Why does God save us and allow us to remain sinful? There are few "problems" more relevant and significant than this in the Christian experience. A person sins and is immediately confronted with the question, "How can I say I love God when I obviously don't love him enough to stop sinning?"
Some then wonder why the Lord allows sin to linger. Some wonder if he actually exists. Some wonder if their faith actually exists; or, whether they will soon be lugging around the label associated with hypocritic Christianity.
In this post, I'd like to list some reasons why the Lord chooses to allow sin to remain in our lives.
The first two reasons come from John Owen (of course I will paraphrase and spare us both the sanctifying headache). Owen states that sin remains in our lives, as an ember of a flame, dwelling, but without its previous dominion. There are times when the Lord fans this flame to allow us to smell its stench, to get its smoke in our eyes, and to feel its burn in our lives.
This reminds us who we are and what we are capable of. It keeps us humble, dependent, and repentant.
This makes his sanctifying power more recognizable. David knew it well. At one time he could not keep himself from women. At another, he would not consider the virgin in his own bed. Likewise Abraham, who did not trust the Lord with his wife Sarah, later trusted the Lord with his most beloved son Isaac. This is the Lord's work of saving and sanctifying sinners.
To sum up the first two reasons: The Lord allows sin to dwell in order that we would regularly see our own weaknesses, as well as regularly see his strengths.
Another reason is that we continue to live (after we are saved) in a world with those who are still enslaved in sin. Lingering sin is the plank in our eye, in light of which we must view the moral specks in other eyes. There is something that happens when a person knows their sin well as they engage with others in redemptive conversation.
There is a humility about them. There are no walls around them. They know what it feels like to be gripped by wickedness. They know what it's like to be at war within themselves. They know what it's like to need Christ every hour.
This humility is necessary in evangelism. It is necessary for love, forgiveness, patience, and peace.
Without a constant reminder of our own need of Christ, we become self-reliant, judgmental, and less-than-relevant to the culture around us. Unfortunately, too many churches fail to see the plank in their own eye. They fail to recognize the flame that continues to burn within them. And people, being pretty darn smart, stay away. No one wants to be smacked in the head with a plank! No one wants to be burned by a self-righteous tongue.
The world knows what it feels like to wrestle with sin. This is why artists like Eminem and Lil' Wayne continue to top the charts. They fail, however, to identify the problem. In the words of Eminem, "I can't tell you what it really is, I can only tell you what it feels like..."
On the contrary, many Christians know what the problem is, but fail to admit they know what it feels like. And this is why most Christian media fails to reach, with any sort of significance, the dying world around us. We say, "I can tell you what it really is, but I can't tell you what it feels like."
The Lord allows sin to remain in us so that we can say to a dying person, "I can tell you what it really is, and I can tell you what it feels like. Let's walk through this difficult, but rewarding, life together."
Like it or not, the Lord uses sin in us to bring about his redemptive purposes.
Finally, he allows sin to linger so that we will continually long for heaven. We all must realize that sin will have its final day. This life is but a vapor. Our battle with sin is a short one. This world is obviously not our home. Soon and very soon, we will go and see the King. That glorious day will inaugurate endless years of sinless relationship with the Lord and others - without tears, without pain, without conflict, and without sorrow.
And he will get all the glory. Why? Because his name is Jesus, the King who saves struggling sinners still.
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