While the reality of sin cannot be ignored, sin also serves as a reminder to the greatness of grace. We are not a lost cause in Christ! No, God knows we are sinners so in need of a savior, and he’s provided one—Jesus.
The beauty of life in Christ rests not only in our salvation from the penalty of sin, but from its bondage. Even as we continue to walk in this fallen world, through the power of the Holy Spirit we have the ability to recognize when we stumble, when we sin, and are pricked in our own spirit to confess it quickly. In so doing, the healing comes by his forgiveness.
The apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth:
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
2 Corinthians 7:10 (NIV)
Repentance not only leads to the ultimate salvation on the day of Christ’s return, but a daily cleansing and salvation from the bonds of sin on this earth.
C. S. Lewis wrote:
A live body is not one that never gets hurt, but one that can to some extent repair itself. In the same way a Christian is not a man who never goes wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent and pick himself up and begin over again after each stumble—because the Christ-life is inside him, repairing him all the time, enabling him to repeat (in some degree) the kind of voluntary death which Christ Himself carried out.
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
As Lewis says, we’re repaired and able to move forward once again, running the race to his glory. Yes, sin is a reality, but it’s not the end of the story for the Christ follower; only a present-day hurdle over which we must strive.
Does it trip us up from time-to-time? Certainly, but it does not lead to our disqualification from the race—a setback perhaps, but never a disqualification.
Sin is real. Victory has been won. Confession is our practice. Restoration is our hope.
Grace and Peace