Can A Priest Absolve Sins?

A couple weeks ago this happened near my hometown:

Eventually they found the mystery priest (aptly named Father Dowling):

There is one statement from Dowling’s interview that I want to address today; namely, his claim to have been given the power to absolve this young lady of her sins.

Where does such power come from?

How in the world is a priest given the power to absolve sin? I thought only Jesus could forgive sins. Do you get bitten by a radioactive spider? Do you put on a black shirt and a collar, and declare yourself a sin-forgiver? Does this belief actually come from the Bible?

If you ask a Roman Catholic priest he will say that the power to absolve sin was given to the apostles (and their successors) in John 20:23. Here we read Jesus saying,

If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

The Catholic prayer of absolution is based on this passage. A Catholic priest does not believe that he, in and of himself, has the power to forgive sins. It is a power that has been granted to him as a priest. He is a representative of the forgiven Christ. Christ alone forgives sin. But as he now reigns from heaven he does so through His Spirit working through His servants (priests).

Therefore, when a priest declares you forgiven you are indeed forgiven. You can have certainty because Christ has given His power (through the sacrament of penance) to His representatives.

A Protestant Response

I am not convinced by the Catholic interpretation of John 20:23. In order to accept this interpretation one would also have to accept the doctrine of apostolic succession. Because I believe in the priesthood of all believers I would have to say that the power to absolve sin (or to withhold forgiveness) was in the power of every believer, and that is not something that I find in the Scriptures.

Secondly, there is an assumption behind such a prayer. That assumption is that our sins are not all forgiven upon the moment of justification. Catholic doctrine denies that at the moment of conversion we are forgiven all sins: past, present, and future. This seems to me to deny our union with Christ. When Christ “canceled the record of debt” that stood against believers our sins were future. And yet they are forgiven. This because of our union with Christ—all that He has accomplished is given to us. Therefore, you and I do not need a priest to do for us what Christ has already done.

Which leads me to ask where is faith? Where is the gospel? Nowhere in Acts do I see the apostles doing anything similar to the Catholic practice of absolution of sins. They are not praying over people and saying, “your sins are forgiven”. They are doing the same thing that Jesus did—proclaiming the coming kingdom and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. Upon reception of the gospel through faith then you might read something about declaring people forgiven.

Therefore, the rest of the Scriptures cause me to be unable to accept the Catholic interpretation of John 20:23.

So what is John 20:23 saying?

As I go about answering that question I want to be careful not to read the practice of absolution (either pro or con) into the text. This text really speaks to our union with Christ. It is here that we (the Bride of Christ) are empowered. It’s not mechanical, it’s not removed from the person of Christ or the work of the Spirit.

It’s not as if we go about proclaiming forgiveness apart from faith in the risen Christ. No, this is proclaiming the risen Christ. And when someone comes to know Christ the church through baptism and membership declares (not mechanically) that “their sins are forgiven”.

You can see the difference in the way that a Protestant and a Catholic discuss the Scriptures. You ask, “How do you know that the gospel of Mark is Scripture?”

Catholic: The Gospel of Mark is Scripture because the Church has declared it so.
Protestant: The Gospel of Mark is Scripture, therefore the Church declared it so.

There is a world of difference between the two.

Now to our question at hand. How do you I know that my sins are forgiven?

Catholic: My sin is forgiven because the Church has declared it so.
Protestant: My sin is forgiven, therefore the Church has declared it so.

I believe this is backed up by the past tense of “they are forgiven” and “it is withheld”. Those are past action with continuing results. Jesus is not telling us here to go about forgiving sins or to withhold forgiveness. Jesus is commissioning us to go and proclaim the gospel and to do so with the confidence that He is with us, working through us, and still shepherding His church from heaven.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…run to him.

12 Truths to Help Us Grow In Our Hatred of Sin

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. –Hebrews 11:24-25

Sin can seem quite pleasurable at the time. Even if we know that it’s wrong or unwise we still have a tendency to coddle our sin. This is because we do not see sin for what it really is. I’m convinced that we will not be as passionate about turning from sin unless we truly hate it.

With help from Richard Baxter here are twelve things to meditate upon that will help us grow in our hatred of sin. As you read through this I encourage you to make this practical. Keep in your minds eye that particular sin that the Spirit has been nagging you about.

