Killing Sin

Romans 6:23a (ESV)
“For the wages of sin is death…”


We live in a culture that is casual, even comfortable with sin. Even in the church we do not take sin serious enough. We fail to realize that a lifestyle of sin has grave consequences. Sin destroys our connection with God. It drives a wedge between us and our Creator and apart from repentance the result is eternal death. As believers our connection with God is always in jeopardy because of our propensity to sin. Genesis 4:7 informs us that “sin is crouching at the door” waiting to pounce on us and ruin us. Sin that is not confronted hinders our prayer—connection—time with God. Psalm 66:18 tells us that if we “cherish iniquity” in our hearts the Lord will not listen to us. If we are disconnected from God with are in grave danger and our souls vulnerable.

To protect this connection we must be aggressive and proactive. John Piper would say that serious personal vigilance is necessary. We must stop trying to manage our sin and crucify it. Puritan John Owen says that it must be our constant daily duty to mortify our sin. In fact he urges us to “always be killing sin or it will be killing you.”


Explore More:

Are there any sins in your life in which you have grown comfortable?
What sin or sins are most likely to derail you from reaching your potential in Christ?
What is your strategy to deal with those sin(s)? (Mortify it…crucify it and nail it to the cross?)
Is your connection with God real?


Prayer:

Lord, give me a heart that is sensitive to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Help me to be quick to confess and repent of sins. Help me to take sin seriously and have a desire to crucify it and nail it to the cross.