Chuck Colson, in his book Loving God, tells the following true story:
His ministry, Prison Fellowship, was holding a seminar in a prison. Randy Nabors was their main speaker, and the prison psychiatrist told Randy how much he appreciated his ministry. He said, “Pastor, I can cure somebody’s madness, but I can’t do anything about their badness.” Then he proved his point by saying, “Psychiatry, properly administered, can turn a schizophrenic bank robber into a mentally healthy band robber; a good teacher can turn an illiterate criminal into an educated criminal, but they are still bank robbers and criminals.”
This story illustrates an often overlooked aspect of the Gospel. Salvation in Christ not only grants the forgiveness of sins, it also imparts a new birth to our souls by the power of the Holy Spirit. Both of these gifts are necessary because sin causes two problems for sinners. It makes us guilty and it produces an inward sickness, weakness or corruption of the soul.
We would be unable to make much headway in conquering our sinful habits, tendencies and desires without this regenerating gift of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:16 says, “. . .walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify your sinful desires.”
At this point you may be thinking, “Does avoiding sin really matter? After all, if we are justified by grace through faith, are works even necessary? Do we still have to obey God’s commands? Does it really matter whether we keep on sinning or not?” God answers those questions in His Word. Romans 6:1-2 says, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase? By no means!
We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” Consider also Galatians 5:24 which says, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” So, of course, sin still matters! How could a Christian think otherwise? This is why God has made provision not only to remove our guilt, but also to restore our sin-weakened natures to a state of spiritual life and health. This is the second part of the “double cure” in which God destroys sin’s power over us and makes us pure.
What a beautiful thing it is to see a hardened sinner becoming, by the Spirit’s power, a joyful servant of God!
Brian Giese
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The Kewanee Voice.
***This column is sponsored by the Kewanee Ministerial Association
