understanding sin

Today I was reading about Paul's take on sin. The concept is so huge, that it's hard to wrap my head around. Praise the Lord, that we are free from sin, and that sin's power is broken once we are joined with Christ.

The hard part to get is that although we are free from sin, and it doesn't control us, as humans we still have a sinful nature. Due to this sinful nature, we do what is wrong. This is really depressing, because even when I want to do right, my flesh is pulling me to do what is wrong. The way I have broken it down is that my skin always wants to do wrong, even though I am no longer forced to do wrong. Because of Jesus, I have another option which wasn't there before, the option to do right. The power of God is able to break the chains of sin, but the reason I keep sinning and giving into my flesh is because I don't call on God enough. The reason I don't call on God enough is because of my sinful desires.

It is comforting to read what Paul says about this in Romans, he says that sin uses the law to put evil desires in us. Once we know what is right, sin then uses that to tempt us to do what we now know is wrong. I know its confusing, but try and bear with me. Paul says that since he knows what he is doing is wrong, it shows that he agrees that the law is good, and that he is not the one doing what is wrong, it is the sin within him.

This doesn't mean we can just accept the fact that we're going to sin and do it without thought. We must fight it, go to God more, and break these chains. That is the only way to get closer to God. God uses people that are close to Him to do amazing things.

I know this is a confusing subject, and I know this blog is probably more for me than anyone else, and probably very hard to understand due to me writing in circles. But I felt like God shed a little light on the subject for me, and that I should share. Who knows, maybe this will help somebody.