1. Meditate on the character of God. You cannot know the seriousness & ugliness of sin without knowing the beauty of the God of whom sin is against.
2. Consider the work of Christ. Christ came to kill that sin that we are holding on to.
3. Ponder the work of the Holy Spirit. He came to purify us—can we then abide with sin?
4. Know the wonderful love and mercy of God. The ugliness of sin is shown in comparison to the great love of the God that we are sinning against. Every sin is a sin against the hand of mercy.
5. Consider what you were created for. Knowing the “excellent, and high, and holy work, you were created for” shows from what height sin has made us to fall from.
6. Think of the delights that come from holiness. Sin robs you of true delight, remember those seasons of delight that sin has robbed from you.
7. Think upon heaven. There is no sin in heaven. If it doesn’t satisfy and give joy there—what makes us think it is worthwhile in the present?
8. Look to the state of the damned. Consider the difference between angels and devils. “Holiness and sin do make the difference”.
9. Consider what men say of sin at the last. What do men in heaven and hell say of sin? If it’s not applauded in hell, and it’s not, then it should not be applauded here.
10. Look upon sin and judgment together. Remember that you must answer for this sin before God, and angels, and all the world.
11. Consider the grave. “Sickness, poverty, shame, despair, death, and rottenness in the grave” is the consequence of sin.
12. Look upon truly holy people and great sinners. Is there no difference? Sin is the foundational difference between the two.

As we consider the odiousness of sin let us also consider the beauty of Jesus. He rescued us from the muck and mire of sin. May we flee from it today and live in His redemption and not foolish rebellion.

Repent and run to Jesus.

Consider this from Spurgeon as you ponder the ugliness of sin:

Suppose I could find out a sinner so vile that Jesus Christ could not reach him; why then the devils in hell would take him through their streets as a trophy; they would say, "This man was more than a match for God; his sin was too great for God's grace." What says the Apostle? "Where sin abounded"—that is you, poor sinner;—"where sin abounded"—what sins you plunged into last night, and on other black occasions,—"where sin abounded"—what? Condemnation? Hopeless despair? No, "Where sin abounded grace did much more abound." I think I see the conflict in the great arena of the universe. Man piles a mountain of sin, but God will match it, and he upheaves a loftier mountain of grace; man heaps up a still huger hill of sin, but the Lord overtops it with ten times more grace; and so the contest continues till at last the mighty God plucks up the mountains by the roots and buries man's sin beneath them as a fly might be buried beneath an Alp. Abundant sin is no barrier to the superabundant grace of God.

The Church Going Full Ninja

I had to have wasted a good hour.

It was my first experience—at least that I recall—with a powerful sunbeam. I pondered the impact that this ray of light had upon our home. Its brightness exposed all of these little creatures. They looked like sea monkeys. Or floating pieces of dirt. They would soon take on a life of their own.

I experimented with these dust fragments for all of five minutes. Then I did what all little boys do when confronted with invaders; I busted out my sweet ninja moves. I employed karate chop after karate chop to destroy these little minions bombarding our kitchen floor.

I lost.

Quite shamefully really. It didn’t matter how much effort I put forth, I never could conquer these dust particles. As soon as I roundhouse kicked one in the face a million others came through the open window, dive-bombing down a sun-beam and gleefully sabotaging our kitchen floor.

After an embarrassingly long time I discovered the solution. Somehow the sun was giving these little goobers their energy. I quickly learned that if I could block the sun it would kill these dust particles. I shut the curtain.

Game Over. No more tiny creatures taunting me with their invincibility.

The Church

As I reminisce about my youthful ignorance I cannot help but think about the church. It seems as if we spend a good amount of our energies trying to clean up these dust particles; namely, all the brokenness around us. That’s good and well. We ought to be engaged in bringing the transformation of Jesus into the lives of every sphere of brokenness and rebellion.

But, let’s be honest. Little boys trying to annihilate dust particles with karate chops is impossible. Then again, so is it impossible for the church to ultimately conquer her sin this side of glory. Is it possible that in our discouragement with attempting the impossible that we have succumbed to the quick fix of shutting the curtain?

Have we convinced ourselves that we have gotten rid of sin for the most part but all we have really done is close the curtain? And by “close the curtain” I mean that we’ve somehow shut out the penetrating and heart-searching work of Jesus.

Maybe safe and sanitized does not equal a church that has been rocked by Jesus. It might mean that in her apathy the church has simply closed the curtain. The ugliness is still there but it’s largely hidden. She’s comfortably sanitized herself from outward brokenness but for some reason Jesus seems gone too.

