I'm feeling pretty angry at Oswald and Paul right now -- and I guess, if I'm honest, God -- for not making this subject of sanctification a whole lot clearer.
"Dead to sin" -- That sounds pretty much like sin is powerless over me. Like no amount of hip-swishing, eye-batting or sweet-talking is going to persuade me to come along for the ride because I am dead to sin. Just as before I was dead in my sins, incapable of saving myself, incapable even of choosing God without benefit of a brand new heart . . . Just as I was dead, dead, dead to righteousness, I should now be dead to sin. (Interesting how much power those little prepositions have.)
The thing is, that is not the case for me, and Paul, only one chapter later, writes: "For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish," Rom. 7:19. How is that consistent with being dead to sin? What kind of word games are we playing here?
For his part, Oswald's words seem to indicate a need for more than one trip to the altar, more than one baptism: "Make the moral decision that sin in you must be put to death." Didn't I make that decision and leave the matter in God's hands when I said, "I'm a sinner in need of the forgiveness only you can give." Didn't the Holy Spirit enter into my life at that moment and begin the process of putting sin to death in me? Oswald's words also imply perfection -- as if with one fell swoop, my love affair with sin could be completely washed away and replaced by the living Christ. The troubling thing is that Oswald's words echo Paul's (whose words, by nature of inclusion in the canon of Scripture, I believe to be God's own): "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me."
Does Christ live in me? I have to take that one on faith. I do not sense him moving about. I do not hear him. I do not feel him in any tangible way. My feelings, in fact, tell me that I am alone and that I am anything but dead to sin. I know, I know, never trust your feelings.
I'm with you on this one Barb. I don't always think that Oswald is right. I think that killing sin in me is a life time job, and as I get older I become more aware of the sin in me. When I was younger I thought I was pretty ok in the sin arena. Now I think I don't Know much. If I decide that I could just do away with sin, and then just do it, then why did Jesus have to die on the cross?
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