Q: Does a person's propensity to sin decrease after salvation?
A: Yes. Before conversion to Christ we are sin prone. It doesn't mean that we are always doing bad things. We are still made in the image of God, after all, and his goodness is not driven out completely. We all know many fine, morally upright people who are not believers. But, our natural bent is toward self and sin. When the Holy Spirit enters a human heart, that person is justified and given a new power to live for God. "Sin remains but no longer reigns," to quote Bob Tuttle. It is not due to will power or trying harder; it is due to Holy Spirit power ... what the Bible calls grace. To quote Tuttle again, "Grace, the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, changes our attitude toward God and sin so that we are now righteousness prone. Our inclination is to obey rather than disobey God."
Showing posts with label Holy Spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holy Spirit. Show all posts
Monday, January 21, 2008
Do we sin less after conversion?
Friday, January 18, 2008
Hypocrisy and the Behavior of Christians
Q: Why do Christians still do wrong (bad) things?
A: Christians are imperfect humans with free will living in a broken and sinful world. We are tempted to do wrong just like other people and are quite capable of choosing poorly under our own power. We believe that Jesus Christ has offered complete forgiveness through his death and resurrection to everyone who believes in him. Unfortunately, many Christians stop at this offer – what we call justification. Justification is the act of God in Christ Jesus that saves us from the penalty of disobedience to God’s will.
But God has offered so much more. God has given those who believe in Jesus the gift of the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of God actually living in us. The work of the Spirit is to convict us of sin so that we are aware of our need for forgiveness, to testify to the truth and saving power of Jesus Christ, and to guide us and empower us so that we become increasingly like Jesus – the only human who didn’t do wrong. So by the Spirit’s power we are being perfected into the likeness of Jesus, though we are not yet perfect. This “being perfected” is called sanctification.
It is sad to say that many Christians know little or nothing of the work of the Spirit. The truth is that even those of us who do will sometimes choose our own will and power over the promptings and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit leads us into Christ-likeness, but the Spirit does not force us into Christ-likeness. The result is that we do wrong, and people get hurt.
Only when a Christian is claiming to be perfect or give off a thick air of self-righteousness does the label hypocrite really apply. But any such person is not thinking as a true Christian because we know that we are not perfect or righteous by ourselves. But because Christians speak about right and wrong, healthy and unhealthy, obedience and sin, the world can quickly use this cutting term.
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A: Christians are imperfect humans with free will living in a broken and sinful world. We are tempted to do wrong just like other people and are quite capable of choosing poorly under our own power. We believe that Jesus Christ has offered complete forgiveness through his death and resurrection to everyone who believes in him. Unfortunately, many Christians stop at this offer – what we call justification. Justification is the act of God in Christ Jesus that saves us from the penalty of disobedience to God’s will.
But God has offered so much more. God has given those who believe in Jesus the gift of the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of God actually living in us. The work of the Spirit is to convict us of sin so that we are aware of our need for forgiveness, to testify to the truth and saving power of Jesus Christ, and to guide us and empower us so that we become increasingly like Jesus – the only human who didn’t do wrong. So by the Spirit’s power we are being perfected into the likeness of Jesus, though we are not yet perfect. This “being perfected” is called sanctification.
It is sad to say that many Christians know little or nothing of the work of the Spirit. The truth is that even those of us who do will sometimes choose our own will and power over the promptings and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit leads us into Christ-likeness, but the Spirit does not force us into Christ-likeness. The result is that we do wrong, and people get hurt.
Only when a Christian is claiming to be perfect or give off a thick air of self-righteousness does the label hypocrite really apply. But any such person is not thinking as a true Christian because we know that we are not perfect or righteous by ourselves. But because Christians speak about right and wrong, healthy and unhealthy, obedience and sin, the world can quickly use this cutting term.
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