The mark of a church that is being rocked by Jesus is one that has the curtain wide open. For that reason it is probably going to look more sinful and more jacked up. The light of the gospel exposes what is hidden—even those little dust particles that we’d like to pretend aren’t there.

A biblical church doesn’t celebrate the exposure of sin. A biblical church rejoices at the heart-penetrating work of Jesus but then she gets busy karate chopping the dickens out of the sin that is exposed. Of course by “karate chopping the dickens” I mean nothing more than applying the gospel and all it’s power and benefits to the sin that has been exposed.

Let’s open up that curtain and get to choppin’

Spoons In Your Fridge

“Nikki!  What in the world are you doing?  You can’t do that!”  I gently said to my dear wife. 

She had just committed an unpardonable sin in my home of origin.  She…are you ready for my unveiling of her dastardly crime…she…left a…spoon…in our leftovers…and…oh the humanity!…put said bowl and spoon…in the refrigerator!!!

Apparently, she is hell bent on killing our entire family.  At least that is the way that I was raised to think.  Nikki in tears of laughter—or maybe pain, I never can tell—informed me that this little spoon rule was nothing more than an old wives tale.  I think she also began taunting me by sticking the spoon in the fridge and then her mouth. 

As I began thinking about this I realized that it is a little ludicrous.  But, after some research, I discovered that my mother is not totally insane.  At least not on this point.  Or at least she wouldn’t have been insane about 50 years ago.  It is maybe possible somewhat likely that a copper or aluminum spoon could actually cause some problems with your food if left in leftovers in your fridge and consumed later.  Problem is we no longer use aluminum spoons and the ones that we have in our home could be left in the fridge for weeks and never do any damage. 

So, I lived for a good 25 years of my life with a death fear of spoons placed in a refrigerator.  This was life changing information for me. 

Sin, Familiarity, and Light

What is the point of this story?  As Charles Bridges has said

Indeed it is the fearful property of sin to hide its own character and tendency.  The blindness increases in proportion to our familiarity with it.  (Commentary on Proverbs 14:12, page 177)

I never realized that my fear of spoons and refrigerators was woefully misinformed until I was placed outside my family of origin and entered the world of another.  Because of my familiarity with this spoon rule my blindness was never exposed.  It’s the same way with sin.

As Bridges states sin doesn’t like to show itself for what it is.  Sin likes to hide in the dark and make you think it isn’t there.  Or at least it makes itself not seem so bad as it exposes it’s half truth but masks its deadly poison.  The more familiar we are with these particular sins the less likely we are to see them for what they really are. 

Because of this tendency of sin three things are absolutely necessary for living the Christian life.  The darkness of sin is only exposed by:

1. The light of the Word
2. The light of the Spirit
3. The light of the redeemed community

We need the church, the Scriptures, and the work of the Spirit to overcome the blindness to our sin.  May we be like David who said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” 

And then may we be bold enough to place ourselves under the light of the Word, the Spirit and the redeemed community. 

Sometimes We Over-think Sin Problems

I’m going through some articles that I have written in the past and trying to bring a few of them out of the vault.  This one was posted back in 2009. 

----

Sometimes counseling teenagers can cause head-scratching and heartache. The same is true of counseling my own heart.  I have counseled numerous teenagers that were crying in my office because they could not conquer a particular sin. My wife and I have counseled girls that are struggling with "boy issues" (e.g., their immaturity, their jerkiness, and their selfishness). And I have counseled young men that are struggling with "boy issues" (lust, pornography, anger). One thing always astonishes me...and this astonishes me about my own heart as well; we wallow in sin and plead with God to stir our affections at the same time.

It seems to me that the wisest thing to do would be to flee from the sin. Usually when pressed young men can figure out the source of their lust. Unless your conscience is ridiculously seared (and that is possible) you know when you are "crossing the line". That is why if you are in union with Christ such sin is ridiculous. Please do not misunderstand me; I have a tremendous amount of compassion and empathy with young men that struggle with these issues (as well as young women that "like" guys that they shouldn't). However, there comes a time when we need to confront the ignorance behind such sin.

"I'm not sure why my girlfriend and I messed up. I mean I know we were both in our swimming suits. And I know that she probably should not have been sitting on my lap. And I guess it was silly for us to try to help out each other not get a sunburn. And yes I know the likelihood of getting a sunburn "there" is improbable. But I really prayed before we went swimming because I knew it might be tough. Do I need to read my Bible more, you think? Should I have prayed harder? I really tried not to fall into this sin, why did God not help me out more. Why did he not deliver me from evil?"

