Never Lose The War ­– by Desmond Ford

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Jun 16, 2015 5365

There is no excuse for sin. But thank God there is forgiveness. And Paul in Romans 7 is saying, “Wretched man that I am! I experience these drives, these conflicts, these passions, which are against the law of God.” And while the Apostle Paul did not surrender to these, he realizes their very presence. It meant that his inner nature didn’t match the law.

But having called out, “Wretched man that I am,” he went on to say, “There’s no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.”

My brethren, my friends, the truth is that sin remains in a Christian, but it does not reign. Sin is there, but it is not dominant. A person beholding a Christian should feel that they see an immaculate life, but the Christian says, “In me there dwells no good thing.”

Now, I don’t want to be misunderstood. Any Christian consciously tempted, looking to Jesus, can be conqueror. Any Christian consciously tempted can be conqueror, if he will look to Jesus, and reckons himself dead to sin and alive to God. But despite that, the experience of every Christian is that we are often caught; we tumble, we stumble, we are tricked by the old Devil. We make mistakes; we fall short.

God looks at the heart. If you are still in love with sin rather than Him, you are lost. But if you are in love with him and hate the sin that makes the sin that makes you stumble, there is no condemnation. You are not only perfect in a moment, you remain perfect in His sight all your days, despite a thousand mistakes.

How do I know? Scripture says it again and again. The blood of Jesus Christ, cleanses us – present continuous tense – from all sin. We have an advocate, if any man sin: Jesus Christ, the righteous.

Will that make us careless about sin? No, such grace should break our hearts and make us hate it. Make us determined to press so close to Jesus that we will stumble less and less. But the power to war on against evil comes when we know we are not cast off when we do stumble. There’s no condemnation.

Didn’t the disciples stumble, when in unconcern in the upper room, , when our Lord only had a few hours of life left, they refused to wash His feet? And so, what did He do? Stamp out of the room shouting, “I’m finished with you! You are a rotten crew!”? He washed their feet, and he said, “Ye are clean”. Ye are clean. And to the Father He said in John 17, “Father, they have kept Thy word.” What a merciful, compassionate Saviour ­– seeing His disciples as perfect in His own perfection, because they believed in Him!

So, sin remains in the Christian, but it does not reign. It does not dominate. And the more we look to Jesus and His cross, the less we will stumble. But if it does so happen that we stumble, there’s no condemnation. When we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses,” He’s done it before the words have left our lips. Do you see it? The Christian may lose a few battles, but he never loses the war. Never. You can never perish while you are trusting in the merits of Jesus.

– Des Ford. Rom 8:27–32. Adapted from “Perfect in a Moment.”