"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." - 2 Peter 1:2-4
The Bible tells us that we should cease from sinning. While it's understandable that all men commit sin even after being saved, it should be made known that God wants all of us to strive for total holiness. As such, we should all desire to stop sinning.
The fact is, we have been given all that we need to live a Godly and righteous life in Christ. We've been freed from the grip of sin and have been transferred from darkness into light (see Romans 6:14; Colossians 1:13; 1 Peter 2:9).
We've been given the power to say "no" to sin and all ungodliness (see Titus 2:12). And we've been given a new identity and a new nature, one that's not obliged to commit sin (see 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:1-16)
Yet, despite all of these there are some of us who just can't stop sinning. Many of us find it difficult to stop sinning. Why is this?
Here are some possible reasons why we might find it hard to stop sinning:
1) You like it
Many of us will not want to admit it, but when we sin, it's because we like what we're doing. Sin always feels tempting before it is done, feels good while it is being done, but feels overwhelmingly condemning after it is done. Still, many of us fall prey to it because we like it.
James 1:14-15 should serve as a warning and a sobering word of caution to us:
"But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death."
2) You haven't realized how it affects your relationship with God
Many of us continue to commit sin because we don't realize how it affects our relationship with God. Truth is, before we met Christ, we didn't have any relationship with God. Our sins have separated us from Him:
"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." (Isaiah 59:2)
3) You don't realize the price that was paid for you to be freed from it
Friend, the Bible tells us that God paid a very high price for sin to be defeated: the blood of His dearly beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 John 4:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us,
"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him"
God gave up His one and only begotten Son so that we could all be set free from sin. We all need to understand that.