Well, you see he did. Jesus delivered you from evil when he disarmed the power of Satan on the Cross. He robbed sin of its power when he brought you out of the kingdom of darkness and transferred you into the kingdom of Jesus. The principle of death has died in your heart so you no longer have to be a slave to these passions; He has supplanted that principle of death by making you alive with Christ. He has conquered sin. The problem is you are going back to it. The problem is you run away from his kingdom and sit in the filth of the old one. And you wonder why you fall?

The prodigal son did not cry out from his pig slop "Father come save me". He remembered the steadfast love of the Father, got out of the pig slop and ran back to where he belonged. So, here is the solution: stop letting your girlfriend sit on your lap, stop rubbing her down with sun tan lotion, and stop swimming half-naked. Sin is serious and it is deceptive. But it has been defeated. Live like it.

The problem is that we sometimes secretly want the fleeting pleasures of sin. This is why we need to pray that the Lord might "stir our affections" and root out of our hearts sin and unbelief. But that prayer does not mean that you stay in the pig slop. If you are a believer the death of Christ has conquered the heart that longs for pig slop; just get out of it. And if you ever find yourself wandering back remember the love of the Father, repent, and get out of the pig slop and go read 1 John 1:9.

When the Strong Man Gets His Way

Sin aims always at the utmost; every time it rises up to tempt or entice, might it have its own course, it would go out to the utmost sin in that kind. Every unclean thought or glance would be adultery if it could; every covetous desire would be oppression, every thought of unbelief would be atheism, might it grow to its head…every rise of lust, might it have its course, would come to the height of villainy: it is like the grave, that is never satisfied.   -John Owen

If you want to see this principle in full force then look no further than the Gerasene demoniac.  His story is told most vividly in Mark 5.  Here is a man “with an unclean spirit living among unclean tombs surrounded by people employed in unclean occupations, all in unclean Gentile territory.”  (Pillar NT Commentary, Mark by James Edwards, 155) 

His humanity has been utterly destroyed.  The portrayal is more like that of a chained animal than a man created in the image of God.  This guy once had a home and a family but now he is tattered, bloodied, naked, and living among the dead.  He is a menace to himself and a menace to society. 

This is what happens when the “strong man” gets his way (Mark 3:26-27); humanity is destroyed and the image of God is darkened.  Who knows where or how it started, but somewhere along the way this man left himself open to “the strong man’s” possession.  And it left him completely broken. 

At this point I am confronted with the fact that his story is mine.  I have never ran naked like a wild man in a cemetery (at least that I remember); nonetheless, his story is mine.  I too opened myself up to “the strong man’s” possession.  For years I made sin my dear companion.  It looked cleaner than the demoniac’s tattered rebellion but the sin inside me desired to have me destroyed. 

My cemetery was depression; my rocks were pride, slander, filthy talk, sexual immorality, and hatred (of myself and others).  I wore clothes, but inside I was a naked unfettered demoniac. 

Then Jesus came. 

He is the one, the ONLY ONE, that can “bind the strong man and plunder his goods” (Mk 3:27).  Nobody else has the power to overturn sins curse.  Nobody else has the power to rebuke a storm, heal a demoniac, or to change my wicked heart. 

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:9).   And that he has done.  He has taken scores of “demoniacs” and turned them into disciples “clothed and in their right mind” (Mk. 5:15).

So, the next time that sin looks tempted may the Lord remind me of the loneliness of the cemetery.  May I be reminded that sin aims to strip me of humanity and place me right back there.  But may I also remember that I am no longer possessed by that strong man.  I am possessed by a STRONGER MAN, one in whose hand I can never be plucked from because there is no one stronger than this strong man. 

Redemption.  That’s what happens when The Stronger Man gets His way.

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I am interested in this graphic novel by John Piper:  The Gadarene.  You can read the Advent poem that it is based from free online.  Here is a sample; it is part of the prayer of the demoniac’s wife: 

I think that you should ask the Lord
To lift his voice and wield his sword
Against the legion powers that bind
And blind your daddy's broken mind."

Lessons from a man named Obadiah

With an awesome name like Obadiah Sedgwick its surprising that few people have heard of him.  One particular work of his that I have found beneficial is Anatomy of Secret Sins .  This book is a 382 page exposition of Psalm 19:12-13.  Yes, 382 pages on these two verses. 

12 Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.

