sins (William Arnot, Laws from Heaven for Life on Earth, 311).