What is ‘sin’ you may ask? I will spare you of lots of theology debates and put it very simple here, sin is rejecting God’s heart for you and your life, it is choosing a path which is disconnected from our maker and becoming our own gods. ’That’s not bad’ you may be saying.
Nowadays, most of us live that way, right?
And, ’how that is going?’ I might ask.
What is it with us that we insist on independence from God and say that we know what’s best for us to do and still end up making a mess of our lives and the world.
Why knowing what is good, we choose to do the very opposite?
The Bible says that – sin is not just a decision or a bad action, sin is a power. And not any power, but a power that controls our minds, emotions and hearts. Sin is addictive and dominant. A very wise man called Paul said:
“I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.
But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.”
Romans 7:21, 23 NLT
That is why the psalmist is praying ’keep me from stupid sin, the willful stuff we do constantly and don’t learn, ’ but how?
Paul responds with:
Romans 7:25 MSG
”The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.”
For all of them who follow Christ, all sin is nailed on the cross by a sanctifying Saviour forever.
Its power is been stripped away and replaced by the Spirit of God and where the spirit of God is there is liberty. In Christ we are no longer slaves, we are saints.