One particular gem is his explanation of “persons who are truly holy desire still further measure of holiness.”  I’ll let Obadiah explain:

David was cleansed before, and yet he desires to be cleansed.  Why?  Because though he had a radical purity, he did not have a gradual purity.  The whole man was cleansed, but it was not cleansed wholly.  He had some grace, but he wanted more.  He was pretty well rid of some sins, but others he felt stirring and working.  Though no man saw them, yet he felt them.  No combat serves the Christian, but that which looks to victory, and he thinks the day is not yet won if he does not yet have the conquest of every sin as well as any one particular sin.   (p.14, emphasis mine)

In other words, if you desire holiness you won’t just desire a little bit of it.  You will want to be “cleansed completely”. 

Fig Leaf Underpants

There is a world of difference between the “covering of sin” in Psalm 32:1 and the “covering of sin” in Psalm 32:5 that David refused to engage in. 

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  32:1

…I did not cover my iniquity…  32:5

Let’s face it, we are messed up.  We are broken people living in a broken world.  So, what are we going to do about it?  The way I see it there are two options.  Either we engage in Adam-like hiding or we hide ourselves in Jesus. 

When Adam disobeyed God in the Garden he experienced for the first time what you and I experience everyday—brokenness caused by rebellion.  His response was to knit together a few fig leaves and try to cover his shame.  He tried to fix his brokenness.  And because deep down he knew it was not enough he decided to hide in a bush just for good measure. 

The problem with Adam’s solution (and ours) is that it simply does not work.  Sin is not conquered in the darkness of hiding—it grows.  And because sin aims at destroying creation and dethroning the Creator it inevitably leads to brokenness.  You can’t fix the effects of rebellion by rebelling further.  Nothing we craft can fix our sin problem.  There is only one fix…

Hide ourselves in Jesus.  This is what David does in Psalm 32.  He realizes that he is broken because of rebellion.  He feels the weight of his sin and is resolved to not hide it.  He knows that his only refuge is to find mercy in the one whom he has sinned against.  Only God can heal the brokenness caused by our rebellion.  Only God has the power to conquer not only the guilt of sin but also its damning effects. 

So, when you sin today don’t sew fig leaf underpants—run naked to Jesus.  (Hmmm, is that okay to say?)

The Flea and the Man

A MAN, very much annoyed with a Flea, caught him at last, and said, "Who are you who dare to feed on my limbs, and to cost me so much trouble in catching you?' The Flea replied, "O my dear sir, pray spare my life, and destroy me not, for I cannot possibly do you much harm." The Man, laughing, replied, "Now you shall certainly die by mine own hands, for no evil, whether it be small or large, ought to be tolerated."  (From Aesop’s Fables)

Oh, that more believers would heed this lesson: “no evil, whether it be small or large, ought to be tolerated.”  Since reading The Mortification of Sin, the words of John Owen have stuck with me,

“Sin aims always at the utmost: every time it rises up to tempt or entice, might it have its own course, it would go out to the utmost sin of that kind…And so far as the soul is made insensible to any sin, that is, as to such a sense as the gospel requires, so far it is hardened.  But sin still pressing forward; and that because it hath no bounds but utter relinquishment of God, and opposition to him.”  (From, The Mortification of Sin)

If you let a couple of fleas go in your house before you know it your entire house will be infested with fleas.  My wife and I, unfortunately, know this all too well.  Our cat ended up not only getting pregnant but also getting fleas.  Because she was pregnant we felt it best to try to quarantine her in a room and deal with the fleas later.  That was dumb.  Now we are going to have buy flea stuff for the cat and her kitties as well as tons of flea killer for our house.  We should have tried to kill the fleas before this became a problem.

Sin does this exact same thing in our lives.  “It is only a little sin,” we rationalize.  Friend, there is no such thing as a little sin.  Every sin if given opportunity will harden your heart, lead to forsaking the gospel, and relinquishing God from his throne.  Even it its seminal stages sin is an affront to God and his glory, and ought to be dealt with.   

One area that I have seen this most frequently is in the area of teenagers involved in inappropriate relationships.  We have lost numerous students, once seemingly passionate about Jesus, to boyfriends or girlfriends.  Ultimately, I know that if these students are in Christ that he will doggedly pursue them and work repentance in their heart.  Nonetheless, the pain that is caused by this is jarring. 

It starts with an “innocent” relationship.  Then mistakes are made.  Then it gets uncomfortable being around God’s Word and God’s people.  At the crossroads the student will either end the relationship with the boyfriend/girlfriend and respond in repentance or will “end” the relationship with God and run away from Him.  “Sin always aims at the utmost.”

