“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Cor. 15:52-53

It is not the will of God for the Believer to live in constant defeat.  Sin, repent, sin, repent is not the victory Jesus afforded us on Calvary’s Cross.  Will we sometimes fail the Lord? Sadly, yes.  We are not yet glorified, but being sanctified through our continued faith in the work of Jesus Christ and what He did, not our self efforts.  The corruptible will not put on incorruption until that last trump of God.

However, that does NOT mean the Lord has granted us a sinning Salvation.  It simply means that Jesus, “…having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”  It means, Jesus Christ defeated sin and made a mockery of satan and his minions on the Cross…the same sin some are still in bondage to or others willing yield to.  It is there, at the point of decision, that the rubber meets the road.  A born again Christian, hates their sin as much as they hate other’s sin.  They sin and repent, sin and repent and never maintain the victory our Lord Jesus Christ died for them to have.   They are willingly yielding to the sin but hate the sin. 

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” Romans 7:18-20.

Just to be clear, if you have rationalized your sin, condoned your sin or think it is okay to sin…get saved.  If the Word of God says it is a sin, it is a sin no matter what your church, your pastor or your buddy tells you and it is not “ok”.  God has already judged sin and the wages of sin is death.  Jesus came and paid our sin debt and gave us victory over sin so we could go and sin no more, not to give us a license to sin.

So, was the Apostle Paul not a born again Believer?  Of course he was.  Was he not struggling in Romans chapter 7 with many of the same things other Christians struggle with today?  Let us not dismiss this because we, as Christians, are too proud to admit we are in bondage to our sin nature.  It has dominion over us and as soon as we mention our “problem”, instead being directed to the Cross of Jesus for deliverance we are either sent to a 12 step program or kindly told we need to find another church.  All of this depends on which school of doctrine we come from, sinless perfection or sinning salvation.    We don’t want to admit those 40 days, 21 days  or 12 steps didn’t deliver us from our struggle.

“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” Galatians 5:17.

All I’m trying to tell you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, is that there IS deliverance from that bondage.  The ONLY antidote to sin is the Cross of Jesus.  It is not our fault we were born with this sin nature, or this seed of sin due to Adam’s fall, but it is our fault if we do not admit/confess we have this sin nature and reject the antidote…Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2.

If you are a born again, Blood bought Believer in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the Cross but remain in bondage to sin, whether it be a “physical” sin that you have to hide from others or something other’s cannot see, such as jealousy, envying and strife, there is deliverance for you at Calvary’s Cross through Jesus Christ.  Take your faith and focus off of yourself and your struggles and place them squarely at the foot of the Cross.  As long as you try to control it, fight it or overcome it in your flesh, your result will always without a doubt end in failure…again (sin, repent,sin,repent).  I am speaking here of all of those “programs” the churches now offer to overcome the sin that Jesus has already defeated, which are in fact the cause of these repeated failures of the Child of God.  Instead of faith in Jesus for deliverance of this bondage, your faith has now been directed to your works, albeit with all sincerity.  The devil has done what he has purposed to do, deceived you into believing you can have victory over sin by doing steps 1 through 12.  This is not the Power of God but the power of man and will conclude in failure.

Knowing that Jesus came to pay our sin debt AND give us victory over our sin nature (Salvation and sanctification) and that our Salvation is by Grace through faith in Jesus, lest any man should boast (Eph. 2:8), how then do we suppose our sanctification, or our victory over sin, should come any other way as well…through Grace by faith in Jesus and His finished work.  Our victory is NOT maintained by grace through faith in OUR works (12 steps, 40 days, etc.) but faith in Jesus and His finished work.

If you want to make an excuse for your sin, that is between you and God.  If you want to deny that you still have a sin nature, that is between you and God as well.  Furthermore, if you want victory over your sin nature, that too is between you and God…and it is still in the Cross of Jesus and His finished work.  Deliverance from sin, dominion and power over our sin nature, comes through Jesus and what He did…seek Him.  – Donna Clark Warren.