In a previous article, we had begun exploring the particulars of what believers have been saved from. Ensure to read the article to follow the flow of thought in this present piece.
Salvation from the Power of Sin (Sanctification)
Having already discussed regeneration, salvation from the love of sin, we will now examine how God saves us from the power of sin; essentially, how we are being sanctified. For the believer, this is a present, ongoing process that remains incomplete. It is the most challenging part of the subject, and it’s where the most significant confusion exists, especially among young Christians.
Many of us jump to the erroneous conclusion that if we place our faith in Christ, surrender to his Lordship, and commit our souls to his keeping, he will remove our corrupt nature and instantly destroy all our evil tendencies. However, the fact is that even after having truly trusted in Jesus, we discover that evil is still present with us. An honest self-examination will reveal that our hearts are still deceitful. No matter how much we strive to resist temptation, pray for grace to overcome, and use the means God has appointed, we only seem to get worse. Without proper discipleship, this may lead to serious doubts about whether we are saved at all. The fact is that, even though we have been saved, we are still being saved.
Our regeneration and justification do not immediately nullify the presence of a corrupt nature within us. Paul told the saints in Rome, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body” (Romans 6:12). He wrote to the Corinthian saints in 2 Corinthians 7:1 saying, “Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” Such exhortations would be unnecessary if sin had been completely purged from our beings. Or consider 1 Peter 5:6: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” What need do Christians have for such a word if pride doesn’t lurk within them? All room for controversy on this point is removed if we bow to that inspired declaration: “If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). The old carnal nature remains in the believer; they are still sinful, though saved.
Realize That You are Weak Without God
Here’s how the children of Israel failed. When Moses made the Law known to them, they boastfully declared, “all that the Lord has said we will do and be obedient” (Exodus 24:7). How little they realized that “in the flesh there dwells no good thing.” That is also where Peter failed. He was self-confident and boasted that “though all men be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended…Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee.” How little he knew his own heart. This complacent Spirit lurks within each of us. As long as we believe we can “do better next time,” it’s clear that we still have confidence in our own power. Only until we heed the Savior’s words, “without me ye can do nothing,” do we take the first step toward victory. Only when we are weak (in ourselves) are we strong (in Christ).
Starve the Old Nature
Our solution is not only to feed the new nature but also to starve the old nature. That is what the apostle had in mind when he said, “Make no provision for the flesh, unto the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14). To starve the old nature, to make no provision for the flesh, means that we abstain from anything that would stimulate our carnality. We avoid, as we would a plague, all that is calculated to be harmful to our spiritual well-being. We must not only deny ourselves the pleasures of sin, but we must also separate ourselves from worldly companions, stop reading worldly literature that doesn’t profit, and abstain from anything we cannot ask God’s blessing upon. Our affections are to be set on things above, and not on the things of earth (Colossians 3:2). Does this sound like a tall order, even impractical? The young believer should recognize that anything that doesn’t support the spiritual life essentially hinders it.
The answer to our question, “What is the young Christian to do to have deliverance from indwelling sin?” is this: only as we starve the old nature can we expect deliverance from its power and corruption. Therefore, let us earnestly heed the exhortation in Ephesians 4:22-24 to “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Salvation from the pleasure of sin results from our regeneration, while deliverance from the penalty leads to justification. Likewise, salvation from the power of sin is key to our sanctification.
How Does God Accomplish Sanctification in a Believer?
- By providing clarity of our inward depravity. The more the Spirit’s light shines on us inwardly, the more we discover the horrible plague of our hearts (1 Kings 8:38). Sin always produces self-love and self-righteousness. The most depraved people will tell you, “I know that I am weak, yet I have a good heart.” But when God takes us in hand, the opposite happens: the Spirit’s work subdues our pride by giving us increased discoveries of self and the exceeding sinfulness of our sin, so that each of us cries with Job, “Behold! I am vile” (Job 40:4).
- Serious discipline. As Hebrews 12:9-10 says, God disciplines us for our good. This discipline usually comes in various forms, sometimes external and sometimes internal, but whatever its nature, it is bound to be painful. Sometimes they are of long duration, causing the soul to ask, “Why do you stand far away, O Lord?” (Psalms 10:1). But remember Hebrews 12:11: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
- Bitter disappointments. Christ does not immediately take the one who puts their trust in him to Heaven. No. He keeps them here on earth for a while to be tested and tried. As they await their complete blessedness, a difference emerges between their current state and what lies ahead. Since they have not yet received their full inheritance, there is a need for hope, for only by its exercise can future things be sought. The stronger our hope, the more earnestly we will pursue it. We have to be weaned from present things for our hearts to be fixed on a future good.
- A gift of the Spirit. The gift of the Spirit matches God’s great gift of Christ for us in us, for we owe as much to one as we do to the other. The new nature in the Christian is powerless apart from the Spirit’s daily renewing. It is by his (the Spirit’s) gracious operations that we discover the nature and extent of sin, are made to strive against it, and are brought to grieve over it. It is by the Spirit that faith, hope, and prayer are kept alive within the soul. It is by the Spirit that we are moved to use the means of grace that God has appointed for our spiritual preservation and growth. It is also by the Spirit that sin is prevented from having complete dominion over us, for as a result of his indwelling, there is something else besides sin in the believer’s heart and life—the fruits of holiness and righteousness.
In summary, the Lord saves the believer from the penalty or punishment of sin by remitting all its guilt. This is the grand marvel of grace. Salvation from the power of indwelling sin is not about taking the evil nature out of the believer in this life or improving it. Nor is it about the Spirit so subduing indwelling sin that it is rendered less active, for the flesh does not merely lust; it “lusts [ceaselessly] against the spirit.” It never sleeps, not even when our bodies do, as our dreams prove.
Present salvation from the power of sin consists of, first, delivering us from the love of it, from its blinding delusion, and from our excusing it (Romans 7:15). The Christian’s disapproval of sin is evident in their shame over it, sorrow for it, confession of it, self-loathing because of it, and their renewed resolve to forsake it.