What is the answer?  Kill the flea.  Kill the sin.  As John Owen has aptly said, “Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.”  Yes, Christ has ultimately taken away the principle of sin and its effects.  But we are still called in Scripture to actively be engaged in killing sin.  I do not fully understand it but all I know is this: Jesus has killed sin, Jesus is killing sin, and Jesus will ultimately do away with sin and he is calling us to, by his power, engage in killing sin. 

So, no matter how big or small the sin might seem to be it needs to be repented of.  Believe the gospel enough to turn from the ugliness of sin and embrace the beauty of Christ.  A couple fleas can end up costing you lots of labor and money; a “little sin” can cost you your soul. 

If you have never read John Owen’s classic work The Mortification of Sin, I would strongly suggest buying a copy for only 6.30 and reading it. 

Perhaps this is overly simplistic but....

Sometimes counseling teenagers can cause head-scratching and heartache. Sometimes counseling my own soul can be head-scratching and heart wrenching. I have counseled numerous teenagers that were crying in my office because they could not conquer a particular sin. My wife and I have counseled girls that are struggling with "boy issues" (e.g., their immaturity, their jerkiness, and their selfishness). And I have counseled young men that are struggling with "boy issues" (lust, pornography, anger). One thing always astonishes me...and this astonishes me about my own heart as well; we wallow in sin and plead with God to stir our affections at the same time.

It seems to me that the wisest thing to do would be to flee from the sin. Usually when pressed young men can figure out the source of their lust. Unless your conscience is ridiculously seared (and that is possible) you know when you are "crossing the line". That is why if you are in union with Christ such sin is ridiculous. Please do not misunderstand me; I have a tremendous amount of compassion and empathy with young men that struggle with these issues (as well as young women that "like" guys that they shouldn't). However, there comes a time when we need to confront the ignorance behind such sin.

"I'm not sure why my girlfriend and I messed up. I mean I know we were both in our swimming suits. And I know that she probably should not have been sitting on my lap. And I guess it was silly for us to try to help out each other not get a sunburn. And yes I know the likelihood of getting a sunburn "there" is improbable. But I really prayed before we went swimming because I knew it might be tough. Do I need to read my Bible more, you think? Should I have prayed harder? I really tried not to fall into this sin, why did God not help me out more. Why did he not deliver me from evil?"

Well, you see he did. Jesus delivered you from evil when he disarmed the power of Satan on the Cross. He robbed sin of its power when he brought you out of the kingdom of darkness and transferred you into the kingdom of Jesus. The principle of death has died in your heart so you no longer have to be a slave to these passions; He has supplanted that principle of death by making you alive with Christ. He has conquered sin. The problem is you are going back to it. The problem is you run away from his kingdom and sit in the filth of the old one. And you wonder why you fall?

The prodigal son did not cry out from his pig slop "Father come save me". He remembered the steadfast love of the Father, got out of the pig slop and ran back to where he belonged. So, here is the solution: stop letting your girlfriend sit on your lap, stop rubbing her down with sun tan lotion, and stop swimming half-naked. Sin is serious and it is deceptive. But it has been defeated. Live like it.

The problem is that we sometimes secretly want the fleeting pleasures of sin. This is why we need to pray that the Lord might "stir our affections" and root out of our hearts sin and unbelief. But that prayer does not mean that you stay in the pig slop. If you are a believer the death of Christ has conquered the heart that longs for pig slop; just get out of it. And if you ever find yourself wandering back remember the love of the Father, repent, and get out of the pig slop and go read 1 John 1:9.

The Only Physician for Sin

In Mark 5 we read the story of the "bleeding" woman. Verse 26 reflects my own attempts at self-atonement: "[this woman] had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse". My "physicians" are not actual doctors but rather the numerous disciplines I place in my life to heal the disease of sin. Yet, these (at least when divorced from the Cross) cause me to be worse instead of better. In fact every time that I set up a discipline to "become more holy" it ends up either causing me despair or self-righteousness. The woman spent everything that she had trying to cure this disease but only became worse--I feel her plight.

Our only hope for curing the disease of sin is not spending all we have on expert physicians but rather "touching the hem of His garment". Our only hope is Christ--the Great Physician.

Why we sin

"...the primary reason people are in bondage to sin is because people are bored with God."

-Sam Storms, Pleasures Evermore, p.108