It's not a tumor!

Sin is not a solid thing.  It is not a mass to be identified and diagnosed and then carefully extracted.  We can't place it in a jar of alcohol like a tumor and point to it and say, "This is what almost killed me!  But I got it!"  Sin is not a cancer that you can get, irradiating and starving it until it submits to you.  No Sin is present in our very flesh.  It is invasive and inextricable from our flesh.  We don't work on Sin, no we must kill it, by killing the very flesh in which it lives.  This sounds impossible harsh...and it is.  We cannot submit parts of ourselves to God and hope to be cured.  We must submit all of ourselves.  We say to God, "This is what I will do for you, just rid me of this plague!"  What we must say, with sincerity is "Jesus, I can do nothing, I surrender, please do with me what you will.  Cure me and make me new, not for my comfort, but for your glory."

Romans 
8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a]free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

In Christ we are surrendered and made new.  In the symbolism of baptism we have the old creature being covered in water, buried with Christ, to rise out of the water as a new creation in Christ.  Total submersion, total submission is necessary.  

2 Corinthians 5

15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!

As with almost every thing that is hard, our temptation is to stop short.  We recognize sin and don't want it.  Yet we find a way to blame God for it's existence, either in us or in the world.  We say things like, "I sin because I feel unloved...and that's God's fault, not mine."  Makes sense, right, he is in the power position.  He made me this way!  I don't want to be sinful!  This state of mind becomes an impossible stumbling block.  It's true, we do feel unloved.  And because of that we seek out something to fill that void.  We make the false assumption that if we feel unloved, then we must be unloved.  That is not God's nature, though.  His love is perfect and unending.  Until we can surrender to him, we will always carry the seed of doubt.  It's an all or nothing deal.  It is sinful to want the help of Christ, without wanting Christ himself.  But we do this all the time, begging for his mercy and guidance and healing and blessing, but failing to yearn for Christ himself.

A couple months ago, my 6 year old daughter was praying with my wife.  She was making all sorts of demands of God, all the things she wanted.  My wife lovingly stopped her and informed my dear daughter that "God is not a Genie, who just grants you everything you want, whenever you want."  When they resumed prayer, my clever sinful daughter then asked God for a Genie.  We know we need love, grace and healing, yet we don't know our part in receiving it.

Sin's claws remain in our flesh, even in apparent victory over it.  When the symptomatic sins are removed, successfully cut off from the body, a deeper more insidious sin appears in it's place.  And that sin is Pride.  If I struggle with perfectionism (or any ism) and I come to understand that it is a sin, I may still remain secretly proud of it.  It's as if being attractive were a sin and we decided to cover our face out of duty.  Underneath nothing has changed, we would still know that we are beautiful.  In secret we would still gaze into the mirror to make sure, never fully dealing with the problem.  I say my perfectionism is a function of trying to please God, an attempt to earn his Love.  This is probably true, but it's not all the way to the Cross true.  If we are all the way convicted of our sin, we know it can only mean one thing: we have rejected Christ from his rightful Throne and placed ourselves there.  We allow ourselves to think that our perfectionism, or control, or manipulations or our lust is about our weaknesses and attempts to deal with our feelings of unloved-ness.  However, the scary root  of this is that what we are actually saying is "Jesus, you are not enough.  Savior, you are have fallen short.  Lord, you are a disappointment.  Almighty, I want your help, but I don't want you."  If you've ever loved Jesus or anyone, this should be a crushing realization.  It should sicken us and cause us to fall to our knees and beg for mercy.  "Jesus I have sinned against you!  Save me, save me, save me!  I give you everything, I surrender all!"  The conviction of this core sin should yield in us a desperate, urgent repentance.  Don't stop short and settle for the process of repentance, like it is some training regimen to be mastered.  Instead, run like and untrained fool, giving everything only to collapse at the finish.  Save nothing for the present and save nothing for yourself.  Make sure you have spent all your personal resources so that you are dependant solely on Christ himself.  

Hebrews 12
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.


Don't hid your light under a basket, don't save anything for yourself, don't hide your face, don't set your tumor in a jar and marvel at all you've overcome.  Your Sin and your past may be relevant in your story, but don't let it be THE story.  Don't make a scrapbook of who you used to be as your only witness to Jesus Christ.  Let your current bold preaching of the Gospel in your current life be your testimony.  Yes, he has done amazing things in you and me, but that is only an outworking of the glorious and amazing things his Love and Grace are. 

Matthew 5
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.